March 2011 Blog Posts (111)

The first thing I want to share is that our instructor made it very clear that the class we're taking and the methods used only work when part of the entire 10 week system we signed up for. There's no jumping around, or using some techniques and not others. If you don't follow the system it won't give your dog a fair chance to be the best he can be and it doesn't train us handlers to truly understand the way a dog operates. This is very important.

But I also have fun…

No, Lyric isn't pregnant again! I am "hosting" a new pregnant mom who comes tomorrow and is due this weekend. She is supposed to have two puppies. I still have Rafi here (one of Lyric's pups who is just over 3 months old) and Rio, the one I kept from the litter. Plus, their mom, Lyric is here and my first doodle Mattie--OY! That's a lot of doodles. By Monday, we will have 7 doodles in the house--but two will be very, very small! 

I will keep you all posted!

We've enrolled Bernie in an obedience class and tonight is our first night! I'm going to list our circumstances, so if any of you are in a similar situation, please feel free to follow over the next 10 weeks!

Bernie is 10 months old next week.

"Sit", "down", "shake", "speak", "give" and "relax" (roll over) he's perfect at in our home. Slower to respond when we're in public. "Gentle" (stop mouthing) is getting better both at home and with friends and family. "Off" (jumping up)…

Last week I wrote a blog in the training group because I was so upset about Fudge and Vern on a recent walk. It seems we do fine individually, but when I take them together, all hell breaks loose. I deleted the blog within a few hours, because I thought it sounded whiny, but not before a few people read it. Later that night, I got on DK and found I had several nice supportive responses in my Inbox. One was from a member who I will not name, that recommended a trainer to me that lived near…

I could not shake my sadness yesterday. I started missing my sister who I lost 15 years ago. I played some of the music I loved that reminded me of her, Toast & Marmalade for Two, Stoned Loved...

 Even Trixie could not get the sadness to go away. This morning I realized it was a 5 weeks ago today that we learned our Flat Coat Deja had an aggressive cancer-Hemangiosarcoma. She was doing fine all day. Then in a minute she was lying on the floor & could not move. I…

It's three weeks today since Ruby came to the ATL to get fostered and WOW has this girl adapted quickly! Not only is she ridiculously, absurdly gorgeous, she has the calmest, sweetest nature (possibly ever).

Callie has been doing a great job with teaching her foster sister how to be a proper doodle, and there's been some things that Ruby has learned on her own. Under Callie's tutelage, Ruby now likes to lounge on the sofa with her big noble head in my lap. She patiently…

Mom said our walk this morning was ‘the walk from hell,’ and we have to get back to some ‘serious training.’ Jeez, I just wanted to romp around and then lie down and wait for that little dog I could see coming. I was going to leap up at the last minute and play with her, but her mom turned around and went the other way. Mom says I look scary when I just lie down with my head on the grass and stare intently at whoever or whatever is coming our way, and that isn’t the proper way to greet…

I'm pretty sure Rosco would form the world's biggest drool puddle if he had to wait as long as these dogs did:

Hey doods...Lady Peri here.

So for the past few weeks boxes keep piling up inside our home.  Everywhere.  I have been confused and while mom is putting stuff in them, I gnaw on the corners and she tells me to stop.  I just want to know why she is obsessed with boxes now.  They don't taste very yummy.

Then this weekend the whole time mom and dad kept coming and going.  Saying "it's okay, we will be back".  Dood they took the xmas decorations somewhere!  Mom said "I don't want…

... when I'm at work?!

So the other day I checked my home email while I was taking a break at work ... to find an email from Pokémon Customer Service as follows:

Dear parent or guardian,



Your child has begun the process to create a Pokémon Trainer Club account at Pokemon.com. With this account, your child will be able to sign into Pokemon.com and the Pokémon Global Link website. The process cannot be completed without your consent as a…

Rafi is one of Lyric's puppies and I know he had a lot of fans out there in DK land.  His new mom had to go away suddenly and asked if he could come for a visit while she travelled. He has been here a week--he is so sweet and well-behaved and is learning a lot from his brother Rio (who we are keeping) and his mom. He loves to play with Lyric and they get along so well.He is quite a jumper and we are working on his tendency to leap and jump all the time.  I am attaching some photos so you can…

I am now surrounded by Puppy stuff, Crates X 2. A stairgate, bed, bowls,feed,toys.  I have checked out and decided on a Vet, Puppy Creche, Dog Park, Classes.  I have decided which grooming tools to get and have bought the basics.  I have written a Socialization plan list to tick off and have the money saved and ready.  So what to do now?  I seem to spend quite a bit of time here on DK trawling all the interesting information, pictures and above all videos which are so good to look at.  The…

My bestest gf was waiting to adopt a rescue puppy.  She is retiring in a few weeks and wanted to wait till she was home all day to bring the baby home forever.  She brought her home the past two weekends, returning her on Sunday evenings.  It has been killing her to wait, but was so torn about the weekend trips, and/or just waiting two more weeks to bring her home forever.  So this weekend she decided maybe its too tough on the baby to drag her back and forth and decided to get some things…

This will certainly get your dog's attention!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiblYasnzWE&feature=player_detailpage

Rua and I did a little AKC S.T.A.R Puppy training this AM.  I took out my baggies of training treats.  I have Cherrios in one, kibble in another, freeze-dried beef liver in one, and another full of 4 different training treats, cut up into 3/8" x 3/8" pieces).  I alternate rewards....Cherrios for the easy stuff, kibble here and there, the tiny pieces for harder and the liver for high-value.

Well, I was working on sit/stay and down/stay.  I was giving her Cherrios for sits,…