Work in progress

 The woodpecker situation, work in progress

At this point in the process, Jeremy the handyman had removed three smallish pieces of the siding and was getting the color match for the paint.  

Angel/demon puppy report

Overnight Miss Emmy was the little angel.  She quietly came out, I quietly waited on her system to process, and we got the mostly liquid poo out such that she didn't have to urgently go in her crate.  The morning result is that it's back to a soft serve, rather than soupy consistency.  We continue to monitor.  

After her big girl leash walk (Angel puppy), the backyard play puppy turned into the demon doggy.  I always take her to the back yard after the leash walk unless she used the leash walk for eliminations, too.  Demon puppy kept going after my pants legs, ankles and hamstring levels.  I swear this dog's instincts to bring down bigger game are excellent.  I'm sorry to report that I am NOT good at staying calm when nipped.  I can usually calm down after, but a loud "Ouch" has to sound like a win to a squeaky toy trained puppy, right?

Anyhow, I was washing and bandaging a hand, and noticed I'd got blood on my white t-shirt... so I changed it before Jeremy got here.  No sense alarming the service people.  😆

Ember was calm and quiet in her den.  She knows she "hurt mommy", but I'm sure she thought she was defending herself in a wrestling match as mommy kept pulling against her tugs.  One of these days I will "get it right", I keep telling myself.  And sometimes I do.  One of the dog training videos I watched talked about how many things affect a puppy's tendency to nip.  Among them is the schedule, i.e. time of day, relative to meals, exercise, and need for a nap.  I can see that in her.  When she's tired, hungry, or overexcited... or any overlap of the three, watch out.  I think I have tended to over rather than under exercise her, so that, too, can be a contributing factor to "tired".

Another training video I caught talked about the dog emotional state of "overexcited", and this seems to match my Miss Emmy.  I'm not sure if this is what they call a reactive dog or not.  I only know it has to be resolved before she grows up!

To be fair, after that incident this morning, she was mostly angel puppy all day long.  We even napped together in the 3 p.m. hour before her Auntie Alicia came over and helped with our afternoon leash walk.

Back to the siding repair, the after photos

Looks nice, doesn't it?  Jeremy left me a quart of the touch up paint in case it's needed.  I mean, after all, who else is going to use such a small amount?

That's Jeremy documenting his work.  I wrote them a check. Turned out with materials and labor to over $900.  Remember the initial estimate was $550, for labor alone.  The materials were siding, paint and I presume insulation.  

I committed to the shower replacement.

This is the time of year when I generally announce that I'm keeping the economy going single-handed.  Because I have already committed to that landscaping, too.  I gave them the down-payment for the shower.  The landscapers have not asked for theirs yet, nor have they given me firm dates.  But the bottom line is that Miss Emmy and I will have a lot of disruption to routine over the rest of Spring and into the Summer.

It may be stress, but it's the "good" kind of stress!

Life is good.  Spark on!