Screens

Hey hey hey everybody! Squirmy here! With another installment of dogs gone crazy. Welcome.

So. What’s new here? Oh. Oh. I know. A human project! You know those projects that you look at and say should take 30 minutes? And they are SO simple? But they end up involving three people, two trips to Home Depot, an assortment of tools and parts none of which exactly work for your project, and HOURS OF FRUSTRATION? Yup. That was our house on Thursday. And the project? The replacement of the screen in our patio door because yours truly took an already torn screen (that was made by other canines into a “dog door”) and TOTALLY shredded it so it looked like wire spaghetti. Now the original door renovation by “other dogs” was not totally bad as it actually flapped in and out and it DID keep the bugs out. But the handiwork, make that paw-diwork, of yours truly, left a screen that would essentially allow an eagle to fly in our house. Yup. I made a mess. And we know that the blackflies will soon be here – so we needed to fix the problem.

So. My Enforcer, Sue and Keith decided to replace the screen. A simple task. Right? Yeah not so much. One side of the screen frame came off the track and the other was STUCK. They pulled. They tugged. They used an assortment of tools to get the door off the track. They watched YouTube videos. Nothing worked. Meanwhile, the Boss and the Coyote just watched- while yours truly was sequestered in my crate. Probably because the combo of me and humans on ladders would not be a good idea. Anyway, at some point they got the door off. There was much rejoicing. They replaced the screen material and left part unattached so we canines would still have a dog door. How thoughtful of them. The Coyote decided to check it out before the door went back up.

But then they tried to get the thing back up. Well. The same part that would not come off in the beginning, would now not go on. After many interesting words- they basically propped the thing up partly in the track and gave up for the night.

The next morning, My Enforcer opened the glass door, not thinking about the precarious screen. Yours truly marched in and out before she could stop me. I pushed the screen material in and out – just the way it was intended. My Enforcer knew they needed to totally secure the door in track, but was happy to see me using it the way it was intended. Great. Except after about the 6th round trip, I decided to grab the screen material. She shouted “noooooo” as I attempted to take out a hunk of screen and again create my spaghetti screen art. Thankfully she stopped me before I did any damage and she sprayed that dreadful pepper spray stuff on the screen – the stuff that keeps me from chewing.

So we’re still waiting for the door to work right on the track. It won’t slide. So right now we canines can go in and out but the humans can’t. Not without bending over and going through the part that’s been left open for us dogs. How funny is THAT?

The other news is that today is National Purebred Dog Day. Now let me begin by saying that ANY dog can be a wonderful companion and family member and dogs in shelters deserve great homes too. There is nothing wrong with adopting. Just as there is nothing wrong with getting a well-bred purebred, and supporting heritage breeders. Here’s a link that talks about some of the benefits of living with a purebred dog….

https://www.sheknows.com/living/articles/1094363/why-i-choose-purebred-dogs/amp/

That’s a great article from a personal view. And this article goes even more deeply into why purebred dogs are so very important, and why heritage breeding is critical in preventing the extinction of dog breeds:

https://www.instituteofcaninebiology.org/blog/a-call-for-preservation-breeding

So today we celebrate us purebreds. It is our day. Mind you, in this house, every day is our day. But today is extra special. Because we are real treasures. Even when we destroy screen doors….

Have a good one. Peace and paws up. Stay safe!