Year: 2010

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An Update on Loretta from the AHS

I wanted to give an update on Loretta today, so that everyone who was nice enough to donate to help her (and my other dogs) as outlined in Volunteering at the Austin Humane Shelter: Thank You will know what’s going on.

Friday, Loretta went in for her surgery.  I had actually volunteered to pick her up at the vets since it’s close to where I live but apparently she doesn’t like riding in cars and they didn’t want her to mess my back seat.  So shelter staff took her up in a van and brought her back.

And she’s doing wonderfully.  Her eye was removed and, like dogs who have a leg removed, she’s doing just fine.  Dogs are adaptable, they don’t have time to mope.  Her mange is also clearing up and her overall skin and fur condition is better.  She’s still under clinic watch, they’ve been trying to clear her of ringworm for a while. … Keep Reading

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My Dog Alfie: Part 2

So in ALFIE! Part 1, I gave a relatively quick explanation of how I went from digging a dog (ALFIE!) to adoption in a handful of days.  Summing that up, I’d actually known ALFIE for a couple of months but had only spent a minimal amount of time with him in the runs since he was technically a level above what I could walk at the shelter.

A series of events ranging from being told that my excuses for not having a dog were nonsense to watching two friends’ dog for about 5 days along with a bunch of different events on Thanksgiving had led to me making a decision.  I wanted ALFIE!.  After buying a bunch of stuff at PetSmart, I had adopted him that Saturday and brought him home.

As sort of an amusing side-note, readers will note that I’m referring to ALFIE! in all-caps, Internet yelling.  That’s how I actually always talked to him at the shelter; I’d see him in his kennel and treat him and call him ALFIE!. … Keep Reading

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My Dog ALFIE!

Today is a little bit different in terms of content.  Because today I have a surprise.   Don’t be surprised if my site domain changes to Doggierecomposition.com soon.

Anyhow, today and Thursday is going to be another couple of posts about dogs.  Well, more specifically about a single dog named ALFIE!  Now can probably guess what today is going to be about by the title alone; read it all anyhow.  It’s background for Part 2 on Thursday anyway.

Now, those of you who read/remember the entirety of the Volunteering at the Austin Humane Shelter series may remember that i mentioned a BB (blue extreme) dog named Alfie that was one of my current favorites, but that I didn’t ever get to walk him because he was above my level.

But that I’d sat with him in the runs from time to time and really dug him.  He was cute in that sort of stupid looking way and he’s just a big goofball; I couldn’t figure out why he hadn’t been adopted and he’d been at the shelter for at least a couple of months. … Keep Reading

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Should Training Determine the Diet or Vice Versa?

There are a lot of different ways to train.  And there are a lot of different ways to diet for fat loss.  In many cases, specific forms of training combine well with specific forms of dieting.     But in many others they do not and a given form of training will simply not be compatible with a specific approach to fat loss.   In that situation, the trainee is faced with the question of whether their training should determine the diet they use or vice versa?

When Does the Training Determine the Diet?

The first situation, when the training determines the diet, occurs when someone’s training program is either very specifically set up or simply cannot be changed.    In other cases, trainees can’t change their weight training program or simply don’t want to. 

Perhaps it’s a program they know works for them.  Perhaps it’s simply set up in a specific way in terms of the days per week they are supposed to train or the specific split routine that is being used.… Keep Reading

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Volunteering at the Austin Humane Shelter: Thank You

I was originally going to try this as a video post and wish I could have.  But I couldn’t make it through the tears so words on a screen will have to do. It’s weak as hell but apparently, right now, so am I.

I just want to make a quick post about what happened after last week’s series of articles on Volunteering at The Austin Humane Shelter.  I had been last Friday and simply been told that ‘the response to your articles has been amazing’ but I knew no more than that. I knew that a tremendous number of donations had come in for the Loretta fund and had asked for an overall total so I could thank people later this week.

I had no idea.

Thanking Me?

What I found amusing about the whole situation is that people at the shelter kept thanking me for what I’d done.  I talked to various staff members, none of whom I’d ever even met before, and they kept trying to thank me.… Keep Reading