Engineers Are Special People

[desoto_hia873]

Jim's an engineer, which means he's not quite like the other boys. ;-) On top of his engineeriness, I strongly suspect that he's dyslexic. Listening to him read out loud is an adventure--he either reverses the order of letters (which is why we eat tofu, but Jim eats tufo) or he inserts letters and syllables into words that have never been there before. Sometimes he makes up entirely new words and I have to back-calculate to figure out what he meant (best one to date: insensationable). His spelling is atrocious, and he generally has to write and rewrite emails at least twice before they say what he intends them to say. I tease him by telling people that Jim doesn't have a first language.

Which is why I'll be living with a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, or Toller for short, and Jim will be living with a Nova Scotia Duck Trolling Retriever, or Troller. I suppose we could drag the dog behind the boat and see if she can catch ducks that way...

Comments

[ezagaaikwe.livejournal.com]

I get that --- I interpose letters all of the time, particularly the first couple of letters of any given word. How hard is "to" to spell? I regularly spell it "ot."

I googled your doggie. Lovely creatures.

[desoto-hia873.livejournal.com]

They're pretty, aren't they? Check out Maverick (http://web.ncf.ca/aj340/visitors/maverick.html) (scroll down for the story of "How I Spent An August Weekend"). What a gorgeous dog! He's Bella's daddy--she got some good genes from him, that's for sure.

[ezagaaikwe.livejournal.com]

He looks so intelligent and fun-loving. Working breeds always look happy when they're, you know, working! (But he doens't look as though he needs to work very hard to win those ribbons!)

[desoto-hia873.livejournal.com]

They're supposed to be pretty intelligent dogs. Jim was reading a book on the breed a few nights ago and worrying that Bella was going to outsmart him. :-)

And, yes, the challenge of owning a working dog is keeping it busy. The unoffical Toller-owner motto is "Better behaviour through exhaustion." I'm already signed up for an obedience course, and I want to try agility training too. I know that'll tire me out; I hope it does her too!

[ezagaaikwe.livejournal.com]

Sounds like good exercise, too. (Not that you need it!)

I was reading an article about some new dog trainer in LA who's all the rage. She's the darling of the dog-owning stars there. She espouses training through love, instead of intimidation and choke collars, etc. She has remarkable success in engaging the dog in the fun aspects of getting trained and pleasing you, its owner. I wish I could remember her name.

[ezagaaikwe.livejournal.com]

Found it.

[desoto-hia873.livejournal.com]

The dog-whisperer! :-) Thanks for the link--looks like an interesting book.