Rug Fuzz & Other Temptations

This tuft of fuzz is so tempting

Tonight I am going to crawl around the family room and look for puppy-level temptations.  By dealing with them before Mariah actually notices, I can prevent puppy damage.  Rug fuzz is a major temptation, so I need to trim the doormat.  It's an inexpensive continuous filament mat, and by pulling on this tuft of yarn Mariah can unravel a long string, one that if swallowed could do a lot of damage.  Although we don't leave her unsupervised, pups can get into mischief very quickly.  Any hanging threads on furniture covers and dog beds will also be trimmed.  I'll also use my bottle of Bitter Apple to spray items I've noticed she is attracted to, like the rugs on the bar stool that are exactly "mouth height" to a puppy.  By paying attention to small details, I can prevent from developing destructive habits.  We've got lots of toys and chew bones laying around, so there is always something acceptable for attract her attention.

Fish club meeting last night, the Plant Extravaganza which is generally the largest meeting of the year.  The club purchased several thousands of dollars worth of aquarium plants which members can buy at very very affordable prices.  Many plants were priced at $1.00 a bunch, with potted plants going for as little as $2.00.  Crowd management is important, as the greedy act like this is Black Friday, and the club wants everyone to have the chance to try some new aquarium plants.  Milo is our go-to-plant guy and he does a wonderful job of organizing this every year and gives a great talk on plants beforehand.  There's a huge amount of work involved in ordering, receiving and keeping the plants for a few days, then pricing hundreds of plants.

Our club has a number of people who are actually into the aquatic gardening part of the hobby a lot more seriously than the fish keeping part.  That's one of the appeals of the hobby, and some of the planted tanks are absolutely fabulous.  High intensity lighting, added CO2 and precise fertilization can yield fabulous results.