Monday, June 24, 2013
New hobby
So I have a new hobby now... I think it goes well with everything else going on.
(Yes I know I have back updating to do...)
Anyway, here it is.
This was my very first attempt at digital scrapbooking. Not to bad in my mind, but it is a bit busy...
(Yes I know I have back updating to do...)
Anyway, here it is.
This was my very first attempt at digital scrapbooking. Not to bad in my mind, but it is a bit busy...
Sunday, January 29, 2012
What we've been doing
I want to get trick titles on my crew. We've been working on various foundation exercises just for this goal. Well, not just for the trick title, but for now, that's my motivation. (You can find more information about trick titling here, Trick Title ) In my opinion, there's no such thing as too much training. As long as you're having fun and your dog is having fun, why not do it??
I looked over the application, looked at what was required, looked at what we needed to learn. I already had two of the books I needed, so I ordered the third. Then I made my chart. When actively training, it can be hard to remember who already knows what and who needs more work in what. Charts are good for this!
It was very interesting to go down the list and figure out who knew what already AND knew it well enough to pass 'the test'. For now, to me, passing means being able to do it in the house (easy), in the backyard (average) and in the front yard (a little bit hard). For myself, that kind of proofing is necessary. It tells me they really *know* it.
Some of the tricks don't need that kind of proofing. It makes no sense to me, for example, to play the muffin tin game in the front yard. I like this game, it makes them think. Sure in the beginning its just them following their nose. But I've seen it evolve, you can see the wheels turning in their head while trying to figure out how best to move the ball.
By the way, a mini muffin tin with mini balls makes this an equal opportunity game.
The Novice Title, Intermediate, Advanced and Expert are all done wherever you choose with a witness signing off on it. A Trick Dog Champion title requires you send in an unedited video of you and your dog doing those tricks. Most of the later level tricks require props that I'm guessing the average owner just doesn't have. Well, I know, I don't have at least. The good news is some of the things are easily built at home. (Yes, DH now has a list of things he needs to build for me!)
I looked over the application, looked at what was required, looked at what we needed to learn. I already had two of the books I needed, so I ordered the third. Then I made my chart. When actively training, it can be hard to remember who already knows what and who needs more work in what. Charts are good for this!
It was very interesting to go down the list and figure out who knew what already AND knew it well enough to pass 'the test'. For now, to me, passing means being able to do it in the house (easy), in the backyard (average) and in the front yard (a little bit hard). For myself, that kind of proofing is necessary. It tells me they really *know* it.
Some of the tricks don't need that kind of proofing. It makes no sense to me, for example, to play the muffin tin game in the front yard. I like this game, it makes them think. Sure in the beginning its just them following their nose. But I've seen it evolve, you can see the wheels turning in their head while trying to figure out how best to move the ball.
By the way, a mini muffin tin with mini balls makes this an equal opportunity game.
The Novice Title, Intermediate, Advanced and Expert are all done wherever you choose with a witness signing off on it. A Trick Dog Champion title requires you send in an unedited video of you and your dog doing those tricks. Most of the later level tricks require props that I'm guessing the average owner just doesn't have. Well, I know, I don't have at least. The good news is some of the things are easily built at home. (Yes, DH now has a list of things he needs to build for me!)
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Freeshaping
Isn't it funny when you start doing something and then suddenly that's all you see around you? That doesn't make much sense does it. Alright.
I've been working on hind end awareness. I decided to do daily 5 minute sessions with each dog. I started out luring then realized only a few were actually catching on. So, I switched to freeshaping. Then, I hear one friend is freeshaping. Then another. Then another is posting videos.
I have to admit, I never thought about taping our sessions, until I watched her videos. Taping it could only help. So I did.
I learned quite a few things doing that...
Here's some stills from the videos!
There's no picture of Jackson. He really wasn't "in the game" during this session. So there wasn't a good shot. Unless you want to see his butt? I know it's a cute butt, but still.
I've been working on hind end awareness. I decided to do daily 5 minute sessions with each dog. I started out luring then realized only a few were actually catching on. So, I switched to freeshaping. Then, I hear one friend is freeshaping. Then another. Then another is posting videos.
I have to admit, I never thought about taping our sessions, until I watched her videos. Taping it could only help. So I did.
I learned quite a few things doing that...
- I do get stage fright.
- The dogs are unsure of the camera.
- Jackson needs to be crated if he's not the one training. Otherwise, he wanders around and distracts everyone.
- The girls are easily distracted.
- I need better treats that they can eat more quickly.
- The background noise in my home, that I never notice, is pretty loud.
- I really need to raise 'the box' up so *I* don't miss paw movement.
Here's some stills from the videos!
There's no picture of Jackson. He really wasn't "in the game" during this session. So there wasn't a good shot. Unless you want to see his butt? I know it's a cute butt, but still.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Oh Astra!
On October 7, 2007, I experienced the longest 12 hours of my life!!
No, it wasn't labor! No, it wasn't any of those things you might think it was. It was the day we brought Astra home. We had spent the night before at the breeders house. We got up super early to make it home in time for dinner, or so we thought. How my husband didn't realize there was a home game (football) and that traffic was going to be ridiculous, I have no idea!!
Anyway, that's not what really made it a long trip. We were used to car rides together. Maybe not that long but still, we do enjoy each others company at least. It was a long trip because my sweet little girl was carsick. We had barely gotten down the driveway before she started puking. It's absolutely terrifying to see this little teeny tiny papillon be so sick. I didn't know little dogs could drool that much.
Then to top it off, she had a bladder a pea would call TINY. We stopped at every rest stop on the way home AND a few times just pulled over to the side of the road. We went through every towel we had brought, every blanket in the car and all our spare clothes with her.
And she whimpered. That completely broke my heart!! There was nothing I could do. We just had to keep driving to get her home. About two hours into the trip, she found a comfy cozy spot to lay down and try to sleep. (Mind you, she was still carsick from there)
Are you curious yet?
You are, aren't you?
You want to know where she curled up and rested between puking for the rest of the ride home. I know you do.
Well, you're in luck! I took a picture!
Yep, across my shoulders, behind my neck. How absolutely sweet is that?!?!?!
At least I was no dummy, I popped tylenol right away. I knew there was no way it wasn't going to hurt and I was right. But it made her feel better and that's all that mattered.
As a puppy, she liked to curl up in my hair, on my pillow. Now, at the age of 4, she curls up behind my legs or into the small of my back when we're sleeping.
It took a long time for her to not be so actively carsick. We tried all different medications and positions. We still need to stop often for her little tiny bladder. The frequent stops help the carsickness also, I think. Now she either has to ride in my lap or in a dog bed on the back seat. She gets ill every time in a crate, both kinds. So that's out of the question.
Even with all that, she still loves going in the car and we still enjoy taking her out!!
No, it wasn't labor! No, it wasn't any of those things you might think it was. It was the day we brought Astra home. We had spent the night before at the breeders house. We got up super early to make it home in time for dinner, or so we thought. How my husband didn't realize there was a home game (football) and that traffic was going to be ridiculous, I have no idea!!
Anyway, that's not what really made it a long trip. We were used to car rides together. Maybe not that long but still, we do enjoy each others company at least. It was a long trip because my sweet little girl was carsick. We had barely gotten down the driveway before she started puking. It's absolutely terrifying to see this little teeny tiny papillon be so sick. I didn't know little dogs could drool that much.
Then to top it off, she had a bladder a pea would call TINY. We stopped at every rest stop on the way home AND a few times just pulled over to the side of the road. We went through every towel we had brought, every blanket in the car and all our spare clothes with her.
And she whimpered. That completely broke my heart!! There was nothing I could do. We just had to keep driving to get her home. About two hours into the trip, she found a comfy cozy spot to lay down and try to sleep. (Mind you, she was still carsick from there)
Are you curious yet?
You are, aren't you?
You want to know where she curled up and rested between puking for the rest of the ride home. I know you do.
Well, you're in luck! I took a picture!
Yep, across my shoulders, behind my neck. How absolutely sweet is that?!?!?!
At least I was no dummy, I popped tylenol right away. I knew there was no way it wasn't going to hurt and I was right. But it made her feel better and that's all that mattered.
As a puppy, she liked to curl up in my hair, on my pillow. Now, at the age of 4, she curls up behind my legs or into the small of my back when we're sleeping.
It took a long time for her to not be so actively carsick. We tried all different medications and positions. We still need to stop often for her little tiny bladder. The frequent stops help the carsickness also, I think. Now she either has to ride in my lap or in a dog bed on the back seat. She gets ill every time in a crate, both kinds. So that's out of the question.
Even with all that, she still loves going in the car and we still enjoy taking her out!!
Monday, January 16, 2012
Out with the old, in with the new!
The holidays went really well for us. Once again, I am in awe at how my crew picks up on clues that something special is going on. We did our morning Christmas thing, muffins, presents, etc. No worries, the dogs got their breakfast and a little bit of muffins.
I sat down sometime late morning and realized... OMG, I forgot to give them their presents!! I jumped up. So, of course, they jumped up and followed me into the bedroom. (I kept their presents in my closet. I'm more worried about them finding their presents then my kids. Then again, my kids are a lot older.)
Forget wrapped presents and watching them tear through that. Forget getting cool pictures as they're handed their presents. It was... me in the closet, tearing through the bags, looking to see which dog is the closest, picking a toy, tearing off the tags, cussing out the stickers that say "squeak me" and tossing the toy out the closet to them. Lather, rinse, repeat, 7 times.
Why 7 times, you ask? Simple, the first 2 came back for more before I was done!! For the next hour, it was nothing but tossing toys around, massive squeaking going on and dogs running every which way. Within 10 minutes, Jackson had torn a scarf off a bear. This resulted in the bear's head being ripped open. There went one toy into the to be sewn up pile. Astra, the slightly over-weight 6lb papillon running every which way after a mini ball. Kali doing a death shake on any toy she could get her mouth on. Brianna tossing small stuffies up in the air.
And last but not least, Tina. My dear sweet, gentle, kind Tina. She was busy darting in and out of a 24' crate trying to hoard all the toys!! Sad for her, I was on the floor near the crate and kept reaching in and tossing one out. That's about as close as she usually comes to playing fetch.
I took this picture after all the insanity was finally over. This is her pile.
I sat down sometime late morning and realized... OMG, I forgot to give them their presents!! I jumped up. So, of course, they jumped up and followed me into the bedroom. (I kept their presents in my closet. I'm more worried about them finding their presents then my kids. Then again, my kids are a lot older.)
Forget wrapped presents and watching them tear through that. Forget getting cool pictures as they're handed their presents. It was... me in the closet, tearing through the bags, looking to see which dog is the closest, picking a toy, tearing off the tags, cussing out the stickers that say "squeak me" and tossing the toy out the closet to them. Lather, rinse, repeat, 7 times.
Why 7 times, you ask? Simple, the first 2 came back for more before I was done!! For the next hour, it was nothing but tossing toys around, massive squeaking going on and dogs running every which way. Within 10 minutes, Jackson had torn a scarf off a bear. This resulted in the bear's head being ripped open. There went one toy into the to be sewn up pile. Astra, the slightly over-weight 6lb papillon running every which way after a mini ball. Kali doing a death shake on any toy she could get her mouth on. Brianna tossing small stuffies up in the air.
And last but not least, Tina. My dear sweet, gentle, kind Tina. She was busy darting in and out of a 24' crate trying to hoard all the toys!! Sad for her, I was on the floor near the crate and kept reaching in and tossing one out. That's about as close as she usually comes to playing fetch.
I took this picture after all the insanity was finally over. This is her pile.
Friday, December 23, 2011
My dogs keep me humble
My dogs keep me humble.
No matter how great I think things are going, there's always something that humbles me.
This time, it's Astra. Now she's a pap, so it goes without saying she's way brighter then me. I can usually figure a workaround to her shenanigans though.
Not this time.
Every year, come fall and winter, she wants to "critter hunt"! She gets obsessed about finding the critters that may or may not have been under the deck when she wasn't out there on patrol.
When she's in 'critter hunt' mode, everything else vanishes in her world. Her recall becomes non-existent, her food drive is gone, her play mode is gone, she even ignores her leash and the chance to go anywhere else fun. She will stay out there and 'critter hunt' until she's ready to fall over from exhaustion. She doesn't even care about how cold or rainy it is out there.
The only solution I have is to take her out on leash. So, from sunset to sunrise, I have to take this little 5 1/2 lb papillon out on a leash for her sake and mine.
You know what's most humbling about it?
She has to be on leash simply because I can't catch her otherwise!! That little bundle of fur can zig and zag and zip better than any other dog I've ever spent time with. In this circumstance at least, she has me beat. Luckily, I'm bigger than her and can use the leash!!
No matter how great I think things are going, there's always something that humbles me.
This time, it's Astra. Now she's a pap, so it goes without saying she's way brighter then me. I can usually figure a workaround to her shenanigans though.
Not this time.
Every year, come fall and winter, she wants to "critter hunt"! She gets obsessed about finding the critters that may or may not have been under the deck when she wasn't out there on patrol.
When she's in 'critter hunt' mode, everything else vanishes in her world. Her recall becomes non-existent, her food drive is gone, her play mode is gone, she even ignores her leash and the chance to go anywhere else fun. She will stay out there and 'critter hunt' until she's ready to fall over from exhaustion. She doesn't even care about how cold or rainy it is out there.
The only solution I have is to take her out on leash. So, from sunset to sunrise, I have to take this little 5 1/2 lb papillon out on a leash for her sake and mine.
You know what's most humbling about it?
She has to be on leash simply because I can't catch her otherwise!! That little bundle of fur can zig and zag and zip better than any other dog I've ever spent time with. In this circumstance at least, she has me beat. Luckily, I'm bigger than her and can use the leash!!
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