Hot and Bothered

The thermometer has been in the high-80 / low-90 degree range for the past few days here, with accompanying dew points in the 70s (read: oppressive humidity). Too much of this type of weather has a tendency to wear on my nerves, and doubtless this is true for many people.

But, last night giving the ol' middle finger to the weather, I took Ruff on about a half-mile walk-run-walk and then put some rib eyes and squash on the grill. 'Course, the grilling was full of caveats --- Step C needed to be done before Step B, and Step A couldn't be done until after Step C, and Step D.... This kind of situation is tolerable to me, regularly, but the closeness of the air has a way of bringing down the boiling point, so to speak. But here we are, I got through it. Ruff got some water, panted for a while, and had a nap on the cold basement floor. I took a cool shower, we have the air conditioner on, and all is well, until I go outside again.

Ruff is 6 months old today. Still being debated whether he'll get the big snip at the vet. I really it would be best, but the other point is whether we could use him for breeding. Having helped raise three litters of GSPs during my late teen years, I can honestly say that I am not in any hurry to do that again. With a male, though, that isn't the consideration. My argument is that breeders typically don't go outside of their own circle in selecting pairings and they use dogs that are well tested, so it's probably a moot point anyway. To be sure, one doesn't go into breeding to make money --- it's nearly even-steven money-wise, and then factor in the opportunity cost of the many hours of effort. But to avoid any potential accidents in this area of puppy-making, I think it best to have Ruff neutered. The running wisdom also adds that neutering helps to calm dogs a bit, which, given the last few weeks' behavior (chewing things that aren't his to chew, including two electrical cords (they were unplugged)), is desirable.