# The agony and the ecstacy....



## Steve Stockham (Jan 2, 2008)

Here it is, the weather has turned cooler and the humidity is gone. My layout was cleared of debris and leveled and spot ballasted ready for running trains this weekend. Everything was just hunky dory when I realized that the dogs hadn't been barking at the back door to be let in for quite a while so I went to investigate. I almost wished I hadn't. We just recently completed a deck on the back of the house and it butts up against a section of the layout with a step down to the flagstone path. A temporary gate was rigged up to keep the dogs out and was held closed with a bungee cord for easy access. Big mistake! One of the dogs (I'm pretty sure it was our Golden Retreiver, Kona) figured out that you could get through the gate by tearing through the bungee chord and pushing the gate aside!! Then the fun began!
Our older dog, a Beagle/German Shepherd mix, nearly destroyed my first layout at my other house when she was a puppy. Now she has a very enthusiastic apprentice! The first thing I found was the destroyed plants (yes, plural) which, considering that these were perenials, meant that I will have some purchasing to do next spring. The second was the power cord to the pond pump was dug out of the ground and was disconnected from the pump. I went to plug it back in and.....nothing. The pump has stopped working! (Great! That's another $160.00) I then went over to the far side of the layout and found the area where the dogs had started to dig.....and then I found another....and another....and well, you get the idea! They scattered all of the debris on the track and in the rocks of the walkway. I estimate total clean-up time somewhere between 6 and 8 hours (*Sigh...joy.)
I will freely admit that I was so angry that I was shaking! The dogs, sensing my mood and being relatively intelligent, decided to "be somewhere else" when I came storming in the house. Oh, eventually I calmed down and my anger just fizzled into a kind of sad resignation. I was sure this day couldn't get any worse.....and for once I was right! 
I checked the mail and I received a package from TOC that had the 26th NGRC DVD in it! I had been trying everywhere to find it but was coming up empty! Thanks Dave!! (I'll give you a call to find out how much I owe you.) The_ second_ suprise was the arival of the laser cut railings for an Observation Car from GAL! These railings are _nice!!_ I can now modify one of my AMS coaches to be the end car for my San Juan consist! The _third _supprise was a package that Fed Ex must have left on my porch while I was having a meltdown in the garden. It contained an RPO kit from Rio Grande Models UK which Jonathan at Electric and Steam Modelworks sent me. This kit will allow me to complete my San Juan Express! I have everything I need and it's not even Thanksgiving yet! So, here sit typing after a "rollercoaster" of a day which saw me sink to the depths of despair and agony only to be uplifted and re-invigorated with the arrival of three items I have been trying to get for some time now! Oh, the ecstacy!!
As to the dogs, I didn't do anything to them. Dogs are like kids and you only have yourself to blame if you don't keep an eye on them to make sure they're not getting into trouble! Besides, who can stay angry at a dog?


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Beagle/German Shepard???? Snoopy and Rin-Tin-Tin????


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## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

To me, the definition of mixed feelings can best be summed up by imagining one's mother-in-law driving over a cliff in your new Ferrari. 

tac 
www.ovgrs.org 
Supporter of the Cape Meares Lighthouse Restoration Fund


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## kormsen (Oct 27, 2009)

Posted By tacfoley on 11 Nov 2010 02:22 AM 
To me, the definition of mixed feelings can best be summed up by imagining one's mother-in-law driving over a cliff in your new Ferrari. 

for me it is a bit hard to understand, why a man should be happy to loose his ferrari... ;-p


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

I would have put thier water dish in the oven and blowen out the pilot light.









What I really would do would put in a electronic fence Like Marty has for Max. He wears a colar and when he getst too close to the layout He gets a gazorp in his neck.

It works very well 

Of course That is why I don't have pets. My neighbors make up for it.


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## markoles (Jan 2, 2008)

Steve,

I watched an excellent NOVA show on PBS the other night about the relationship between humans and dogs. Some science to back up the relationship between these two species. As for staying mad, I know what you mean, I cannot remain mad at my dog for very long at all. 

I went through the roller coaster like you did on Tuesday. Health insurance at work is getting more expensive for less coverage. I'm mostly calmed down now, at least I still have a job. On the plus side, on my drive home Tuesday, I stopped to get a bottle of wine. Found my favorite winery was on sale so I stocked up.


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

3 words: Dog Obeidience School 

Sounds like your dogs are the ones in control and not you. This kind of bad behavior CAN be trained out of dogs but you have to put the effort into it with a trainer. Dogs are as smart as a 2 or 3 year old and as such can be taught good behavior from bad, and that was definetly bad behavior.


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## Steve Stockham (Jan 2, 2008)

Agreed. Actually, Kida (our Beagle/German Shepherd mix) doesn't tear things up anymore and hasn't for seven years! Kona, on the other hand, is only one year old and is still very much a puppy! I talked with Patsy last night and the discussion of an electronic fence and collar was seriously discussed! Kona is a loveable dog! It's just that she thinks _everything_ outside is fair game to become a chew toy!! 
Oh yes, the good news is that the pump started working again so no $160 bill and the debris only took 3 hours to clean up rather than the 8 I had originally forecasted. (I did find that Kona had "nibbled" on one of the ground throws to my Switchcrafter's turnout which will require rebuilding the switch but this was the switch that had been giving me trouble anyway and was slated to be rebuilt this winter so no real harm done. I lost four railclamps where the dog tore up a section of the track but that was easilly fixed.

Update: I don't believe it!! Those two hoodlums were at it again!! I let them out while I caught up on the computer and I went to check on them and they had somehow chewed through the bungee cord (even though it was wrapped around the outside this time!) and were busily destroying what I had just put back together!! (Arrrrgh!!!!!) _That_ does it!! It's time for technology to take a hand! Time for Kona and Kida to become acquainted with what Ben Franklin discovered! (They're intelligent dogs. They'll figure it out _really_ quick! I could then take down that fence and gate...) I didn't even have to yell at them! I just stood there and stared and they knew they were in trouble!


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Steve,

I'm glad to hear that the damage was not as bad as you first thought. You gotta love those dogs!! We had a 110 lb. Springer Spaniel when I built my first garden railroad in 1985 and I had a beautiful curved trestle that I made for it. I even put wooden water barrels on the mid-section. Every once in a while, these barrels would just disappear! Never knew where they went. I would put new ones back and then they would disappear. One day I finally caught her in the act. She very gingerly picked the little barrel up and wandered to a hidden area in the yard. When she had finished making her "deposit in her hiding place" and wandered away, I went over to check it out. Lo and behold, ALL the barrels were there, not eaten or chewed, just little tooth marks where she had carried them in her mouth. I miss that old dog. Mandy was her name.


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## wchasr (Jan 2, 2008)

I am seriously afraid to do what I need to do outside. Our dog (Alaskan Husky named Casper as he's all white) can be a digger. Especially when he see's me digging. He's on a cable run from the back of the house to a tree in the back yard and a stout chain from the cable. Unfortunately the Septic tank is in "his" territory and I really need to have it pumped at some point. We have never had it pumped in 3 + years now. I'm gonna have to do some digging to find it too. Besides that we've also discussed getting an electric fence for him BUT he spends most of his day outside and I'm afraid he'd figure out he could charge the "barrier", deal with the zap for a bit, and get out. He also chews on most anything but is much better now, than he was when he had his puppy teeth. Pet's, gotta love them...or else. 

Chas


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## Chrisp (Jan 3, 2008)

Sorry to hear about the damage, but you're right, you can't stay mad at a dog too long. Our Dandy Dinmont terrier likes to plop himself down in the garden and watch the neighbo'rs cats use my right of way as kitty litter!


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## takevin (Apr 25, 2010)

As said, dog training are the basics having a dog.....


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

My last dog ( back in the 70's) was a Alaskan Manmute. I got him as a puppy. One big happy ball of furr. Back then he had a collar and I had the remote. Didn't take long to learn the property boundries. He stayed in his own yard He sure was a lot of fun.


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## Steve Stockham (Jan 2, 2008)

I'll tell you what, that dog sure loves trains! I just purchased the #315 video and was watching it. My dog perked up her ears and trotted over to the set and sat down and watched the entire video! She_ never_ watches television but boy was she glued to that DVD program!


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## markoles (Jan 2, 2008)

Steve,

I can get Lucia to watch TV when there are dogs on the screen. Particularly the Outdoor Games when they have the dog jump from the end of the dock. She learned to jump in the pool after that!


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

I am SO glad we no longer have dogs.


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## Steve Stockham (Jan 2, 2008)

Today is the first day that the layout is dry enough to allow for me to get out and repair the damage those two did (3.5" of rain tends to make things quite soggy!) I estimate I should have everything up and running by the weekend. This is good because we are hosting a family reunion for my wife's family here in Salina over the Thanksgiving weekend and I'm supposed to run trains. (Geez....those two are definitely NOT on my Christmas list!)


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