Dog Shampoo

Is your dog itching, scratching and stinking beyond belief?

Our family brought a puppy home last week, in the hopes of alerting us to some vandals that have been prowling the neighborhood recently. We went down to the Animal Shelter and got a two-month old Black Labrador mix named Emmett. He's a cheerful and intelligent puppy, who has quickly adapted to being house-trained. He's also learned how to sit on command. He has a feisty side -- playfully stealing a show or slipper before dropping it when caught with an innocent look in his eyes.

We've been concerned that Emmett has been itching like crazy. We took him to the vet Monday, and she said we should try regular baby shampoo when bathing him.

I wish we had tried a dog shampoo, like DogOsuds. From what I've read, it's great for dogs with sensitive skin. Also, it has the added benefit of being a flea deterrent, which would be great since we live in a largely rural area. I think I'm going to order that dog shampoo for his next bath.

Emmett started smelling bad a few hours after the bath -- mostly because he loves rolling around on the wet lawn. However, I suspect that the baby shampoo didn't clean him all the way to begin with. DogOsuds looks like it will be good for dealing with that, too, since it rinses easily and cleans thoroughly. The ingredients look good, too -- all natural oils and extracts and no chemicals.

We hope to have Emmett around with us for a long time. The kids love playing with him, and so do my wife and I! I look forward to trying DogOsuds and some of the other Dinovite products -- as it seems that those products will help enhance our experience with Emmett by making him look, smell, and feel good!

WFAN David Wells Interview

Things I learned while listening to Mike Francessa interview David Wells, taken with a grain of salt:
- Wells and Pettitte tried to teach Rivera the cutter. Mel Stottlemyre finally talked him into using it.
- Posada and Varitek are the best catchers of Wells' generation.
- Wells only shook off Posada if he had a scuffed ball in his hands.
- Pitchers today just throw; they don't know how to pitch.

Comments, please. The skewed perspective was making me dizzy as I listened.

I hope someone asks Rivera tonight where he learned his famous cutter. Seriously.

I guess Ivan Rodriguez doesn't exist in David Wells' universe? Maybe he should replay the 2003 World Series. Great game five, by the way.

Opinions on Honduras Coup

Spoke with the Haitian Sensation, and he gave me the following opinions on Honduras and the Americas in general:

- The U.S. has had a policy against coup-de-tats in the Americas (South, Central, Caribbean) for approximately 20 years. Countries in this part of the world have been forced to live with who was elected, and follow the rules.

- If the U.S. allows a coup-de-tat in Honduras to occur, the Haitian Sensation feels more military takeovers could occur in Haiti, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, etc.

- The U.S. needs to "set the tone," and let the Americas know this type of stuff will not be tolerated.

- A former Cuban refugee told us that the deposed President is supported by Chavez and Castro. The U.S. (Obama and Clinton) wants him back in power, to serve out his term (at least that's what we hope! Please!). Honduras wants him out because the guy wants to usurp their constitution and have a second term in power. It also turns out the military is acting to enforce their Supreme Court's ruling on the matter. So, they're having a constitutional battle.

I have yet to read anything on this issue. Just sharing some interesting opinions from people who have lived through military dictatorships. Feel free to clarify.

Jacko - What Enneagram Type?

I've been thinking about where to put Michael Jackson on the Enneagram Who's What list. After reading Damian's excellent study on Type One, I decided to throw the question out there.

I did a brief search, and found sites that claimed he was a Four, with possibly a three wing. Since I tend to disagree with E-gram forums on personality types of celebrities, I was skeptical.

Besides, the three-wing didn't make sense.

I don't really know much about Jackson, other than enjoying his hit music over the years and the retrospectives that have been playing non-stop for the past week. Based on what little I do know, including the fact that he has been reclusive, somewhat mysterious, valued his privacy, and produced albums sporadically -- I saw a bit of Type Five there.

The theme of alienation that runs through some of his songs could indicate Type Four or Type Six.

I found it interesting that he wrote most of the songs on Bad. Songs like Dirty Diana and Smooth Criminal have dark themes. Heck, the song Thriller from the previous album of the same name is one of the darkest pop songs, lyrically, I've ever heard.

In his videos, he loved varied settings ... he was obviously a fan of old movies, sci-fi, and sentimental imagery.

Anyway, I don't have a firm fix on his type. I could definitely argue he's a five with a four or six wing, or a four or six with a five wing.

Considering the stories of him being beat by his father as a child and never having a childhood, I also wonder if he started as a five and was "rewired" into a four.

One final point, which is more of a side-note: I wonder if Michael Jackson is the exception to the rule that there are no environmental excuses for poor choices and poor behavior. I know every rule has an exception, and I wonder if he is the case study for celebrities.