Pepper's Progress

Thank the Gummi Mary, Pepper seems to have suffered no ill effects from being run over by Farmer H and The Pony in SilverRedo on Monday. He's been his usual bouncy, energetic self since Wednesday. As for adjusting to the confines of the GPS collar, Pepper is learning quickly.

Tuesday, Pepper stayed pretty close to the Mansion. There were two attempts to go under the barbed wire fence that separates our property from the next door guy Farmer H went to high school with. Both times, Pepper turned back at the warning. 

This was at the very beginning of our driveway. I'm not surprised. There must be a rabbit trail there. All our dogs (Grizzly the lab/beagle, Tank the purebred beagle, Poor Dumb Ann the black German shepherd, and my Sweet, Sweet Juno the border collie/lab, and little dachshund/heeler Jack) have run under the fence there, and chased rabbits through the brush and across the road. Scarlett the adopted purebred Australian shepherd was not big on rabbit-chasing.

Anyhoo... when I came home from town on Tuesday afternoon, the team of Pepper/Jack jumped off the back of the carport and took to chasing another trail they have down into the woods behind the house. I think it's the scampering squirrels they're after there. This time, Jack went first. Pepper hesitated, then followed. While I was waiting for the garage door to raise, Pepper came back! Sat in front of me on the carport, looking dejected, ears down.

The Pony called, saying he got a notice on his phone that there was a breach. Yes! I got it on my phone as I went in the house. Pepper had crossed the boundary, and got a shock.

Wednesday, midmorning, there was another breach notice, following a notice that Pepper had turned back. This was way down by the creek, on the opposite end of our other 10 acres. The Pony also texted me about that one. I know why it happened. Farmer H's squirrel-hunting buddy was out here. I'm sure Pepper followed him down into the woods, and was going after a squirrel.

Thursday, there was one turn-back at the end of our driveway, where Pepper would cross over to go to the neighbors who complained about night visits making their penned dogs bark.

Farmer H goes to the part of the Halo 5 Collar app that tells how the dog is responding to training. For example, after the first day, including the multiple shocks just before Pepper got run over (!), it showed compliance (or whatever the term is) of 5%. On Thursday evening, it was 33%. I'm sure that will get better each time an incident happens where Pepper turns back at the warning.

Anyhoo... here are the kind of notifications we get, along with a time stamp.

FENCE BREACH AVOIDED

Pepper entered the warning zone and returned to the safe zone.

(On the map, the area is marked with a ! for turning back at the warning sound, and !! for turning back after the mild shock.)

FENCE BREACH DETECTED

Pepper left the fence.

(On the map, the area is marked with !!! for getting the full shock.)

RETURNED TO SAFETY

Pepper re-entered the fence.

(No marking on the map, since it is where the breach occurred.)

We can open the app on our phones any time, and see the map. It will show the latest five fence breaches/avoidances, and the current location of Pepper.

Every evening, Farmer H takes off Pepper's collar to charge it for 1 hour. It supposedly will last for 48 hours, but we're not sure how accurate that is. Thus the daily routine, rather than doing it every 36 hours and alternating morning and evening.

After a bumpy start, this Halo 5 Collar seems to be serving our purposes.

OH NO! This Has Gone Horribly Wrong!!! (Part 2)

The dog trainers, Farmer H and The Pony, had left for town ten minutes earlier, when I heard the kitchen door open. I went to the kitchen, and found an upset Pony.

"We were watching to see if Pepper chased the truck when we left. He was running along on our grass, but still in the boundary. I could tell he wasn't going to stop at the end, so on my phone I started manually giving him the warning sound. Pepper didn't react. He got shocked when he crossed the boundary, and WENT UNDER THE TRUCK! We ran over him! Dad stopped and put him in the back of the truck, and I got in and rode back to the house with him. We can't SEE anything wrong, except he's limping a little bit on his front left leg."

Farmer H came in next.

"Did you run over Pepper? Or did he just go under the truck, and the wheels missed him?"

"No. We definitely felt a big bump."

"But it was the back tires, Mom. So not all the weight from the motor."

"It's a freakin' TRUCK! He might have internal injuries, or a concussion!"

"I'll take him to the vet tomorrow if he's hurt. He looks okay. I pressed all around on his ribs and back, and he didn't yelp or nothin'."

"He probably has a concussion, and can't think! He's in shock, and doesn't know he's hurt."

"He yelped when the shock hit him, Mom. It kept shocking him when he didn't turn back. It was terrible. I shut it off manually on my phone. I think he went under the truck trying to get to Dad, because he thinks Dad will make the shocks stop."

My theory is that Pepper was running full speed beside the truck, and the shocks made him lose control, like when a person gets tased, and his momentum made him tumble under the truck.

While Farmer H drove The Pony to town, I called for Pepper, who was under the carport in a hole he likes to lie in. He came to the kitchen, and CAME IN, which he hasn't done since he was a pup. Walked in and stood by the table, his back to me at the door. I sweet-talked him and he finally turned around. He looked droopy and sad, with a slight limp on the left front leg.

I finally coaxed Pepper back out on the porch with a piece of stale bun dipped in bacon grease. He sniffed it, but wouldn't eat. He slunk into Juno's old house right by the door, and wouldn't come out all night.

Tuesday morning at 5:45, Pepper came to the laundry room door where Farmer H feeds him. He walked into the laundry room, and sat in front of the washer, wagging his tail. Then went back out when commanded, and ate some food.

When I left for town that afternoon, Pepper was his usual peppy self. Romping and waiting for his treat, ears up, curious. I think he's probably stressed from the ordeal, and seeking safety in the house, remembering puppyhood when he got to come in every morning for petting.

Right now, Pepper is staying close to the Mansion. 

OH NO! This Has Gone HORRIBLY Wrong!!! (Part 1)

On my way to pick up The Pony on Monday, for Pepper's collar training, I was quite dismayed to see Pepper running along behind T-Hoe. He usually goes halfway up the driveway with me, running in the grass where I can see him. That has only been going on for about two weeks. I honk the horn, or put down the window and say "PEPPER! NO!" Then Pepper stops.

This time, Pepper continued. No amount of stopping or NO-ing had an affect. In fact, Pepper gave me a look like, "What are you going to do about it?" Something I didn't want to see, but normal for an animal to try and figure out limits. I told The Pony this tale, and said, "I know this is wrong, but a part of me will not be upset for Pepper to get a little shock. He was being so INSOLENT! He needs to learn the consequences."

Indeed, the Halo 5 Collar could not have arrived at a better time. Farmer H said that a few days ago, he was over in the BARn field, and he saw Pepper chase a UPS truck along the gravel road. Farmer H hollered at him, and when he came back, Farmer H held him by the collar, and "whipped his butt." Just with a hand, of course, a couple swats on the hip.

"He didn't like that at all! He tried to run away, and pulled too hard against the collar, and started coughing and choking.

"He doesn't know what he did wrong! Because got his whoopin' when he CAME BACK. He probably doesn't associate it with chasing the truck."

 "It's a good thing The Pony's getting the new collar ready, because we can't have him chasing cars."

AND when Farmer H and HOS left here on Sunday evening, after dropping off some stuff at the Freight Container Garage, Pepper chased them down the road, almost to the mailboxes. That's a mile!

"He wouldn't go back when we hollered at him. Usually he won't go no farther than the neighbor at the top of the hill. We finally got out and threw rocks at him, and he started back."

Obviously, this was the right time to get Pepper trained, since his roaming behavior was escalating. The Pony watched the training videos. Showed Farmer H right here in the kitchen. They went out with the collar and a baggie of cut-up hot dogs for treats. They were gone about 45 minutes, walking Pepper around the front yard/field and adjacent 10 acres. Showing the boundaries along the front and sides. Pepper got the warning sound when close. Then a small shock. Then the Level 6 (out of 15) shock when he kept going and wouldn't turn back.

"He twitched when it hit him. Let out a yelp. Then laid down and pawed at the collar with his front paws. He didn't like that much. He definitely felt it."

That shocking episode happened when they let Pepper off the leash, and came back for the lawnmower. Farmer H rode it along the BARn field, to see if Pepper would chase. He wasn't chasing, but ran across the road to the hill neighbor's field. That's when he got zapped, and came back.

None of us expected Pepper to be completely trained by this single session. He would have to learn some on his own, while unsupervised. And Farmer H could work with him some more in the evenings. He and The Pony said they thought Pepper was associating the hot dog treat with getting shocked, because toward the end, he wouldn't eat them.

Around 4:50, Farmer H left in SilverRedO to take The Pony home. They were curious if Pepper would try to chase them. I went on about my business. At 5:00, I was in the bathroom, and heard the kitchen door open. That couldn't be good! They should have been in town by then.

It was worse than I expected...

The Training Shall Commence!

The Pony has the Halo 5 Collar ready for Pepper. Farmer H plans to start training on Monday evening. Sunday night, The Pony sent a text:

"OOF! That collar packs a punch. A 6 on the 1-15 scale makes my hand twitch, and an 8 did it down to my elbow. Right now I'm setting it to a loud beep (so we can tell when it goes off). They have a silent dog whistle setting that might work, too.

It'll go BEEP, to a 3 (minor shock), to a 6 as the "out of bounds" one. I'm not sure I'm comfortable going higher than a 6 on a dog Pepper's size."

Also, The Pony sent Farmer H an aerial picture of the zone. It's a view of our acreage and house and BARn and Freight Container Garage. We couldn't see for sure where the creek runs in the back, because of the trees in the satellite view. The Pony thinks the boundary is set about a half-acre across the creek. We just own a little strip of land across the creek, but it's all woods, nothing on it from the neighbors back there. 

Farmer H swears that he has the leash.

"It's on the pet carrier sitting out on the sidewalk where I park my truck."

"You think?"

"That's where I left it after the vet for the operation."

"Out in the weather? Couldn't you hang it on a nail in the garage?"

"It's fine, HM."

"If it's still there! You know how Pepper likes to chew on things..."

"Well, it's there if he ain't drug it off."

I guess I need to check and see if the leash is there, before I pick up The Pony on Monday. We're stopping by the Devil's Playground for a better charging cord for the collar. Might as well pick up another leash while we're there.

Oh, NO! Another Final Notice!

Is there really any money in this scam? How do the Final Notice senders make a buck? Their envelope might fool some people into thinking it's an official notice.

So they open it in a panic. Or out of curiosity, like I did. Since we have no loans to be finally notified about, I do not feel the urge to call about this urgent matter regarding our property.

The letter itself might lead people to think they are in danger of losing their property, rather than just on the hook for repairs. I even had to ask Farmer H: "What in the Not-Heaven is a Home Warranty?" He said it's like a policy for repairs, in case something goes wrong. I could imagine this for a vehicle. I am not familiar with such a thing for homes. I guess that's because we didn't get a loan to buy a house.

I've cropped the first paragraph, because it listed our specific address.

I suppose this no-name company (oh, wait, there's an actual "business" name in the tiny print of the last sentence) can make money from people calling, then fast-talking them into buying "coverage" for their appliances. 

It doesn't seem like an efficient scam to me.

The Healing Has Begun

Friday evening, I took the gauze pad bandage off my hole-y forearm. Not because I thought the wound was ready to let out, but because my arm was itching terribly. Not the healing wound, but the area along the top border where the tape held the bandage. I did NOT want a repeat of the bandaid itch-itis! I thought this tape would be fine. And so far, it was only one of the four sides that was itching.

I was careful not to stretch the skin and re-open the wound. I cut along the gauze on three sides, then pulled it back, and watched to make sure the tape removal did not stretch the hole area. What I discovered was that simply peeling off the tape left mini holes in my papery thin old lady skin!

Still, the bandage was off. The wound could breathe.

It didn't look too bad. Still an oozy place that hadn't covered over. It had not stuck to the gauze, which was basically dry, with only a tiny trace of blood on the underside.

I was careful not to bump the arm, or let any clothing get caught on it. Left it open overnight. Postponed my shower on Saturday morning, due to not wanting to disturb that wound or get it wet. It looked pretty good to me on Saturday afternoon.

Starting to close up. The area around it looks like it has taken a beating, but that's just a little bruising, most of which was there before, from grocery bags. Is it just me, or does the healing hole look like grape jelly?

Anyhoo... I left it uncovered for town. I don't like subjecting people to such a gory sight, but they have no business scrutinizing my body anyway!

Preparing For Pepper's Basic Training

I haven't talked to The Pony yet to see how it's going, setting up the Halo 5 Collar to keep Pepper GPS-ically on our property. I told Farmer H that I was worried about getting the right coordinates for the 10 acres next to the BARn field. It has no address. Just the street name. Farmer H says it will show up on the satellite view. That the landmarks will be visible, like where our little cedar forest ends, and where he stops mowing. The back border is basically the creek, so hopefully it won't be blocked by leafy trees.

We will have to find the leashes that Farmer H keeps proclaiming that he had. I know I bought a new one when I got Pepper's regular collar. I don't know where Farmer H put it. He declared that he already had a leash for taking Pepper to the vet for his operation. 

I swear, Farmer H loses leashes like the boys used to lose school scissors and rulers. Every year, they would bring their stuff home on the last day of elementary school, but then it would be gone when time to start again in the fall. I told Genius that he must have a stash of them under the floorboards of his bedroom. Like "The Telltale Heart." Which he actually used later during his high school years. Not the missing scissors and ruler, but the theme of "The Telltale Heart," for his PEEPS diorama that was an assignment for English class.

Anyhoo... The Pony and I need to give Farmer H a stern talking-to about training Pepper. None of his verbose lectures. Just short commands. No elaboration. No shaming. It's really hard for Farmer H to control his overactive mouth.

Farmer H is busy on the weekend, with his SUS2.5, and making two trips to the city to get cheap rich people cabinets from a remodel. Monday would be the likely day to start training, but it's supposed to rain Monday and Tuesday right now.

We need to get this show on the road. I hope Pepper has been staying home at night. I hear him barking out front. Wouldn't it be rich if I caught the neighbor dogs over here making OUR dog bark? I doubt that it's them. More likely a possum or armadillo.