I want to talk about my dog Otto.  We have him about 3 years now.  He is our dog, but technically he is my dog.  The reason I say  that is because he doesn't like George very much.

Honestly, I don't think he "tolerates" George.  That must seem weird.  A dog "tolerating" a human.  He is very good, he behaves, he is obedient.  He just doesn't tolerate George.

He is reactive.  Which means he reacts to things.  In his case he doesn't react in a good way.  Basically he attacks.  Since he is a big dog... about 77 pounds, that is a bad thing.

We have had numerous behaviorists and trainers evaluate him.  Both vets and "trainers".  The first vet was treating him when he was young.  About 10 months old.  George wasn't crazy about her.  She wasn't cheap.  Well let me qualify this.  She would spend about 3 hours at the house, only charge us for 1 hour.  In her defense, she really loved Otto.  In hind site, maybe we should have started him in puppy socialization classes right away.  We did not know his background.

So let me go forward and say, really in hind sight a lot of his behavior, is my fault. That being said I am going forward doing what ever I can for him.

We adopted him at approximately 5 months old.  The lady we adopted him from eluded to the fact that he was "tortured".  When I shoed sympathy upon her saying that she quickly said...well, I can't say that for sure.  Now keep in mind torture to an animal enthusiast, such as myself, and this person can be anything, from not feeding him regularly, beating him while he is tyed on... to chasing him out of the yard.  So basically... it is relative.

Let me add that he was only 16 pounds when we picked him up.  That was 2 days after he was found.  The day he was found he was at the Geneva feed store.  He was starving and covered with fleas.  The day we picked him up, he had a few meals, had a bath and had a pill to get rid of his fleas.  He had also had a checkup and I believe his preliminary shots.

Everything was fine.  We took him to friends houses to play with their dogs.  He really loved our older dog, who had no patience for him.  Typical behavior between a puppy and an older dog.  Then one day, it was like someone fipped a switch.

He saw a kid and a strange man, and went nuts.  Started thrashing around,  and nipping/biting at anything in site.  It started happening more frequently.  So we called a trainer.  The strange thing was, at other times he was fine!  We had the trainner/vet come about 3 times.  It cost us close to $1000, including the leashes, toys, gates, treats, etc.

Needless to say we stopped the training.  It was too expensive.  Now let me add, this trainer left us with all the tools and knowledge we needed.  She also arranged (by that I mean she brought a trainer to our home, at no charge, to meet Otto and us, that we could bring Otto to an outside facility for training, that was much less expensive) to continue training with another trainer.  That didn't last long.  See, I don't drive. Well I do, but I can't anymore because of a disability.

Then one day George came home from a friends house.  They have a chocalate lab who is VERY affectionate.  On top of that, George was in a very bad mood.  Very cranky.  So much so that I went upstairs to get away from him.  Next thing I know, George is yelling at the dog, pushing him away.

Before I knew it, when I came down stairs, the dog was on George, or had him by the arm and wasn't letting go.

If you want to know my opinion...both George and I let Otto down.  I did because I left him alone with George when he was clearly in a vey bad mood.  (George, not Otto was in a bad mood). We didn't use any of the tools the trainer had given us.  I left Otto alone with George, when George was clearly in no frame of mind to deal with Otto.

George ended up in the hospital.

We still have Otto.  Now let me add how I realize that anyone else other than George, would have put his foot down, and Otto would be "bye-bye", in one sense of the phrase or another.

We have had Otto evaluated by 4 or 5 other trainers.  I called two others who were not in the "positve training" mindset.  They truly scared me.  Just talking to them on the phone scared me.  Before anyone wants to be helpful, don't suggest the dog whisperer to me.  That little mexican should be deported.

Otto is now 3 and a half.  We still deal with issues.  We have had the guru of dog trainers evaluate him.  A doctor from Gainesvlle.  She has him on fluxotine and clonidine.  He was almost 2 when she saw him.  Gave us the same advice as the first behaviorist.

I love him, he is well behaved.  He tolerates his crate, he tolerates his muzzle.  He tolerates the cats.    He never has an accident, I mean never!  He just has this switch that we don't see.  We have no idea what it is that will set him off.

I just wish I knew what it was that flipped the switch.

It has been a little over two weeks since I posted last.  I have since pulled out my cucumber plants.  I found one cucumber on there, that might have turned into a viable cucumber, but it was too late.  Besides, the others that I waited on rotted before they were big enough to pick.

I still have about 10 bell peppers left.  That's not including the blossoms.  I also haxe the eggplant plant, which I am sure will probably not go anywhere, but you never know.

As I said in the last post, the zucchini and the pickeling cucumbers are up, but they are slow going.  I think that is because it has been very hot here.  As I have said before, this is all a learning experience..

I have been auctioning stuff off on E-bay.  Have made about $45.00. That is $45.00 more than I had a month ago.  Now I have taken on a battle with the USPS.  W e sent a package Priority- 2 day guarenteed delivery.  As of 6-7-14, it still "out for delivery". So now I am about to wage war.  And, here we go.

My sister was down for a week.  She was on business so we only got to see her  for 2 or 3 days.  Otto loves her.  It is pretty amazing.  I think he needs more diversity in his day.  Unfortunately I can't do that yet.

I made him a new daytime bed.  I think he likes it.

I also got a milkweed plant.  From what I have read, they re-seed themselves.  We shall see.  Butterflies love them, hopefully it works.  A friend told me that the big hardware stores treat their plant with a insectcide that hurts bees and butterflies. Hopefully, that will change soon.  They are much cheaper, and very convenient.

Well, I better go.  I have a bunch of things to do!

Hey everyone, it's a rainy Saturday.  I love rainy days.  Last week I planted some zucchini and some little cukes, seeds that is, and they are coming up!

I pulled out my tomato plants, I had a bunch of tomatoes left, about 8 pounds, so I am going to make some tomato bisque soup.  I need to get a food mill, so when we go to bed bath and beyondtoget the razor cleaner for George's razor, I will get a fod mill.

I now have some green peppers growing.  Some burpless cucumbers, chives, parsley, thyme and basil.  Oh yea and eggplant.  Idon't think anything will come of the eggplant...but never say never.

Otto had his yearly exam by Dr. Martin this morning.  He is 77 pounds.    He is my BIG boy!

Meta gets here in a little over a week. I am looking forward to it, even though it is only for one night.  I really wish we lived closer.

Well better go.  I want to read my book, and eat my lunch.

Good Morning!!  Happy Saturday!  Weather has been very hot lately.  Surprisingly, I am very happy...none the less.

Last night we went out for dinner.  Went to a chinese place called Won Lee.  Boy, was that good.  Old fashioned chinese cooking.  The restaurant was a throw back to the 70's.  I thought I was never going to find another place like 3-6-9 in Winter Springs...but I did!

Then we went to Lowes and I got 7 bags of top soil and 7 bags of manure.  I expanded my garden.  I want to plant the little pickeling cukes aind the zucchini again, before I put in my winter veggies.

Otto chewed his bed again yesterday.  You just can't figure with him.  Sometmes he is good, and sometimes he just loses it.  It must be the voices he hears.  Well, I fixed it.  I hope doesn't do this much longer.  I think he is getting better...I hope.

I am also reading a very good book.  Second in a series of I think 7.  The last one came out about 2 weeks ago.  Diana Gabaldon, the Outlander series.  I read Outlander (recommended by my cousin Dale) the first in the series.  I thouroghly enjoyed it.  Now I am reading Dragonfly in Amber.  So far I am loving it.  It is over 700 pages, an I am looking forward to reading every single one.

Well I amgoing to run. It is 8:42, and I want to get an hour of reading in before I start to spread my soil and manure.

We had dinner yesterday, and it was very enjoyable.  Everything turned out great.  My favorite was dessert, and Otto was very good.

Today it was very cloudy, and rainy.

George didn't feel well and finally went to the doctor.  His blood pressure was of the charts.  So he went for x-rays and blood work and he has to go back tomorow morning.

I picked 9 more tomatoes.  I think I will need to find someone who I can give some to.

Otherwise nothing else is new here.

I am making naan bread for dinner. We are having left over chicken, tziki sauce, feta cheese, tomatoes (of course), onions and some lettuce.  I am kind of excited actually.

Tonight we can have ice cream for dessert.

I have to be honest.  I really want to lose about 15 pounds, but I really love dessert.  Nothing else has much flavor to me.

I think that is why I liked working in theyard so much.  It took my mind off eating.

George just went out and picked more edging that I ordered.  I really need to use it.

Well that is something I need to plan on doing the next week or so.

We are having company for dinner tomorrow.  Our friends Tony and John are coming for dinner.  I am making Eggplant Rollitini, Penne pasta, Bruschette, kale chips and a Calaprese salad.  I am only making a small salad, mainly because I only picked half a pound of fresh mozzerella.  Should I make sangria?  I forgot the ingredients.   You know what, a glass of red wine will be just as good.

Tonight I am making a roast chicken.  It is 5:00 now and I am sure the chicken will need to be in there at least an hour.

So cutting this one short, so I don't get yelled at that dinner is late.

I will let you know how everything turned out.

Here it is...another beautiful morning.  I have to say, this morning as I sat on the porch, reading up on how everyone is doing...two blue jays land on the lawn. Cardinals, blue jays, downy woodpecker, carolina wrens;  all this, nothing exotic, but so nice compared to hot sun, cement, rushing cars.  I am not sure what is so difficult to understand... I tried to surround myself with trees, plants, gardens, but it wasn't the same.

Now I will admit, there were some ducks that found their way into our old neighborhood.  There were also some armadillos that would come in at night. However the homeowners associarion hired a "pest" company to trap them.  Happily the armadillos won.

George will be mowing the lawn today, tomorrow the backyard.  Wednesdsy we are having company for dinner.  I ordered more edging for my trees and gardens.  I am going to try and get a plum tree this week.  Maybe Wednesday or Thursday.  Today I will get my hydrangea.  Then I have to start researching roses.

I so love having a yard!

Happy Mothers Day!   Been a lazy day, I finished my book, "Outlander", by Diana Gabaldon. It was good, think I will get the follow up book.  I could probably get it from the library...maybe I will.

I have to get more edging for my trees and my gardens.

Oh, my latest bit of exciting news... a wren, believe it was a Carolina Wren, made a nest in one of my window boxes of geraniums.  Of course I took pictures!!

That is my latest news.

Other than that...I must go now to load the dishwasher and wash a few dishes.  I think I will also peek in on my wrens...quietly

Today as I sit out on my back porch, I have decided to put in a rose garden.  I will put it in on the east side of the house, in the back of course.  I am not sure of the exact location yet.  From what I have read, for central Florida, you can plant all year long.  There is a rose soceity that meets at Mead Gardens twice a month.

So now I am going to study the yard to see how the sun works and make my decision where to plunge my shovel into the ground.  Of course I have to consult with George, since he does the mowing, however he usually tells me it is up to me.  I think I will start in the back yard, and if I am successful move to the front yard.

Other than all this, my blood pressure has been giving me trouble again.  I have started with a new doctor here in DeLand.  I think I am going to tell him that I want to go back on the non-generic BP medication I was on for many years.  It was called Benicar.  It was more expensive, but it worked.  Since I have been on the generic, I have had nothing but problems.  I appreciate the savings, however, I want to feel better than I do.

On another note...on observation of my yard today, I have found that my fig tree is getting figs.  I am hoping they are bigger than they were while the tree was in a pot.  The tree is gorgeous, it looks healthier than it ever has before.  I am in the mood for mt fig cake, but I also am looking forward to some larger figs to cook with.

SURPRISE!  I'm baaacck!  I know I have said that before, and I will probably say it again, but this is my blog, and quite honestly I don't think anyone has missed me.

So what's new...?  We moved, we live about 40 miles north of Orlando.  We have a house now.  We have a new dog.  Otto.  He is a rescue, in the truest sence of the word.  His background is a huge question mark, up until 2 days before we brought him home.  He was a 5 month old malnourished male.  Let me tell you ot doesn't get much worse than that.  That being said...I love him.  He loves me too!  George, not so much.  Well let me clarify that...he doesn't dislike him conciously.  He was mistreated by some creep.  That creep happened to be a man.  That is how he has become attached to me.  So he has become my sloe responsibility.  That is a very large responsibility, one that is very big at times.  I have to admit, at times I wonder if I know what I am doing, but then I look at him, and how hard he tries, and I say... he is worth it.  This is what it must be like to have children.  Is that sick?  So be it!

I have a garden!  I grew peppers, tomatoes, large cucumbers, small pickling cucumbers, eggplant, zucchoini, parsley and I transplanted my chives.  The  status at this point...I have lots of tomatoes, about 7 peppers.  I got these huge plants for my zucchini, lots of blossoms...no zucchini.  The eggplant, well I have plants but they will never produce anything.  Only two huge cucumbers.  Lots of blossoms on the pickling cucumbers, but so far... no pickles.  My guess...too muchh in too small a place.  So I am doubling the size this summer toplant a wnter garden in September.

So if anyone has some dog or garden advice...all comments are welcome!