Seizures and domestic service

We went and met Ahboo the dog yesterday, and he's wonderful. I don't seem to be allergic to him at all (including the part where he got away from us as we were putting him back in his pen, and I had to tackle him and basically hug him with my face buried in his coat to keep him from running off again), and Hillary is okay as long as he doesn't lick her face.

His background is kind of sad. He was bred by a labradoodle breeder to be put up for sale. He had a couple of seizures as a puppy, so the breeder decided he was "unsellable" and dumped him in the shelter. The shelter staff mentioned that he's had a couple of seizures since he's been there (possibly caused by trying to walk him on a collar and leash -- he doesn't seem to have them when he's on a harness), but they may be treatable with some simple medication.

Ahboo is very headstrong and spirited, but I think it's because he never had any structure in his life. It sounds like he was kept in a backyard 99% of the time, and rarely given any attention because he was "flawed". He's a very sweet dog, and seems to be fairly easygoing once he gets some of that youthful energy out. We went back and signed the paperwork last night, so he'll be coming home with us (after he gets fixed) tomorrow evening.

In other news, we got so behind on housework that I ended up calling a cleaning service. At first, I felt like a bit of a failure doing it -- who can't even keep their own house clean? But when I saw the job the cleaners did, I changed my mind. Everything is spotless, in a lot of cases better than when we moved in. They even cleaned out our microwave, the inside of which probably could have been classified as a war crime.

I think I'm going to have them come back every couple of weeks and clean for us. I've discovered that there are few things in life more satisfying than a shiny kitchen floor.