167: When I Find Myself in Times of Trouble, Crack and Cliches Comfort Me

[thefourthvine]

And, frankly, I'm going to need the comfort. I will be spending the next week - seven glorious days! - shut in a very expensive hotel room (five minutes away from where I live) with two large dogs, one of whom does not like new things and howls if you leave him alone for any reason whatsoever, and the other of whom is going to view this as the best

Comments

[thefourthvine]

Methos does indeed win. Yay Methos!

[calligrafiti]

It depends on the dog, of course, but generally I've found larger dogs do surprisingly well in small spaces. It's the wee ones that get hyper. Unless one of your dogs has some border collie in him/her, in which case just give that dog the car keys and hope s/he avoids the cops. Anyway, this might be a good time to work on training type stuff. Dogs often like the attention, it can keep them from being bored, and maybe you've always wanted a dog who can do that dog-owner dancing thing they show on Animal Planet as a break bit between dog show segments.

Good luck!

[thefourthvine]

I think they'll do okay in the small space. I'm most worried about the howling-if-left-alone from Mr. Separation Anxiety. He gets over it in a bit, but - I don't think hotel neighbors are going to be willing to wait a bit. And the boredom from Ms. Ooo! What's This? is sort of an ancillary worry, since she's used to having a house and a yard to play in.

Sadly, Mr. Separation Anxiety already knows all the commands he can learn; if we try to teach him another one, he loses one of the ones he's already got. (Also, it takes about nine months to teach him something new. I am not kidding. He's not the brightest dog on the block.) And our other dog - well, she's got lots of commands, and even more words, and the problem is that she learns really really fast, and I'm basically out of things to teach her, aside from "This is the new magic spot" and "Find the hidden thing

[nestra]

Thanks for the rec! I might have done an undignified dance when I saw this pop up. And if you'd prefer to link to my site, the story is here -- whatever you prefer is fine, of course.

[thefourthvine]

In general, I tend to link to LJ, because I figure that way writers have more chance at feedback, always a good thing. (Plus, some people are weird about following off-LJ links.) But the backup link is good to have, especially since I trust and hope and assume that your site will not be going anywhere. (It had better not be going anywhere, anyway. *clings*)

And thank you for the story, which is a regular re-read for me. Your Dan and Casey make me so happy, and I love SN so helplessly.

[liddle_oldman]

"Someday we'll look back at this and laugh nervously".

Erm -- why are you staying in a hotel room with dogs near your home? Or should I ask? Or should I know this?

[thefourthvine]

*sigh*

Yes, someday we will look back and laugh nervously, especially since we'll know It Could Happen Again. At any time. Houses cannot be trusted, and ours has decided NOW is the time for plumbing work to be done. Which will mean our house won't have any plumbing for a week. And, well, call me soft, but I don't want to return to Dark Ages unless I just have to.

(And we can't even go anywhere interesting in the time, as Best Beloved can't take time off work right now. *sulks the sulk of the overprivileged*)

[thefourthvine]

Yay link yay! Thank you!

Perhaps I will order one as a reward for surviving this week. That seems like a good idea.