cpujoe

Here’s an updated photo of the dogs; You’ll note that there are no cushions on this couch. Ranger ate them!

Joseph,

Thank you for taking the time to contact MIDWEST regarding the issue that you are having with your crate. I am sorry to learn that your dog, Ranger Danger, is able to escape from his crate. It sounds as though you may benefit from a heavier wire gauge crate such as our Ultima Pro Series. Please send photos of your crate and the Julian date from the back of the cage and we would be happy to send you an upgraded 748UP at no charge.

Kind regards,

Angie [redacted]

And they did! It came today. It’s a great crate…

To: info3@midwesthomesforpets.com

Mid West Homes for Pets,

Hello, my name is Joseph Y and I am one of your customers; we purchased a dog crate (Model Number 1548DD) for my 10-month old Blue Weimaraner “Ranger Danger”. The crate was purchased on February 17th at Petsmart located in Laurel, MD. I think it was $50.

We have purchased your products before (when my 5-year old Beagle was a puppy), and we purchased this crate because we remembered the name and brand; I am a loyal customer and don’t mind paying extra if I know the product will work.

So I am writing you to tell you that this particular crate is of particularly low quality. The main purpose of a dog-crate, in my opinion, is to keep the dog inside the crate, or outside of the rest of your house (presumably while you are gone). The crate we purchased has not been doing this. I’ve inspected the crate thoroughly and I can’t see any manufacturing defects (but then again, I’m not a dog-crate engineer). Ranger Danger (that is his full name, I know, it is awesome) has been able to escape this crate every single time we crate him. This particular crate has a door on the front and on the side. He has been able to escape both of them, so it seems to be a design flaw. The side door is the easiest for him to escape; he simply pushes on the door until it pops open. We secured that down with some zip ties, re-aligned the crate and he hasn’t gotten out of that one since. The front door, he basically does the same thing, and is able to get out. It takes him significantly longer to do (we measure how long it takes by how much of the house he destroys while we are gone). If he gets to the couch cushions, he has been out for a while. If he just chews the corner of the cabinets, then he hasn’t been out long. What we have done to fix the problem is just tie the door shut with a ripped-in-half kitchen towel. He’s still working on that.

Before I go any further, I want you to know that we’re not bad dog-people. We don’t leave him in the crate for long (3-4 hours 2-3 times a week, max) and he has received no formal training on dog-escape techniques. We don’t train our dogs to hurt people, eat the mailman or growl or bite. We suspect Ranger is suffering from separation anxiety, and who can really blame him? He’s a dog and we’re his parents and we’re awesome. We don’t watch “The Dog Whisperer”, but we’re pretty smart. I’m a Computer Scientist, my wife is a bookkeeper and Ranger Danger is a badass dog. It’s understandable. But the crate should be built better.

The previous crate that we owned actually injured the Ranger (He fit into the smaller crate when he was a puppy). He spent all day trying to get out and one of his toes was caught in the gap between the doorway and the side of the crate. He was in the crate for a few hours, with his paw stuck, peeing everywhere. It was a very bad day for him. It didn’t take much to get him out, and when I did, he was very relieved. No permanent damage but we didn’t put him in the crate anymore. We fenced off a room and had to get another crate when he ate the baby gates (well they are for babies, not dogs, right?).

Anyway, I just thought you should know. I’m not going to replace the crate, because we don’t have the receipt anymore, the lady at Petsmart is a little scary and I honestly don’t want another one of your products to fail on me. I’m going to have to go with someone else. I hope you understand.

Respectfully,

- Joseph Y
Laurel, MD

(Animal Faces have been changed to protect their identity)

Here’s a quick picture of Ranger; he weighs about 53 pounds in this photo. He’s recently been neutered and his lower baby canine teeth have been removed as a result of his recessed jaw.

Bark currently undeveloped, but enjoys jumping and eating things off the counter. Georgia still rules the roost but times will change when his teeth grow back.

Ranger, Late Nov 2009

Ranger Danger

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We have a problem with birds in our neighborhood.. Here is what I’m talking about..

14 birds on the roof. I counted 14 on the roof and 2 in the tree nearby. I suspect there are more. Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about these birds until they run off with a kid and teach them to fly.

Birds, Montpelier, MD

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It’s here:

http://www.hbo.com/events/pacific/video.html

Coming in 2010

“I believe in Ammunition”…

All,

Sorry it has been so long since I posted. There has been lots going on. Most significantly, Charlotte and I purchased our first home! We are now 99% moved in (everything is moved in except the pictures) and enjoying home-ownership.

I have posted some pictures for you to enjoy. They are crudely posted, raw and large, but they are good depictions of the house.

Here is a thumbnail, and the link to the pictures below…

http://cpujoe.com/gallery/v/album_009/

The surgery yesterday went pretty well… I was totally out of it during the entire thing, and it only lasted about 30 minutes. Coming out of anesthesia was pretty rough and I’m just now able to move around a little and get around to posting. My nose is really swollen and hurts a lot. I can’t breathe out of my nose until tomorrow, when the doc takes the gauze out. It is really difficult to eat and drink when you can’t breathe through your nose.

My dad is coming into town today for my promotion ceremony on Saturday, which I am hoping to be up for. Until then, I am stuck watching The People’s Court and Jerry Springer, which is actually ok. The pain meds are great but I am pretty much out of it whenever I am on them.

More to follow..

- Joe

Hey all,

There are some things changing around here….I recently switched my hosting plan and email provider. As a result, there was a period of about 3 days that no email going into joe@cpujoe.com was being forwarded to my new, primary, email address.. If you emailed me and I haven’t responded, that’s probably why! Please resend.

More information is coming, I promise!

- Joe

Here’s some pictures of the area i’m living in right now…They are, East, West, South and North respectively. There was a small storm, which is why they are so dark..