Think of...cheese!

My dog has, shall we say... a problem. When she was new to us, we would put down a 'wee pad' in her crate and if she had to potty in the night, she would go on it and it would be contained in the pad. Nice and neat. Well, as she's gotten older, she has taken to shreading the pad, and as such we don't lay it down at night anymore. Usually she can hold it until morning, but on occasion when she's had too much to drink, she'll urinate in the cage, but it will have no place to be picked up into. So she'll have stand in her own urine until either Jen gets up, or I get home.
This bothers me on several levels. First off, I know that this can not be a healthy practice for our pooch. I mean, I certainly wouldn't let my own child do this, why am I letting my dog do it? Next is the fact that no matter how much I try and clean her up, she still tracks urine around the house until her paws dry. Which is probably why our house smells a little...doggy. I may try putting a pad down again, see if she chews it up. But considering she's still chews on everything else, I'm not holding my breath. But at the same time, I want to have a healthy dog, one free of pee smell. I need a backyard that's dog-proof.


JUST FOR FUN
This is the back cover story of the book "California Man". I won't say how I came about it, only that's it's not mine. All punctuation errors were copied exactly sa I saw them. Enjoy this teaser...
When Quinn Ramsay boarded the ferry for Cananda's Salt Spring Island, he was determined to leave the pressures of his life in California behind him. There would be no more freeways, business lunches, or paparazzi - at least for the next few weeks. Quinn hoped that fresh air, sunshine, and isolation would give him the peace of mind he needed to contemplate the future of his hugely successful sporting goods company, Action Sports.
Emily Welland, owner of the island's only book shop, had read about the tall, rugged entrepreneur who had the Midas touch in business. She'd seen magazine photos of Quinn surrounded by models and movie stars. The question was how a blue-eyed California hunk like Quinn could possibly be interested in a shy, island hermit like Emily.
But from the moment they met, Quinn knew there was something special about Emily Welland. Although most people thought she resembled a timid librarian, Quinn could see that Emily's silvery gray eyes sparkled with an unborn passion. Beneath that shy facade was a woman who had not yet blossomed, a tender rosebud that longed to open its petals to the sun. And Quinn Ramsey wanted to be the man who brought this rosebud her first glimpse of sunshine.

Man, I love literature.