More Eco-dilemmas

 The other week I brought two pairs of leggings from Tesco, two pairs for £8.
Nothing fancy, just bog standard leggings.

Wore the one pair under a dress when i went out for a drink, then went to wear the other pair yesterday.

But DAMN IT!!!

As I went to pull them on I noticed a gaping hole along the inside leg seam.
On closer inspection it looks like something went wrong while being sewn up, one end it sewn tight, the other unravelling.

Well for a moment I stood there glaring at the hole filled with consumer indignation!
How inconvenient!
Now I was going to have to take them back to Tesco.

Then I stopped.

What would happen to the leggings once I handed them over?

I'm not sure, but I'm betting they don't get sent away to be mended and sold again.
In fact I'm pretty sure they go in the bin.

I had a quick search online to see if I could find any reference to what happens to returned damaged clothes and couldn't find any.
I wondered if they donated them to one of the clothing charities, but figured they would publicize something like that pretty well.

So I looked at the hole again.

Wouldn't take a few minutes to fix good as new.

Put them on the mending pile and saved my consumer rage for something I won't be able to fix myself. 

       

Puppy love?

Well its Nealy March.
Birds are singing, grass is growing, days are getting warmer, shelters filling up with puppies...........

Yup, that's right folks. Its now 3 months after Xmas which means that a lot of puppies bought just before Xmas (because it would be wrong to get a puppy FOR Xmas, right? *eye roll*) have not fulfilled their promise and are now waiting for a new home.

What possible reason could there be for getting rid of a 6 month old puppy?
Let me count the ways....

Not yet toilet trained.
Barking.
Destructiveness.
Nipping children.
Chasing livestock/cats.

Hmm.

When you take on a puppy you take on the responsibility for training that puppy.
Would you have a child and then expect him to raise himself?
Would you put your 4 year old child up for adoption because he wasn't toilet trained or drew on the walls or hit his brother?

I have had dogs since I was 6 years old.
There are some genuine reasons for rehoming a dog, I have rehomed two in my time.

The first was a beautiful dalmation who was picked on mercilessly by my other two dogs, the second was my border collies daughter who used to fight with her mother. In both cases I picked their new homes myself, visiting the owners and then following up with visits after. I did not wash my hands of the problem and make it someone else's.

So if your thinking of buying a puppy, heres what to expect.

1. Puppies need house training. They will not do it themselves and a dog crate won't do the job for you. How long will it take? Well how long is a piece of string? Every dog is different. My border collie was house trained within a couple of weeks my Yorkshire terrier took a good 9 months to be 100%. You will need to be ultra vigilant in the first few weeks, making it clear that outside is where he toilets, you need to be hawk like in noticing the signs he needs to "go" and work hard to help him do the right thing by accident so that he can learn it the right thing. So if you think putting your new pup in  crate and then going to work for 8 hrs a day is fine, you are setting yourself up for a lifetime of cleaning up poop.
2. Puppies need quite time. The new puppy is not a toy. Allowing children to play with the puppy unsupervised   is the quickest way to raise a fearful and snappy dog. The problem with snapping at children is either fear or excitment at this age. Again, if the pup is left alone all day and then wound up to a frenzy by the kids when you get home, snapping will happen.




Alfie and Merle. Play time was
closely supervised.


3. Puppies need to feel secure. Many homes consist of two adult working full time and kids at school. Would you have a toddler in the house and leave him alone for hours at a time? Would you be surprised when he became sad, destructive or noisy? Puppies CAN be left alone but you need to work up to it. Working quiet time (in a crate or other room) away from you into your puppy's routine means he can get used to spending time alone without getting distressed. A few minutes to start with working upto an hour. If your puppy is secure, has a routine (feeding and walks at the same time each day ) and has learnt to be calm there should be no problem with leaving him for a few hours at a time. Behavioral problems are often due to a dog feeling distressed. DO the correct ground work in the beginning and you won't have major problems.
4. Puppies need rules. Whats cute at 8 weeks isn't cute at 8 months. Don't allow your puppy to bite you in play, you're giving him the green light to bite in play as an adult, not good! If your pup accidentally catches you with his teeth while you're playing say no and stop the game. They soon learn to be careful. I used the word "ouch" with my Yorkshire terrier (a breed known as being snappy.... apparently), this means that if it happens with a child they are more likely to say ouch than no. Now if you say "ouch" he stops immediately and waits. Likewise jumping up and guarding toys and food. Also puppy "time outs" are very useful. When the yorkie was around six months old he growled at my youngest son. He was pushing the boundaries, trying to see if he could get the child to go away. I immediately growled "No" and whisked him off to the cat carrier and put him in another room for 10 minutes. Highly effective, none physical. He was put swiftly in his place and he knew it. Now he seeks out my youngest son and often sneaks into bed with him!
5. Puppies need time. Like small children they need time with someone to care for them, to teach them and to play with them. They are not toys to be left in crates until YOU want to play with them. A typical day in the life of a new puppy would go something like this. 

• Up and out to toilet.
• Breakfast.
•  Out to toilet.
• Play time.
• Out to toilet.
• Quiet time.
• Out to toilet. 
• lunch
• Out to toilet.
• Playtime
• Out to toilet
• Quiet time.
• Out to toilet.
• Dinner.
• Out to toilet.
• Playtime.
• Out to toilet.
• Bed.

Do you see a pattern here?
A young puppy needs to toilet after every meal, nap and playtime.... and often in between as well. Until they are on the way to being housetrained someone will need to look after pup.

Now I'm not saying that a working family can't have a dog. But if you can't offer that initial level of care in the first couple of months at least, maybe a puppy isn't for you. Of course you could ask a neighbour or friend to help out, or you could adopt an older dog who is happy for long periods of quiet time in the day.

Puppies are not toys, they come to you at 10 weeks or so at the same stage as a human pre-schooler. They need just as much love, attention and hard work as one too.
Think before you impulse buy that cute bundle off fluff.
Think about the mess, the chewed shoes, the fact that when puppy is six months or so they will start behaving like stroppy teenagers.
When you buy a puppy you commit to around 15 years of care.
15 years is a long time and there will be problems along the way, health issues, behavioural changes, changes in your own life.
Can you commit?
Or will you be like the others who throw out a puppy for not being "The perfect Dog".

ADOPT A DOG!!!!

Mrs Murray's Home for stray dogs and cats

SSPCA

RSPCA 

Battersea dogs home

Dogs Trust

Time to get the hands dirty again!!!

Can I REALLY grow up and tidy up?

I heard on the radio the other that it takes 2 weeks to form a habit, and 6 months to make that habit a behavioural change in  your life.
This was just before January 1st when everyone was talking about the best ways to keep your new years resolutions. Your diet/ gym membership/ time with your family, that sort of thing.

Well I was thinking about this the other day.
For certain reasons I was cleaning the house, you know the sort, the BIG deep clean that even includes washing windows *shudder*.
You see the thing is I'm a slut, and not in the fun way.

I have always had a problem keeping things tidy.
I remember huge rows with my Mum when I was small and huffing and procrastination as a teenager. My first flat always looked like a crack house despite the fact I was only there to eat and sleep.
When I moved in with Kim it got no better.
Washing up? Laundry? Hoovering?
Pah.
These are things to be done only when a) someone important is coming for a visit or b) we run out of cups/clothes/floorspace.

When the kids came along it was inevitable that I would get no tidier.
Once when watching a TV program about shut in old people who horded they showed the council climbing into the house, wading through bin bags of rubbish, climbing over mountains of magazines.
We laughed, but out of the corner of my eye I thought "Not so far away.... a few more bin bags, 3 or 4 piles of newspapers......."

It really got to the stage where I would rather appear rude and leave a friend standing on my doorstep than invite them into my house if they turned up uninvited.

So I stood back from my days work and was pleased with the result.
The little house scrubs up well.

I wondered what it would be like to have this all the time..... Ok maybe not ALL the time but as the norm rather than the exception.
When I look at my attitude to housework I think I often have a vague feeling that someone else should be doing it. Not in a feminist way, in reality I do most because Kim does other stuff like fix the car, do the bulk of the horse work AND hold down a job. Its not a seething resentment that my husband isn't pulling his weight, just a feeling  it shouldn't be ME!

Jobs like cleaning the bathroom just feel alien, I mean do you really need to clean the toilet every day/week/month/before your mum visits?

What if?

What if I could change my mindset and keep on top of housework, wash up 3 or 4 quick times a day rather than one big panic "basics" wash up in the morning because the kids need tubs for their school lunches. What if I Stayed on top of the laundry so that we always had socks, sometimes even matching ones! What if I actually picked things up as I saw them instead of leaving them to breed until I can't see the floor ..... again.

Well I could give it a go..... whats to lose?

Are you a neat freak or happy to live in mess?
What are your tips for staying on top of housework without becoming some hysterical 1950's housewife?