So I thought I'd put on C-SPAN to calm the dog while I was out...

And I get home, listen to the door to see if Sasha's continuing to get better about being locked in her crate while I'm gone, and I hear the dog going insane. I'm thinking, oh God, here we go again. You see, Sasha was a disaster with her initial crate training. Absolute total panic. Clawing at the cage, screaming, squealing, and these out-of-breath almost airless cries that sound like she's gasping for air. Then she'd crap and pee all over the cage, no matter how small, and get it all over herself. Truly a lovely scene.

The vet, and all the experts in the books, said to leave her in there, screaming and all, until she calms down. Only problem, I was out for a few hours, and she was still screaming. It was just awful. Well, since that time, things have gotten better. I've even come home and found Sasha just waking up in her crate, no screaming, no whining. So, it's definitely getting better.

But there she was, not two days ago, going insane when I walked in the door, and I couldn't figure out why, until I heard the dogs barking in the corner of condo. What was C-SPAN's boring discussion of God-knows-what had magically turned into the Dog Whisperer. Yes, my DVR was changing the channel while I was out, in order to record shows, and it kept subjecting Sasha to the most messed up dogs on the planet.

It was kind of funny, except that now I know I can no longer trust my faithful friend C-SPAN to bore my pup into submission.