Morty, Myself, And A Live Wire.

     The Truff is coming around. She doesn't shy away from Morty so much anymore. It's only been a few days, and I can see the difference. She still gives Morty a wide birth, but she doesn't run, she just stands there and stares at him. There was even a moment yesterday when I was letting them both out, and Morty was taking his time, so The Truff just ran underneath him between his legs. That doesn't sound much like a tiny dog that is afraid of a large dog. I forgot to tell you about Morty's size, you can't really tell in the photos I posted on Sunday night. He weighs in at around 50 lbs. He stands at the shoulder about 30 inches high, maybe a couple less, not real exact on the height, but if he stands on his hind legs, he can look me in the eye.

     I took Morty on his first walk around the neighborhood today. He did fantastic. I brought treats with me, just in case I needed to redirect him, but they were really unnecessary, so I used them for training purposes. I want him to heel, he is a bit of a puller on the leash, not too much, but I'd prefer that he walks by my side, not only for the reason that I can control him better, but because he has to get exhausted pulling the whole time. There was proof of his exhaustion while on our walk. That one ear that always stays up, well, it kind of flopped over halfway through our walk. That is also a lesson for me. I will cut our walking distance in half for now. It could have been too hot for him today, or he could just not be in as good a shape as he looks. He was pretty tired when we got back to the house, and we only walked a mile round trip.

     I have to tell you about the first night. The plan was too have Morty sleep on a makeshift bed. It was a large fleece blanket that I have, folded to a good size for him to have some padding. This is until I can get a good sized bed for him. He did like the little makeshift bed, but only when I was in the TV room with him.

     Adorable right? Anyway, when I said my goodnights to both pups, Morty got up and wouldn't take no for an answer. he followed me in my room and was going to sleep in my bed whether I liked it or not. It had it's endearing moments, but it was a very restless night for me. He did rustle me up around 2:30 after I had finally gotten to sleep, so that he could go outside. That, was actually a good thing. It let me know that he has no intention of going to the bathroom in the house, and will do everything he can to get outside. I think they said that he was an owner surrender, but I can't see how anyone would give him up. He really is a great dog.

     I didn't get much sleep that night, and I was prepared for it to happen all over again the next night, but Morty outsmarted me. He found out, that he really likes the couch. I put a blanker over it and there is already a pillow on it, so he was really comfortable for the night. I even woke up around 3:30 because I was worried that he wouldn't know how to get to me so that he could go out. When I walked into the living room so get him and take him out, he was still sacked out on the couch. He woke up though and I let him out anyway. He was happy to go and even The Truff made it outside. 

     Today was had another breakthrough moment. The Truff tends to eat very slow. She's lost most of her teeth, so the has to position the food just right in her mouth to chew it with her remaining teeth. Morty doesn't eat slow, at all. I had to grab his collar the first couple of days and physically pull him away from The Truff's bowl, so that he wouldn't eat all of it. When I fed them today, I put The Truff's food in the TV room where she stays, and put Morty's food in the dining room. I want to keep them a part and close off the TV room from Morty so that he gets the idea, that he eats in one place, and The Truff eats in another. It's going to take some time to get it to set in, but it will eventually set in. Tonight though, I had to put The Truff's food away for a while, because she just didn't want to eat when I gave it to her. This was going to create a giant dilemma. I had to figure out how to keep Morty from getting to The Truff's food. I had a plan I just needed to execute it. I had Morty walk with me as I got the bowl of food. I then grabbed Morty's collar, so that I could keep him away from the bowl as I set it down. I then directed Morty to a chair with me so that The Truff could eat. As soon as he saw that she was eating, he relaxed and sat down. I didn't need to hold his collar, I only had to pet him. He stayed away until she finished eating. He didn't even lean in her direction until she was down. I was shocked. When food is present, Morty goes into a feeding frenzy. He would eat an entire 60 lbs bag of food if he could. I'm sure he would get an upset stomach from it, but he would try to do it, so when he just sat there and let her eat, it was incredible. He is such a good dog.

     Another thing I learned on his walk, and I meant to write this above when I was talking about redirecting him. I wanted those treats in case we came across other dogs, and he tried to go after them. The ladies at the shelter told me that he gets along with all other dogs, but you never really know how true that is until you see it for yourself. We came across 3 dogs while we were out. I did keep Morty to the opposite side of the street, but he made no real movement to go over to the other dogs. There was one brief moment when he saw two of the dogs with their owner, and he just looked at them, but with a light tug on the leash and a "come on", and he turned and walked away. This is really good news, because it shows me that he won't be distracted by other dogs or even people for that matter if we go anywhere. This is going to work out well, because at some point, I want to take him to meet Elie and her dog Gandi. I think it will go well, but I want to take another week to just really see that today wasn't a fluke and is his true personality. If it is, this is fantastic news, and opens all kinds of possibilities for things that we can do in the future.

     Ok, this can't all be about Morty and The Truff, but I could easily do it. I watched a new show today. It was one that I recorded last night. It's called Me, Myself and I. Oh, it really bugs me that they don't use the Oxford comma in the title. I'm a big fan of comma's and the Oxford comma in general. Let's put that aside though. Here is the concept for the show. You are following one man's life through childhood, adulthood, and older adulthood. As each episode plays out, you see every perspective as to how it relates throughout his life. The first episode is about a lost love. As a teenager, his mom remarries and moves to L.A. where he starts a new school. He meets a pretty girl and his new step brother is trying to help him with his high school persona. It's all about that first impression. Then step brothers goal, is for him to kiss this girl at the back to school dance. Step brother is pressing it too hard, gives the kid a mint, and when the moment comes, because the girl is wanting to kiss the boy, he begins to choke on the breath mint. The brother gives him the Heimlich and he spits the mint out and it goes in the girls mouth. His high school persona is "Chokey". In the middle age part of his life, he is fighting through being a failure at his job, which is that he is an inventor, but he is at a mental block on creativity. His step dad, who turns out to be a really great guy, told him as a child after the chance to just keep shooting. It's a basketball reference. He is a huge Michael Jordan fan. The step dad mentions that as great as MJ was, he missed a lot of shots, but it was because he kept shooting that he was successful. When He goes to step dad for a pep talk, step dad tells him that he has to look to the past and get out of the future for a little while. He of course thinks step dad has gone crazy, so step dad knocks a spoon off the table and asks him to pick it up. He does and sees an old invention that he made as a kid. He took that invention and sold it to start his business.

      We now look in on older adult version of him. He is just recovering from a heart attack, his daughter is the GM for the Chicago Bulls, and he pretty much has everything except that first love. He is at a diner with his daughter, she left to meet the team in Sacramento, and he pays the check. When the woman gives him a mint with his receipt, he says,"You can keep the mint. A mint cost me my true love once." The woman cashing him out says,"Alhe ex?" He looks at her perplexed and says, "Yes, (reading her name tag) Eleanor?", and then it hits him. His first love was called Nori, which just so happens to be short for Eleanor. They sit and catch up for a while, and then he starts to leave. He walks out the door of the diner, which she owns now, and is the same as when they were kids, and stops. He is struggling with the fact that he is making a huge mistake, he then says, "Just keep shooting", goes back in, taps Nori on the shoulder, and as she turns around, he pulls her into his arms and kisses her.

     I'm sold, and I already set the DVR to record it as it pops up. It stars Jack Dylan Grazer as young Alex Riley, he is in the new movie IT, Giant hit right now, Bobby Moynihan as Alex Riley, he was most recently in Saturday Night Live, and finally John Larroquette as Older Alex Riley, You probably now him from the old TV show Night Court. I've been a big fan of him since that show, he is the reason I recorded it last night. It was on at 9:30 on CBS for a Monday night. If you get the chance check it out, you might just like it. You can watch the first episode on the CBS website right here.

     We are going old old school for tonight's Favorite Song of the Week. This band was a favorite of mine when I was in middle school, and this particular song was off their little known first album. It made me grow my hair out as long as I could, and started my desire to have tattoos. The hair went away a long time ago, and it would be decades until I got my first tattoo, but the dream is real people, and this band started it all. I'm talking about non other than Motley Crue. They put the mayhem in metal and kept Aqua Net in business far longer than they should have been. This song was when they were rough and not the polished hit maker when they did Home Sweet Home, or Kickstart My Heart. This is the pure essence of hair metal. They didn't have the spikes and spandex yet, but they had leather and spikes, and that was part of what brought this grinding sound to life. I got to thinking about this song last week, and that is what I learned in my guitar class. It may not seem like it, but there is a lot going on in this song guitar wise. Enough about all of that, let's just get to the song, and rock out. Here is Motley Crue with "Live Wire".

     I wanted to be lead singer Vince Neil. He was the coolest, but then I grew up, and so did he, and the troubles he has had in his life are ones that I wouldn't want to go anywhere near. He has overcome most of them, but he's a true rock star, and they always seem to have some sort of drama going on around them. Everyone knows about Tommy Lee's troubles with high profile marriages and video tapes, but you may not know about Nikki Sixx and what he has been through, or Mick Mars and how is is struggling with a long term disease. Nikki wrote that song I mentioned above, Kick Start My Heart about dying multiple times from drug overdoses, and the paramedics brining him back each time. Mick has a disease which I can't remember the name of, that leaves him in constant pain, and makes it hard for him to even stand up for any period of time, but until they retired, I think two or three years ago, he was right there alongside all of them playing those massive power chords on his guitar. They've been through a lot, and I'm pretty sure that their stories aren't complete done yet.

     There you have it, an update on the dogs in my life, and a history lesson about Motley True, what else could you want in life? I've written a lot more than I thought I would tonight, so I'll let you go for now. Peace in and goodnight.