When the hubs and I went out for a rare trip to the cinema to see Avatar, we caught the trailer for Despicable me:

It wasn’t til just recently that I noticed we have a despicable dawg under our own roof.  Can you see the similarities?

The likeness extends beyond the silhouette.  Our puppy Reebs has taken to leaving us “presents” around the house.  Understandable perhaps when we are gone from the house and the dogs are kept inside.  Not so much when we are both here and she has free access to the yard.

Solution?  Install a doggy door.  With the exception of the property we rented when we first moved to NC, we’ve had dog doors in all our houses, and so all the dogs have experience using them.  Everyone except Arriba.

This time round, Rick wanted to install the dog door in the exterior wall, rather than the back door. In the past, we’ve had issues with the dog door being fully waterproof because it tends to sit unevenly in the door paneling. 

The dog door was surprisingly easy to install.  Cut out hole in interior and exterior wall using the template provided.  Laugh at dogs pondering the new hole:

Try to stop chihuahua from using dog door without steps:

Next, screw the exterior side of the dog door into the studs. 

Although it was not in the instructions provided with the dog door, we went ahead and installed an additional wooden threshold under the door frame – this was to provide extra support for the dawgs as they come through the door.  The last step was to screw in the door from the inside and caulk around the frame outside.

 And voila!, one dog door installed…

It was quite gratifying to see the dogs use the door for the first time.  It’s amazing that they didn’t forget how to use it after three years without a dog door.  Ok, it’s not rocket science, but the little things get us excited round here.

We’re planning on eventually replacing those old deck steps, but for now they do their job well enough.  Reebs has taken a little time to get used to the door.  But with sufficient coaxing (i.e. treats) she has started using it really well!  No more despicable Reebs.

Some of you may have noticed that there has been an absence of posting about our house renovations lately. It wasn’t a planned absence and I have really good reasons. Honestly. Several of ‘em.

 

Excuse Reason #1: I was kidnapped by terrorists and they only recently let me go.

Excuse Reason #2: When I did return safely home and started house renovating again, all the painting fumes started hurting my head. The voices said I should take a break from blogging and focus on cleaning my guns.

Excuse Reason #3: I accidentally set half the clocks in the house ahead an hour and the other half back an hour and have spent much time in some kind of space-time continuum loop. I was finally able to exit the loop only by reversing the polarity of the power source exactly e * log(pi) clocks in the house while simultaneously making Star Trek door noises (“Scccccccchwop”).

See, what did I tell ya? A number of perfectly good reasons for not blogging about the house (and none of them to do with dealing with a demanding work schedule).

So, my faithful readers (all two of you), please be reassured that I have recovered from my PTSD, have given up my NRA membership, and discarded all the clocks in the house. I will be hopping on the blogging wagon once again, keeping you all updated on the *thrilling* progress we’ve made around here. You know, when I wasn’t busy being abducted or in a space-time loop. You comin’ along for the ride?