Confabulations

You may be pleased to learn that looking after a small dog isn’t that difficult. Although, some small dogs do have particular requirements worth noting. There are a few things that will need to be carefully considered before you proceed to buy one.

Feeding time:

Of course eating is the most obvious daily activity but the average kibble available from the grocery may be over-sized for your dog. You’ll need to be sure to buy a kibble designed to fit his smaller mouth (these are easy to find among the premium dog food brands). You ought to give the miniature canines some canned soft foods.

Containment:

It is easy for them to run around and go to the toilet outside providing the area is secure isn’t it? However, fencing used to contain a larger dog may have spaces below or in between for the smaller dog to pass through and escape. Fences also can’t provide overhead protection from large hawks, which sadly have been known to carry tiny dogs and puppies away. Thus a kennel with adequate head cover is what is warranted.

Training your dog:

While the training methodologies may be the same for large as well as tiny and are not any harder, but canine experts confirm that more often than not, the smaller counterparts are usually over-mothered. Small dogs don’t think any differently to their larger cousins and believe they are part of the pack where you are their leader but if you show signs of weakness they will start ruling you. It may seem like a minor matter but just because they are diminutive and the mess they leave might not be much, it doesn’t mean they do not need to be house trained. Dog experts also suggest you make your dog work for you, to keep him responsive to your rules. Before you reward him with a treat or with his meal for having obeyed your commands, make his sit or run or do small tricks.

Dog grooming:

Small dogs have some particular requirements when it comes to grooming you need to bear in mind. Firstly, as they do not get the same type of outdoor exercise that a larger dog does whereby their nails are trimmed automatically, tiny dogs require their nails trimmed on a more regular basTiny canines do not get the same sort of regular outdoor exercise on rough surfaces that controls their nail growth like a larger dog so they will need to be trimmed more often. Brushing his teeth twice a week is mandatory, especially if he is on soft canned foods. As is evident from the above, caring for a small dog is very much the same for any dog of any size. While each requirement may seem small and insignificant, but when you do it with earnestness, it can make a huge difference in the way you keep a dog.

As the walls of the recession close in on companies across the board - be they financial institutions or component manufacturers - are facing shrinking markets, more risk-averse customers and a lack of capital to draw on. That makes the role of effective marketing even more crucial. If marketing spend can’t be accounted for, and the ROI calculated effectively then it is unlikely to get the go-ahead from the board.

In this kind of climate, the internet is clearly the preferred format for most direct sales channels. While broadcast and print can be captured to some degree through the use of offer codes, unique telephone numbers and so on the internet is far more responsive and scientifically measurable.

A little food for thought there, if you’re looking to buy some advertising this week.

It’s been raining for about 8 months now and more rain is forecast for the next week. My house is quite old and although there’s nothing wrong with the guttering, the drains don’t cope too well under the pressure. I say ‘drains’ - there’s only one, small drain for the whole house, which may have something to do with the problem. The back yard is often awash with rainwater, washing-machine water and sink water. Not toilet water thank god or I’d have to move out.

This is the only house I’ve ever lived in where the drains can’t cope with normal use - even scabby student flats didn’t have this problem no matter what you put down them. Maybe the Victorians didn’t use much water? Did they bath once a week?

Today is Blue Monday, apparently the most depressing day of the year. We’re a long way from Christmas, we have massive debts, the weather is awful and we’ve just broken our new year’s resolutions by having a heavy weekend of drinking and chocolate. Blue Monday was in fact made up by a travel company as a marketing ploy to get us all to book a vacation in Florida. Still, there seems to be some truth in it - after all, how many of us are really over the moon to be back at work, poor, getting up in the freezing dark every morning, AND suffering with a diet/exercise regime/budget? If you could measure depression in any quantifiable manner I’m sure today wouldn’t be far from the top but that’s not to say we should let the press put a label on it and force us to take part. Blue Monday allows us to wallow in self-pity, it justifies our grumpy moods and gives us carte blanche to be objectionable…it probably goes some way toward proving we love to complain. How about this year, we all try to smile on Blue Monday, congratulate the achievement of a 2 week diet and see paying off our debts within 2 years as a good thing.

Welcome to 2009, the Year of the Ox! The year began with a loud noise - the sound of millions of people tightening their belts into an uncomfortable position. Uncomfortable, but thrifty. 2009 will be the year of the miser, the year of scrimping and saving against an impending job loss or company closure. Against rising taxes and the cost of living, against fuel shortages and bankcruptices.

I for one am going to take up free hobbies. Instead of spending £70 a month on a gym subscription, £8 on a cinema ticket and £20 eating out, I shall read, make crafty objects and walk or cycle outside where the fresh air costs nothing. It may be boring but it’ll save money.

I hope you celebrated the new year well - the last day of extravagance before dark times. If you used recyclable party supplies then all the better, you’re helping the planet too.

Well, almost. It’s the wind-down to Xmas, so here are some Xmas games to keep you occupied:

linky link link

It seems they’ve finally found a black hole in the middle of our galaxy - something that quite frankly I thought they knew a long time ago, but it turns out it was always conjecture and overconfidence until it was recently confirmed by the aptly-named ‘Very Large Telescope’.

(What I don’t understand is how, if black holes are formed when matter is very dense, why there was a big bang at all when supposedly back then matter was reeeaaallly dense. Anyway…)

Now we know that this enormous, space-devouring monster exists, are we going to see a new Age of Peace, or will we all turn into Nihilists…or Hedonists? Existential questions must be tugging at our minds demanding an explanation and coupled with the economic downturn it’s incredible more of us aren’t jumping off bridges or underneath high speed trains. I mean, what’s left to live for really?

Well, Pelorian Cats for one thing. And the January Sales. There’ll be some fantastic bargains to be had in just a few weeks time, not least on cheap bed linen. Before we all go and join an end-of-the-world cult, I think we should take a moment to think about what’s really important in life.

This is a small, cheating little nugget of a link which - for various reasons - I’d like to post here. Not a very interesting post, eh?

Uh-oh - my boiler broke! It was late on a freezing cold Friday night and of course, the letting agents are closed on a weekend (really convenient I know!). That meant no heating and no hot water - I found myself putting on layer after layer of dirty clothes to keep warm and contemplating boiling the kettle to wash my hair.

Of course, it would help if my house was well-insulated but I swear, even if you close all the doors and windows, the second you turn the heating off it returns to arctic temperatures. The government are having a big drive at the moment to get everyone to insulate their homes. I’m rather dubious as to the environmental benefits this will bring - after all, homes will always be demolished and rebuilt and other pollutants like cars, factories etc will still be doing their damage. One thing I do believe however is that insulation can make your home warm, and a warm home is very important (as I recently found out). The Slanket can only do so much.

We had several inches of snow overnight and it’s turned our town into a winter wonderland. Also a scene of complete gridlock with cars sliding into hedges, pedestrians falling over and other chaotic happenings. I had to actually abandon the car on the way to work this morning. After half an hour sat in traffic, having moved about 20 yards, I dumped it in a side street and walked. Some time later with frozen feet and absolutely covered in snow I made it into work and was greeted by the unsettling fact that only 3 other people had achieved the same.

If you’re lucky enough to live a long way from work I hope you’re enjoying your day off. We built a snowman in the car park during lunch so haven’t missed out completely. We’re still waiting for it to come to life and dance around, but I’m not so sure the old beanie hat we found is magic.

Snowmen are popping up all over the place. Even the most cold-hearted, never-cracks-a-smile old sod will go out and build a snowman. It’s physically impossible not to. You can also tell who has psychopathic tendencies by watching them commit snowman-murder. That person is a ticking timebomb.