Still A Joy

Another Anniversary

2011-10-25T20:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was significant not because Eclipse has technically reached an age where he should be more "mature" *ha!* but because I arrived home with our giant black puppy a year ago yesterday. Granted we picked her up the 23rd but didn't arrive home for almost another 24 hours so that's the day that's significant to us.

^When I look at those pictures all I hear is a collective "AWWW"^

Now she looks so grown up!

But still oh so adorable!

Although for the most part, now she's all shiny and black instead of having a chocolate undercoat she does still have chocolate points, like the tips of her jowls. She also has random white hairs that have appeared in random spots on her body.

While fun, it certainly hasn't been an easy ride. Tiki has her issues and sometimes (most of the time) I doubt she'll be able to graduate as a working dog. We're doing what we can with her, though, and hope she'll be ready to go back to school when she'll leave in the next 2-3 months. (She's due to be returned just weeks before this baby is due so will be returning a bit early). Because of her issues we don't love her any less, in fact she'll always have a special place in our hearts and when she does leave I know Eclipse will miss her but also be much easier to live with! The boy has zero self-control and since she plays just as hard and constantly as he does it's like a constant 135 lb wrecking ball in the house constantly!

She's a sweet, sweet girl, though and we love her, just the way she is!

3! Already!?!

2011-10-24T10:29:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe these four pups entered our lives almost 3 years ago!

Can you believe this little guy

turned into this?

Or this little charming lady

Became this?

I can't believe they're THREE today!

Shame shame

2011-09-21T12:27:00.000-07:00

I got pictures! The shame part is they're from 3.5 months ago!

The goldens don't care to cooperate, usually.

Case in point: She looks cute and he looks like he sat on a corn cob

He looks cute and she looks like she's been denied her last meal of steak and potatoes

The only thing that they look cute together for? A dog, of course

(I'm not going to admit how many bloopers could be posted right now)

Alex making goofy noises only worked so much...

You may have noticed there were no individual pictures of Comet...

Yeah, she wasn't so comfortable up there so we let her get down. I'll try and get some pictures of her at her (hopeful) graduation next year, though!

There are more pictures from the archives to come, bear with me

Still No Pictures

2011-08-27T12:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry, but all's well here. Tiki's doing well and looks great in her new collar. Eclipse is such a momma's boy it's not even funny. Teddy and Kira are their normal, easy-to-live-with selves. Nothing much going on, other than it's been hot and we've been kind of miserable.

Oh, yeah, and I'm pregnant. We welcomed little Carter into the world 10 days ago. In 6 months we'll (hopefully) be welcoming a healthy little one into our home. I'm 13 weeks today and all is well. We have another ultrasound on Wednesday that we're looking forward to. We're doing things a little different than most people choose to, though. We're not going to find out the gender of this baby! We're excited, scared, anxious, and so happy for this little one! We've been trying since May of last year, so it's been awhile coming. It's okay, though, because we're well on our way now!

I'll try to update again soon... you know, on the dogs that this blog is about.

Ally w/Eclipse, Tiki, Teddy & Kira

Wow!

2011-08-05T10:51:00.000-07:00

Over two months with no blogs! Part of it I blame on not having a functioning computer, but that only accounts for half of that time! Now, I have a functioning computer, but one that doesn't like to read memory cards. I promise, I have pictures, lots and lots of pictures, just no way to upload them right now.

Some of our fun adventures, Tiki's in obedience class and almost a year old, Eclipse went camping for his first time ever and Teddy went for the first time in 6 years, Lucy is visiting again (oh, I haven't blogged about her. She's a month younger than Tiki, is a golden retriever and this time is staying for 9 days while her owners are on a honeymoon), we just won a collar from L^2 & Jack's collar raffle, the auction starts Monday so help as you can, um... yeah. Lots to update on, little motivation to do so! I'll post pictures when I can!

New Adventures!

2011-06-03T12:42:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I've been a slacker, again...

Turns out Tiki's heat cycle wasn't all that traumatic and she seems to have matured from it (now we just wish Eclipse could experience the same effect... hmm.. :-P).

That's not what this post is about, though. First, I'll show you a major breakthrough we had with "the boy".

Why yes, that is The Boy laying down in the car! I'm so happy you figured it out! The best part, this was on the way to our outing, not on the way back after hours of mental/physical exertion. Notice a difference from past pictures? That's right, he's not in the backseat, he's on the floorboard at my feet. He still displays some mild stress signals, especially when the car slows to make a turn or comes to a stop, but he's so much more comfortable and hopefully soon he'll be just fine! (This is even without L-Theanine which we ran out of but will replenish soon as we noticed a vast improvement in his anxiety levels while on it)

Now, onto the outing and why it was such an adventure.

Well, first, isn't Tiki turning into a gorgeous dog!?! I may be slightly biased, but I find her to be a gorgeous lab and her frame is nearly perfect!

Okay, no more distractions.

HEHE! Okay, enough.

For those of you that have read my blogs since I started blogging you may recall that I have never had a dog that really likes to swim. Kira will wade up to her stomach if there's something interesting in the water (leafs are very interesting, don't ya know?) and Eclipse will get in the water but he's not big on the act of swimming yet.

Well, Tiki's a different story! A couple weekends ago we went to the lake to go fishing and have a barbecue and took along the retrievers. After awhile of no bites fishing and the other people that were there left Alex grabbed a couple tennis balls and we decided to give the dogs a little exercise. Well, if you haven't caught on yet, Tiki's a major dork, potentially a bigger dork than Eclipse although that's still up for debate. So, the dorky dog literally rolled a tennis ball into the lake. Of course she rolled it hard enough that it was out of reach of us short-limbed humans so we encouraged Tiki to get the ball. It took a few tries but eventually she gave us this:

Um, yeah, not so successful. And yes, her head went way under so she chickened out and came back to shore. (Notice Eclipse in the supportive big brother role? Yeah right, he was just waiting to tackle her!)

Yet there was still promise:

And success! She's a driven dog, who may or may not be slightly obsessed with tennis balls, which we may or may not be working to fix when she's "working", which we may or may not be using Eclipse to help with...

So she wasn't so graceful, at least we got the tennis ball back!

Then she asked nicely so I tossed it back in the water a short way.

This time went much more smoothly.

She kind of reminds me of an otter.

See, not so supportive, just wanted to play!

We even used the time to practise impulse control with her in a sit/stay when the ball was being thrown. She looks so grown up! It's not fair, she was barely 9 months old that weekend!

Although this picture helps a little

It reminds me of just after she got home... so much has changed since then!

This post is pretty long and full of pictures, so check back in the next few days for more pictures, more adventures and more TIKI!

Oh, Tiki!

2011-04-21T18:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, so the Tiki update is a few days late, sorry!

Tiki's been driving us crazy. The pup has a lot of energy, is huge for what we're used to and has a bum foot again. Yes, I said again. She's been limping every now and then on her right foreleg and I think we may have figured out why. No, it's not pano as it hasn't switched legs. It appears that the largest pad on that foot has a very very thin spot on it and it easily gets raw and sore. I'm going to have the vet look at it when we take her to get spayed in about 5 weeks....

I was planning on having her spayed in two weeks, but of course she had other plans. At 8 months and 3 days old the ~~little~~ big missy went into heat. Um, that would be today! I have never dealt with a female in heat but I suppose this is a crash course. CST doesn't keep any of their dogs intact as they don't breed any litters and they want their pups neutered by 6 months but money issues interefered with that plan so that didn't happen... unfortunately my hope that she wouldn't come into heat until 9 months at the earliest obviously didn't pan out. Why would it, though? She seems much older than her 8 months so it only makes sense.

Oh yeah, her weight! This girl was 63.4 lbs 8 days ago at just shy of 8 months! She is definitely the biggest pup I have raised as Iverson graduated at 62 lbs at 2 years old, Eclipse is 2.5 years old and just under 55 lbs and Eola is probably around 60 lbs. Oy, big puppy! So once she gets spayed and recovers from that she'll be going into an obedience class. Turns out our trainer from the local Petco is no longer there but I have an e-mail into her to see if she's still training privately or not. I'd rather not have to switch trainers as we're comfortable with her but if we must, we must.

So there's your Tiki update. She's huge, she's in heat, she's got a bad foot that makes expending her energy difficult and for the past 3-4 weeks she's been driving us bonkers.

Oh, you want pictures of her undies? Okay, fine, you know I took some so here you go.

Enjoy your weekend, we'll be "enjoying" our upcoming three to four weeks! ;-)

QRSTUV

2011-04-17T23:20:00.000-07:00

WXYZ! Now I know my ABC's next time won't you sing with me?

Only two of those letters are applicable, I just couldn't help myself. This post is all about Eclipse, so if you're looking for a Tiki update come back tomorrow for that, and I apologize that it's been well over a month since I've posted an update on any of the dogs.

As you all probably know, Eclipse has a lot of anxiety issues. I think part of his "reactivity" outside is pure generalized anxiety, but I think there are more parts to it. I think he doesn't trust that I will respond to his signals and do the responsible thing and remove him from a situation he's not comfortable in. I also think a lot of his anxiety stems from me or Alex or who ever is handling him not communicating clearly with him. Eclipse isn't a guesser, well, he'll guess but the more he guesses or if he guesses and gets it wrong, the higher his anxiety goes. I feel bad, since it took this post to help me realize it, but at least now I have realized it and am acting on it. Before that post (and some posts to a dog training Yahoo! group I'm part of) I was thinking that Eclipse's issue was purely generalized anxiety so I was attempting to purely counter-condition (change the association with the "stressor" with the use of positive things happening everytime it was near) yet since we couldn't identify every stressor, it was failing miserably. (Although this post is about handling styles/communication Eclipse (and Teddy) is taking a natural pill every day that helps with anxiety and it seems to be helping. He's also got a thundershirt that he wears quite regularly and it seems to be helping as well)

I've ordered some books to help me communicate with Eclipse and identify signals he can give me that he can trust I will respond to every.single.time. In the meantime, I decided to start on what's known as an "auto check-in" and rewarding any and all offered eye contact. Since I wanted it to be as purely self-triggered as possible I put Eclipse on a long-line and took him outside in front of our house. Of course the first thing he did was run to the end of the line so I waited until he started back towards me and I clicked and gave him a kibble when he reached me. Then he realized I had kibble so he stuck close and we practiced some loose-leash walking with the long line dragging behind him as I only had ahold of the handle. He did so good! He'd rush ahead of me a bit to begin with but after 2-3 steps would turn and return to heel position. As the session went on he traveled ahead of me less and less and stuck more to my side. Now, I'm not looking for a perfect obedience style "heel" when we're out walking but I do prefer him to stay by my side just as a personal preference. There were a few times where we'd reach an area (just in the alley way in front of our house) that would put him on high alert and he'd rush to the end of the line and look around. Thankfully while we were outside the areas that freak him out were harmless as the dogs are either gone or were inside so we got to work him through those. After he stood and watched for maybe 5 seconds he'd turn back towards me and get a click and treat. He did so good! I can't express in words how good he did! It was such a great breakthrough it gives me a lot of hope for when we start practicing the techniques in the books I ordered. Hopefully someday he'll be calm in his own skin and be able to truly trust that I'll protect him.

We walked up the road a little ways

As we got further away from home his trips ahead of me got more freguent and more "intense" but he was still coming back to my side pretty quickly and taking a few steps beside me.

Then he started licking his nose and I knew it was time to turn around, so turn around we did

As if the nose licking wasn't enough of a signal he also started sniffing around, so I was happy I had listened to him and we were heading home. The only thing was I wasn't signaling him back to my side at all (unless he reached the end of the long line) so the nose lick was followed directly by the sniffing.

Thankfully I listened to him soon enough that he was able to walk back home in a nice position beside me as he wasn't too stressed out.

We even worked on him offering eye contact and while the day was starting to get busier with a lawn mower starting and kids playing he offered me eye contact quite a bit! I want him to learn that it's OK to look at what scares him and then he can look at me and I'll take on the responsibility to get us away from it.

The moral of the story?

Listen to your dog and be responsible so they can trust that you'll protect them. Otherwise you have to not only build that trust from a deficit but ensure you act on it every.single.time to help your dog. I would do anything for Eclipse, and changing how I do my normal routine and how I communicate him is no skin off my back, but means everything for his health and happiness! Look at that face, though, how could I ignore what he tells me?

More later and we'll definitely keep you updated on our progress!

Beaglemania-Giveaway winner

2011-03-09T20:15:00.000-08:00

There were only two people that entered the giveaway :-(

The good news is that meant there was a 50/50 chance. Random.org chose comment #2 so Rudy's raiser, e-mail me at raiserally (at) gmail (dot) com with your address and I'll pass it along to the publisher so they can send you a copy. Congrats on the book, I think you'll enjoy it!

Sorry, Erin, wish I had another to give away!

Ally w/Eclipse, Tiki, Teddy & Kira

Book Review-Beaglemania

2011-03-01T10:00:00.000-08:00

I was offered another book to review and I must say I'm so happy I accepted!

source

It's the first of a new pet mystery series. It was a bit slow to grab my attention so the 298 pages took me a few days to read but our weekend activities were partially to blame for that. Now, though, I'm wishing I'd just read through the book! The only bad part is now I have to wait for the next book in the series to be released!

Oh, yeah, about the book. This story is about a woman named Lauren Vancouver who is the director of a private animal shelter. She has two grown children who are in college, is divorced, has no pets at home at the time of the story, and just so happens to be a murder suspect. Don't worry, though, she's not a woman to just lay down and roll over, as the story chronicles her efforts to exonerate herself of the charges. Beaglemania was released today and costs only $7.99!

It was such a great book! The only issue I had with it, like The Search, was some of the training/dog psychology beliefs mentioned are so old-school and outdated, although since they're still mainstream I suppose it's to be expected from a novel. Not to mention I thought there'd be a lot more mention of the (only) beagles that are featured on the cover, which was kind of disappointing and makes the title a bit of a misnomer in my opinion. Granted it doesn't affect the story at all, just don't read it to get your beagle fix. It really is a great book. Not only was it a great read it incorporated a cunning, wiley woman who was intent on getting to the truth. It tugged at my heart strings with it's mention of young pups and mistreated animals but also the shelter where much of the story took place, makes me want to go volunteer at our local shelter again! Kudos, Linda O. Johnston, for a job well done!

If you want my advice, go get this book, and join me in waiting (im)patiently for the sequels! Better yet, why not win a free copy! I've been given permission to do a giveaway and the winner will be sent a copy of this great book! Just leave a comment on this post and I'll enter you in the giveaway. The giveaway will close 3/8/2011 and the winner will be chosen the 9th, so don't delay!

Disclaimer: I was sent the book to review at no cost to me and the publisher will be sending out a copy to the winner of the giveaway, again at no cost to me or the winner.

Weekend Of Celebration-Sunday Edition

2011-02-28T17:18:00.000-08:00

Sunday we decided to do something that would allow Eclipse to experience something he's never gotten to be for. Originally we were going to take him to Whistler's park but we decided to go somewhere more remote, and more fun! Want to know what we did? How bout you just take a look for yourself?

He was truly in his element. It's kind of strange to see him SOOO comfortable in a new place, but very very nice at the same time!

Tiki was on a long-line, you just can't see it in most of the pictures.

Tiki will follow him anywhere!

We don't usually get much ice at our elevation in this area, but up in the mountains they sure do!

Tiki didn't have any qualms about following me up on this snow covered log, she just sprang right up there!

Eclipse considered it for a moment

Yet decided to take the easy way out :-D

Tiki's exuberance and joy were boundless and quite contagious!

He was investigating. I love watching him use his nose!

(The colors on the tree are paintballs. They have tournaments up there in the summer)

The love their dad and love to play and run with him

Yet still Eclipse's comfort and joy made my heart swell

Then when Eclipse laid down and relaxed in the car... I was so happy! He got to be out in nature and be free like he loves so much and then he was calm enough to lay down in the car. I don't think the day could have gone any better!

Of course the puppy joined him

Weekend Of Celebration-Saturday Edition

2011-02-28T16:31:00.000-08:00

I kind of devoted the whole weekend to celebrating the anniversary of Eclipse coming home. I think Alex thought I got a little carried away, but he should just wait until next year when Eclipse gets a cake and maybe a couple presents as well!

This year the only present he got was spending lots of time with us, doing things we thought he'd love. Turns out we were right and the things we went out to do were rivaled only by getting to spend inordinate amounts of time cuddling on the couch and bed as well. Spoiled little golden, although I don't think he lets it go to his head.

Saturday we went and explored the new walking trail that connects our small outlying towns to the larger town in the area. It's the county's attempt at promoting a healthier community and it just may work, although it's something like 10 miles just to get to town from our house, not to mention around town. I think the path will become one of our walking destinations.

Eclipse was even so kind as to invite his little "sister" Tiki along.

Here she is showing off her mad loose leash walking skills!

Once we got away from the few other people checking out the foot bridge that goes under the freeway bride I let Eclipse have his own leash. He's so much more relaxed and the path is fully fenced, other than at each end which we were far away from.

Nor does it hurt that he trots ahead a ways then circles back to be with us and then trots ahead again. He doesn't go far, thus the freedom he gets.

He'll even stick with me if I ask him to do so, even if his dad and sister are somewhere else!

I just love how relaxed he is "off-leash"!

We even took the time to work Tiki a bit. Here she is practicing an off-lead "let's go" and she did great, even with Eclipse running around like a goon!

Then sit-stays for each of them. They did great! Want to know what captured Eclipse's attention?

These two little ones and their mama!

Eclipse looking handsome and super comfortable on the bridge

And together we looked and pondered what the next year together will bring. Only good, we hope!

How we celebrated Sunday will come soon, maybe later today, maybe tomorrow, but soon! Don't worry, it was definitely more exciting than our freeway walk!

ONE YEAR!

2011-02-27T15:56:00.000-08:00

Eclipse came home as our pet one year ago today! In fact we arrived back to town almost to the minute one year ago! We had a lot of fun with the boy and the tag-along Tiki but I haven't had a chance to edit the pictures yet so our weekend photos will have to wait, but here's a teaser for you!

As we head into year 2 with the boy home as a very happy pet we're looking at more ways to help him handle his anxiety. I'm going to take an obedience class or two with him and possibly some agility classes and rally-o if we can find them local. We're also going to look into getting a calming cap for him to wear in the car since I think a lot of his anxiety in the car is from seeing things coming at him and going by so fast. We'll see, though, we may end up purchasing a specific type of vehicle so that he can't see out but that decision will be made in time. He's doing so good and has come so far in the past year, and don't worry, his service dog training wasn't wasted. One of his favorite tasks is to hand me my towels after I shower each day and he loves to open the fridge and close it for us. If the remote ever falls on the floor, don't you worry, the Roo will get it for you! He's such a sweet, darling boy and if we can get his anxiety to a managable level I have high hopes for where we'll go together! (Who knows, maybe a trip to Alaska is in the not-too-distant future for the boy and us!)

Really, though, I couldn't be happier with the dog he is today and how content and happy he is just being a pet. He loves everyday and he always wakes up with a smile on his face, that is if you can catch sight of him before he has a teddy bear firmly griped for his morning wiggles!

Happy anniversary, baby boy! Hope we have many many more to come!

A Very Tiki Video

2011-02-23T11:46:00.001-08:00

This was one of the first times we tried retrieves with keys or that particular glove, with things she's more comfortable with (a smaller glove, a tennis ball, a sock) she tries really hard to deliver to hand. She's doing well, though!

Photo-Canis

2011-02-20T19:52:00.000-08:00

Turns out it's not only the bathtubs Tiki's infatuated with, it's widened out to encompass our stand-up shower as well. It's quite interesting to open the shower door and have a 50 lbs lab puppy walk in and stand with you!

Yeah, she really is that big! This was almost a month ago!

Tiki at 5.5 months walking to the park with Alex. She walks so well on leash and I think it's from starting to shape polite leash walking as soon as she came home. It's true for leash training, the sooner you start, the better!

Eclipse chilling while we played some basketball.

He and Tiki couldn't run loose this day because a couple were playing tennis.

^Be still my heart. This is the comfortable, calm Eclipse that we like to see!^

Aww, my sweet girl! If Kira were smarter and didn't bark compulsively she'd be the best dog EVER! As it is, she comes close!

^I love when these two play together although they usually stop when someone even looks at them so photos are a rare treat! And mind you, Teddy used to hate toys, now he uses them in play with the other dogs!

^HAHA! I love this picture of Kira! Cracks me up! I think it's time for another spring-shaving for the girl, it's been a couple years. Soon she'll be a cute little fuzz-ball instead of a hair-ball!

^The two lightest dogs sharing the Costco dog bed^

^Doesn't he look thrilled? He likes playing in water but detests baths^

Private Blog

2011-02-19T21:58:00.000-08:00

The private blog is back up and running. It really has little to do with puppy raising and more with my personal life but if you're an invited reader feel free to keep an eye on it. If you're not yet invited, go ahead and leave a comment with your e-mail address and I'll add you.

Tiki At 6 Months

2011-02-19T21:14:00.000-08:00

Tiki turned 6 months old yesterday, I can hardly believe it!

She's such a big puppy still and so goofy and uncoordinated at times. She's right around 50 lbs at this point although her next weigh-in isn't until next week. Since she turned 6 months old here's 6 things you may just not know about the girl!

She's got some of the most piercing eyes! Seriously, when she looks at you it feels like she's looking straight through you!

She plays tirelessly with the new kitten. (The new kitten is Mowgli, Coreena's adult cat Elijah wasn't adjusting to him being around like hoped for so he came to live with us. No, we don't have 3 cats, the brothers we adopted awhile ago ran off and we haven't seen sign of them since.)

She loves when I hold my hand over the end of the chair and she just spins in circles letting my hand scritch her favorite spots.

(Her legs don't look so disproportionally long in real life, I think...)

Infatuated doesn't begin to explain how she feels about stuffed Kongs. Thankfully it tires her out. The girl has boundless energy!

(Enjoying her mid-morning stuffed Kong. Canned pumpkin, plain yogurt and soaked kibble)

She's going through a major fear-period. If she can she'll run away from anything "scary".

(Running from a scary Airdale that was completely ignoring her)

One of her favorite things is to go to the tennis courts and play fetch with her big golden brother. Of course they each have a ball, Tiki carries a tennis ball and Eclipse carries a chuck-it ball.

(Practicing obedience despite Dad playing basketball and Eclipse playing with a ball)

We don't know when she's going back exactly yet. It could be a whole year from now but we may cut it short by four months so we don't have to worry about winter weather amongst other things. If she's going to make it she'll be ready for the prison in 8 months... although I don't know if I'll be ready to tell her goodbye since it will be goodbye for good. She won't be coming home if she's career changed, no matter how far she burrows into our hearts. Whether she has 8 or 12 months left in our home, we really wouldn't have it any other way. She's just great and fun to train since she loves to learn!

Tiki, we love you and I love you for showing your daddy how much fun raising a future assistance dog really is! Thanks for an amazing four months together so far and hopefully many more to come!

Ally & Alex w/Eclipse, Tiki, Teddy & Kira

Another Amazing CAST Outing

2011-01-31T20:04:00.000-08:00

Saturday, the 29th was yet another amazing outing with the CAST gang!

We started out at the kennels to take advantage of the environment for a handler-training exercise. It was very intriguing and really makes ya think about how we interact with our dogs.

While one or two dogs were being worked with the others were in the play yard having a ball of fun. Tiki was the youngest there, the others were Comet, Galaxy, Wyatt, Terra and Jackson for a short time (he's getting neutered soon, but as always Tiki proved too enticing for the poor guy).

Comet looked very pleased with herself after she was done being practiced with.

Terra, as always, is one of my favorites to photograph. She's just so endearing and so gorgeous!

Then, of course, the monster of the group. Of course she's not the largest of the group that was there, although she'll likely be bigger than any of them other than maybe Tundra but he wasn't in the play group.

After playing and practicing for awhile we dressed the dogs and went out in the driveway and practiced "sit"s and "down"s for a short time. Terra has quite the entertaining "down". Sphinx explains it very well!

Tiki being a good girl, as always.

Comet looks uncomfortable in her gear here but once we loosened her harness a bit she looked much more comfortable.

Then we took a walk down the drive and up a different one. Our destination... Meeting these fellas.

Needless to say, Terra wasn't a big fan. In fact, none of them were to begin with. If you think about it, it's really not surprising. These giant heads are sticking out of the wall and move and make noise, what in the world!?!

Tiki and Galaxy investigated the horse in his stall for a moment, but Tiki quickly lost her nerve.

Then we followed Sandy, the horse (Rondy I think was his name), and Terra outside. Sandy walked Rondy around the group and had Terra on her other side. It worked very well and Terra quickly got over her initial fear.

Of course the advanced training dogs (plus Tundra) couldn't be left out. They observed us the whole time.

After Terra got a bit more brave it was Comet's turn. She wasn't so thrilled to begin with.

Although she quickly gained some confidence and even licked Rondy's leg! Here she and Galaxy look like the sisters they are, just observing him as he eats.

Then it was Galaxy's turn. It was very cool to see how each dog handled being so close to Rondy! Some showed A LOT of appeasement behaviours, head turns, lip licking. Here Galaxy looks like she's mimicking Rondy, but I think it's how she dealt with being so close to him, letting him know in her own way that she was not a danger.

Terra and Wyatt did well, in fact shortly after this photo Terra play-bowed to Rondy. Although, as Sandy said, it would have been shocking if he'd have play-bowed back!

A woman, a dog, and her horse. Does it get any better?

Jackson was highly aroused. Sandy was able to get him calmed down, though. Jackson is the same sweet boy that was up here, although he seems more confident now. He's also filled out a lot and looks GREAT!

We then worked on "up" and "jump" on a box. We also did "up" on a folding camp chair, which are great commands for confidence building. While Tiki and I weren't working on that we worked on getting her more comfortable in the barn with the "creepy" heads. The picture below is a perfect example why I'm going on a diet! (Thanks, Sandy, for the picture! It's amazing how seeing yourself in a picture motivates you to lose weight!) Shortly after this picture we also worked on "up" and "jump" on a box to help distract her from being scared. We also incorporated some "nudge"s and "sit"s. Amazingly enough, it worked wonders! In fact when we were walking down to the end of the barn to work on building confidence using a stack of hay bales she got a bit of the zoomies!

We hadn't planned on going all the way to the top of the stack but Tiki was doing well and I'm used to climbing giant stacks of hay bales from working with the elephants, so we ventured all the way to the top. Comet quickly followed and it turned into an idea for a photo opportunity. The only good picture is this one, and it's not only because I think it's a decent picture of me either! (It doesn't do Comet any injustice either!)

In reality, this is the best of the rest of the group. The mobbed Coreena at the other end! In that mix are Terra, Wyatt, Galaxy and Comet, Coreena is, of course, behind/under them!

Ha! There she is (and don't mind Comet sampling the hay). You can also see Sheila and Jackson. He lacked the confidence to get all the way up but thankfully there will be plenty of opportunity.

Then we went back to the play yard and let them run around. Skylar and Hawk the American Indian Dogs joined us for a short time.

Then we took Comet, Tiki, Galaxy, Terra and Tundra out to eat lunch with us. We went to a fantastic restaurant that offers almost everything as Gluten-free and it was so good! Tiki also did really well for her first restaurant outing, especially considering the four other pups under the table with her!

It was so much fun and I can't express my thanks to Canine Angels for embracing us and allowing Tiki and I to join them on their outings, without them Tiki wouldn't get nearly the range of experiences as they're offering us. Only three short weeks to our next outing and we can't wait!

Making The Rounds

2011-01-30T08:52:00.000-08:00

Last week Tiki, Comet, Coreena, Max and I made the rounds around town.

First stop? The vets' office to get current weights on the girls of course!

Tiki weighed 43 lbs

And little teeny Comet weighed 35 lbs

Then we hit up Petco, where Comet got friendly with the rats and asked Max if she could have one as a pet...

While Tiki decided to be a bit more reserved and asked for a fish...

They were both told no and especially no about even thinking about asking for snakes or tarantulas!

Then we made our way to another park. In fact the same park where Eclipse and Eva's "senior pictures" were taken :-D

First they posed on a bench...

then decided to pose on the playground equipment

Tiki got a taste of what it'll be like when she goes back for advanced training at the prison

Comet lent her support

They decided to scope out the park from their mighty perch

And gave the rocking, grate bridge a shot.

Comet didn't mind it one bit. Tiki took a little while to warm up to it.

While they were just standing around they looked out over the lands below.

Before Tiki decided to go abstract.

(She's strange I tell ya. Do you believe me now?)

And if kids can do it, so can Tiki!

She decided since she was in the safety of their fortress she could afford to relax for a moment.

Although it didn't last long...

Since she had to fly the helicopter!

And of course she looked absolutely stunning while doing so!

Comet didn't trust Tiki, the puppy's, judgement, so bailed. Whew! Good thing they hadn't taken off yet!

Comet suggested maybe they'd be better off going for a ride with someone else flying the 'copter.
That idea quickly fizzled though when they realized how little room there was for passengers!

So the humans stepped in and just suggested they pose next to the helicopter before heading home.

Oh, making the rounds with two cute pups is sure fun!

Slacking, yet again

2011-01-28T17:27:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I've been slacking at my blogging. I'll try and do better, I promise! For now enjoy these random pictures from the past couple weeks. (By the way, a week ago Tiki weighed 43 lbs! At barely 5 months old! At a steady weight gain of 2.5-3 lbs a week that puts her at 45 lbs now. I wonder if she'll slow down this rate of growth anytime soon!)

Tiki and Eclipse are best buds. Don't worry though, she's not bigger than him... YET!

AWW! She melts my heart, despite the fact that she's a persistent little twit sometimes!

Eclipse still has to practice his manners too, even though he's just a spoiled rotten pet now. Here I had him do a "stay" with an implied "leave it" while I left the room! Despite being SUPER food motivated now he left all that yummy salmon kibble alone for 3 minutes :-D

Tiki and I helped that reactive pit bull again. She did great and it was so good for her to learn to listen to cues despite other dogs making noise and not behaving.

We've been having a nice, welcome warm streak. Tiki obviously enjoyed it and I took the opportunity to rescue all the drowned stuffed toys!

In an attempt to eat healthier and cut calories I gave the dogs my egg yolks this morning. Well, Eclipse, Kira and Teddy anyway.

Part of Tiki's daily training is holding a "wait" while the other dogs are given the "okay". She did so nicely despite the added discraction of a novel food and got rewarded with yummy treats!

More to come soon!

Ally w/Eclipse, Tiki, Teddy & Kira

Is It True?

2011-01-08T13:05:00.000-08:00

Is my puppy really only 4.5 months old?

She's not terribly mature, but she's not terribly immature either. She's confident, she walks better on leash than any SDIT I've ever handled, she pays attention, she's a quick learner and she charms everyone that sees her.

Granted, her size doesn't help her feel any younger! She's larger at this age than Eclipse was a month after he left our house at 6.5 months, and she's officially more than 2/3rds of the way to being the same weight as he is! I know she's not the biggest puppy-in-training ever, but she's certainly the largest I've raised and I fully expect her to top out at just shy of 80 lbs, which is big for a female! Husky little thing!

Thursday Coreena and I had Tiki out and about for 3 hours. Some of that time she spent in the car while we talked to our sister but we made stops are three different public places and she did great at all of them. No accidents, no issues. Of course if there's a wrapper on the floor she wants to see if it's good to eat but she's easy to re-direct and is so willing to go, and see, and do.

I honestly couldn't have asked for a better pup to help me fall back in love with raising. She's amazing. The only time she really shows her immaturity is at home playing with Eclipse and when people greet her in public. I still can't believe she's only 4.5 months old though! She seems so much older! It's not just me that realizes she can't possibly be only 4.5 months old either, our local trainer said we could go right into Level II obedience despite the fact that Tiki's still very much young enough to be in Puppy Manners! We're not going to because she could use the practive Level I provides and we'll save Level II for the second, required class.

Suffice it to say that I greatly look forward to the next 14 months with our black girl, I know she'll go far, she's already shown us that!

Ally w/The Amazing Tiki, The Goofy Eclipse, The Grouchy Old Man Teddy, & The Ever-Loving Kira

Flashback Friday

2011-01-07T13:02:00.000-08:00

Some things never change (although camera/photo taking quality sure do!)

Eclipse at 6 months

Eclipse today at 26 months

Fun Times With SDITs!

2011-01-05T20:58:00.000-08:00

Today Coreena and I took Comet and Tiki to Petco on their first outing together. It was extremely successful! Pups weren't stressed, she behaved well and remained on loose leashes and we even helped a reactive dog learn to be a little less reactive. Tomorrow we have a fun day planned of Lowe's and the college book store and we'll see where else we end up.

We also weighed the girls. Tiki weighed in at a whopping 37 lbs on her 20 week day! And then there's little miss Comet, at 7 months 3 days old she weighs a whole 33 lbs! Tiki is 4 lbs bigger while 11 weeks younger! I think it's safe to say Comet will stay small but Tiki should be quite large for a female!

Here you can see how far away we were from Snoopy the reactive Pit Bull. More than 2 lanes between us but his threshold distance quickly lessened.

Snoopy, the reactive Pit Bull. Removed from his littermates at 3 weeks of age and very very little socialization will do that, but he's so sweet and thankfully his family are determined to help him improve!

More later!

Ally w/Tiki, Eclipse, Teddy & Kira

The Past Year!

2010-12-31T11:02:00.000-08:00

I was thinking of doing a month-by-month review of 2010, but there was a lot of diappointment this year (like every other year) along with a lot highs!

The big points:

Eclipse came home just before a major legal battle had to ensue!

Alex got hired on as a permanent employee at a job he excels at.

We moved into a great 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home with amazing landlords.

We attended another Canine Angles graduation which was just as heartwarming and even more fun than last year's.

Tiki the elephant died and I longed to once again stand by one of "my" magnificent elephants.

I traveled to Southern California with Coreena and my mom to drop off Charlie and pick up Tiki the puppy!

Coreena and I have been warmly welcomed into the Canine Angles family and enjoyed two great outings with them. Next year we look forward to many more outings and Tiki will get to tag along despite being from a different organization.

Eclipse's reactivity and overall stress was greatly reduced and he's really settled in and seems to enjoy life just being a fun loving, goofy, golden pet.

Tiki went on her first big public outing to Wal-Mart and did Amazing! She walked around the whole store with no issues and ignored people and did everything I asked of her.

In retrospect, the year obviously could have gone better on my employment front but otherwise all is well and we're fine! It's nice to be comfortable where you are and we're certainly comfortable in this house and with our dogs.

Ally w/Tiki, Eclipse, Teddy & Kira

Urgent! Anyone Able To Help? UPDATED

2010-12-29T12:59:00.001-08:00

*UPDATE* Lazy has been adopted!

http://www.examiner.com/dogs-in-national/urgent-former-service-dog-to-be-euthanized-on-wednesday

This is a retired service dog (owner-trained I'm assuming or the organization would undoubtedly step in) was surrendered to an LA area shelter and only has 24 hours to live before he's euthanized for "lack of space". Can anyone help, even just fostering the boy? He's 6 years old, neutered, lab mix. I hope he makes it to enjoy his retirement!

2 YEARS!

2010-12-27T10:30:00.000-08:00

Can you believe that this handsome guy

looked like this only 2 years ago?

Coreena and I recieved Eva and Eclipse 2 years ago today to raise as potential service dogs. Both of them were eventually career changed and are now our pets. Honestly, with these two, we wouldn't have it any other way! Happy 2 years from your original arrival date, and happy 10 months from your "home forever" date, Eclipse! We couldn't be happier with you and you've come so far from when you first arrived at 9 weeks of age and again when we came home at 16 months of age! Extra cuddles for you today, not that you're not already spoiled enough!

December Puppy Outing With CAST

2010-12-23T10:08:00.000-08:00

The outing was a definite success! We went to a really cool place that had a small "world" that you could walk through, of MARS! It was great socialization for the pups and we all had a great time!

This time we had 7 pups along. In the back is Pepper from the Peanuts gang (She's in Formal Training with Sandy). Middle left is Terra who is from the "T" litter of poodles (Being raised by Marie), and next to her is her brother Tundra (Being raised by Sandy). Next to him is black lab/golden cross from the "Space" litter Galaxy. Front row is Joe Cool who is Pepper's brother (He's in Formal Training with Sandy but I handled him at the outing. He was raised by Vida's raiser who couldn't make it to the outing). Next is new puppy Comet who has an interesting story. She's from the "Space" litter and is being raised by Coreena. Last but not least is Twister who is from the "Games" litter. (She's in Formal Training with Sandy and was raised by puppy raising coordinator Sheila who now has Wyatt).

The connections between all these pups is kind of cool! Of course there are four litters represented here ("Peanuts Gang", "Games", "Space" and the "T" poodles) but it goes beyond that. The Peanuts pups are the great-uncles/aunts of the "T" poodles and the "Space" pups have the same dad as the "Games" litter and the same mom as the "Peanuts Gang"! It's lots of fun to see!

While the outing was a great success, getting home wasn't as successful, although we did get home safely in the end!

It started dumping snow in the valley as soon as we got to our destination, about the same time a semi-truck flipped on the freeway, so when we got back to the pass 2.5 hours later the freeway was at a standstill and backed up for more than 20 miles!

Once we started moving after sitting at a rest area for almost 2 hours it went fairly smoothly despite the snow on the passes.

It was a lot of fun despite our 1 hour drive home taking 4.5 hours! I can't wait for the next outing as Tiki will be able to join us and they're just so much fun, but it may not be for a couple months since this snow storm came out of nowhere!

Lunar Eclipse

2010-12-22T18:35:00.000-08:00

Since we live on the West Coast it was a lot easier to stay up to see the lunar eclipse. Unfortunately it was pretty cloudy but we managed to get a couple good shots of it before the clouds got too thick. We missed when it was totally eclipsed, but that's okay, it was amazing to see anyway!

The best picture I got of the eclipse?

Just kidding! We only got two good pictures since I only have two lenses right now and we couldn't rustle up a tripod to borrow in time. Oh well, I like the ones we managed to get a lot!

(You should click on the pics to get the good view!)

Ally w/Eclipse, Tiki, Teddy & Kira

Slacker Alert!

2010-12-22T17:42:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I'm a slacker!

Tiki turned 4 months old on Saturday and she's doing great! She's so ready to go out in public, besides her demodex. She's got two new spots we're working hard on getting control over. She may have to go on a stronger medication to get it under control, but we'll cross that bridge when we reach it.

She's doing great on her basic commands and was doing well on the retrieve sequence training, but that had to be put on hold since she's beginning to lose teeth so her mouth is sore. Instead we're focusing on things like "nudge", "tug", cleaning up her basic commands, and soon we'll start on her "go to bed" commands and such. She's a great puppy to have around and while she's a spitfire she's fairly easy to live with and I expect her to go far! Yay, Tiki! You're doing your namesake justice!

We're waiting on Tiki's larger collar and jacket to arrive, until then she's wearing Eola's old collar!

Figuring The New Camera Out

2010-12-17T12:55:00.000-08:00

There's quite a learning curve going from a point and shoot to an SLR! I'm slowly beginning to figure it out but here are some examples for your viewing pleasure/comic relief!

Well, you see, some of the photos turn out Amazing!

Galaxy

One of my favorite photos I have ever taken!

Jackson

Coreena took this one

Eva

Coreena took this one too!

Jackson

You should enlarge this one to see the water coming out of his mouth! 'Tis amazing!

Tiki

And then some of them turn out not so amazing....

Like the focus is not on the correct part of the photo!

And again, focus is wrong!

And again... although that's a mighty nice weed!

And sometimes just the entire picture is wrong. Wrong lighting. Wrong focus. Wrong frame. Wrong, wrong, wrong!

But it's still fun trying to figure it all out!

I Got It!

2010-12-12T18:27:00.000-08:00

I finally got my new camera yesterday! I've been wanting a DSLR for a couple years now but every time I'd go to buy one something would happen to prevent it, like we'd lose a part of our income. This time it again happened (my sister lost her job so I lost my income of watching her kids full-time) but we're in a good enough situation that when we got Alex's money from being born in Alaska we decided not to put it off any longer. (and hopefully my sister will get another job soon!) I'm having to use the flash right now due to the way our house is set up there just isn't enough light but hopefully tomorrow I'll get some shots outside of the dogs and really get to start understanding the manual settings. All the pictures in this post were shot on auto mode, which kind of defeats the purpose of the DSLR but still, it's a smart camera!

It's a good thing I love it so much because it sure was a pain in the neck to get it! I got the Sony A330 from Costco. The A330 has been discontinued since there are newer and better models to take it's place, which means it was an awesome deal. Alex and I went to get it at 12:45 but we couldn't use our debit cards since we were over our "spending limit of the day", and since we didn't have our checkbook with us we had to leave and come home to get the checkbook. Alex had a football game to go to so I grabbed the checkbook and picked up Coreena and we went to get it. After we got everything we needed again we got to the checkout and realized I didn't have my Costco card so couldn't write a check. OY! So we came home again got my wallet, went back and got everything again and then we were all sold out of the camera! I got the display one though and was so happy since it came with two lenses and online that bundle is going for $50+ more than it was at Costco! I should have gotten them to take another $50 or so off it but I was so excited to get it I didn't care.

Oh, and Tiki update. She has demodex mange which isn't a big deal but she is getting medication for it once a day for two weeks. After her meds are gone she can start going in public. She also gained 3.4 lbs in 8 days and two days ago weighed in at 30.2 lbs! Big girl!

Ally w/Eclipse, Tiki, Teddy & Kira

Milestones

2010-12-09T11:51:00.000-08:00

Sorry, no new photos of the pooches, still camera-less!

Yesterday we reached some milestones. First, Tiki turned 16 weeks! She's doing great and will be going to the vet tomorrow for her last shots, her rabies, to have her hips rechecked (oh, I forgot to mention there was concern about her hips when she was 10 weeks, didn't I?) and to get the ringworm on her head evaluated and potentially treated. Since it was her 16 week day we decided to take her on her first long walk. I had her wear her head collar just so she can spend more time in it before we go out in public. She certainly doesn't need a head collar at all but it's supposed to be part of her uniform so she has to wear it. In fact, she walks great on a leash! She sticks to "heel" position and offers eye contact regurlary. While she was a bit stressed when we passed walking dogs a happy voice got her tail wagging and her accepting kibble with no issues. Regular neighborhood walks and minor counter-conditioning should be all that's needed to get her over any stress about barking dogs behind fences, unlike Eclipse.

Speaking of Eclipse's anxiety outside. That's right, I said "outside". I've realized from watching him carefully that his anxiety isn't just when other dogs are around or when there are fences where dogs could be hiding, he has anxiety to being outside, on-leash in general. We've been working on counter-conditioning that and it's been going well. For the past couple weeks I've been regularly taking him outside and walking him up and down our little part of the road (we live on a dead-end part of a road that's kind of like alley) and past the neighbor's house where there are no dogs. I started by giving him a delicious treat every step we took that he was on a loose leash and in heel position. We gradually faded that and now he gets a treat every 15 steps or so. I think it also helps that I found GREAT treats to use for him. They're from a line of prepared natural food called Freshpet that we can get locally. I got the real beef ones and they're so easy to slice up into little pieces that are great for training and Eclipse Loves them! Yesterday I decided to see how far we could walk and we walked around the entire block without a single major reaction! He was wearing the head collar I got for Tiki but just to protect his throat due to a cough he has I don't really want any pressure on his collar which is why I'll be ordering him one of these this week. It wasn't too hard to keep his attention on me and he'd willingly get back into position and take treats despite there being dogs behind fences barking at him! One thing I did change was when we get past a stressful section I let him let loose a little by putting his front paws on my chest and getting lots and lots of loves. Then he shakes it off and is good to go! It's so nice to see the effort we've been putting into this for the past 9 months really start to pay off!

You can be sure there will be plenty of photos soon!

Ally (so proud of both of my retrievers along with the "strange" little dogs! Everyone is doing so well!)

Some Lasts

2010-12-04T08:23:00.000-08:00

Not lasts for any dog/person in the house, yet some lasts all the same. These are some of the last photos to be taken on my camera with it being "my" camera... Don't worry, though, I'm getting a new one. I'll be ordering my new camera next weekend (or purchasing it locally) and since my in-laws don't have a camera they begged to buy the Fujifilm off us, so we're letting them. And since we're going over there this weekend we're just going to give it to them then. No pictures for a week! AH!

This was so cute! Teddy isn't a huge cuddler with other dogs (unless it's his "wife", Kira) so when he curled up with Eclipse on the dog bed it was too cute to not take a picture of!

AWW!

^14 week old Tiki^

Teddy being spoiled at the in-law's last weekend. I swear, he's treated like a king there!

Tiki this morning, 15 weeks 2 days. For those of you that just use google reader, Tiki weighs 27 lbs now! She's reliably gaining 2.5 lbs a WEEK right now. She gets her last shots next week, then we'll start going on outings to the pet stores to get her public manners and leash walking more generalized then we'll start going on bigger and bigger outings! She's been in public a couple times, that time outside of Safeway and then a couple weeks ago she went to Sprint with us. She did great! I just need to work more on her doing behaviours in a "heel" or "side" position rather than in front of me facing me. We're working on it and making progress!

She's still proving to be quite a fun pup! She's extremely smart and motivated and is learning self-control very very well. Once Mattie arrives home we'll be putting Tiki and Mattie in an obedience class together. I'm thinking Tiki will either be the star of the class or make me hang my head in disappointment (at myself)! Such is puppy raising, you never know until you have them in that or a very similar situation!

Finally!

2010-12-03T08:02:00.000-08:00

Finally, here are more photos from the outing almost two weeks ago! My Picassa web albums ran out of storage and I had to convince myself to just create another account to post from!

^Tundra relaxing^

^Terra being pretty!^

^Wyatt^

^Snoopy, "Jump"^

Tundra's telling Terra a secret she doesn't seem real fond of!

Wyatt and Tundra relaxed on the bench. Don't have to tell them to chill more than once!

Goldendoodle (Snoopy), Poodle (Terra), Labradoodle (Wyatt), Poodle (Tundra), Goldendoodle (Vida)

Good pups!

Terra checking out the escalator (no pups got on the escalator, they were just looking) while Vida looks on from the left and Wyatt and Tundra look on from the right.

Tundra's turn!

Terra (okay, so I have a thing for photographing the poodles, so kill me!)

Wyatt is learning to drive!

Snoopy doesn't want to be a passenger, he wants to drive too!

Next up was going "under" benches. Tundra seems proud of himself, or maybe it's just that his mom was proud of him!

Then there was a puppy switch, all the photos after the switch either came out bad (BOO!) or have people's faces in them.

Outside Sheila demonstrated with Terra how to do the "about-turns". For those of us that coordination-ally challenged they're complicated, well, the mechanics are complicated!

Beautiful Vida!

I can't wait for the next outing! January, hurry up!

Just In Time

2010-11-23T13:37:00.000-08:00

We got these fall photos of Eva and Eclipse just in time! These were taken 6 days ago:

These were taken in my backyard 15 minutes ago:

We rarely get snow here, and never in November! It's cold for here, as well. It stuck a bit last night but not on cement as it poured rain almost all day yesterday. This morning it was very scary driving in town, and my car slipped a bit once because someone decided to cut me off so it was either brake as easily as possible to not hit them or not and risk slipping and hitting them or not and hitting them. I was a slight emotional wreck but I was safe. I'm am deeply concerned about tonight/tomorrow though as we're supposed to get temperatures in the low 20's (that hasn't happened in YEARS and never in November) so all the moisture will freeze and everything will be very slick. The hard winter has already started.

The rest of the outing photos will be posted soon!

Oodles of... 'Oodles!

2010-11-22T16:07:00.000-08:00

Despite the fact that I'm raising Tiki for an organization that is 900 miles away, I still feel like I'm part of a much larger puppy raising group. In part, because I am! Want to know what I'm talking about?

This amazing little organization based an hour away that you know one active raiser for and one currently waiting for a pup. Canine Angels Service Teams. Most of their raisers are in California so there are puppy raising "groups" that get together for outings on a regular basis but just recently (in the past 6 months) have there been enough raisers in Southern Oregon to organize group outings. The first was yesterday and despite the fact that Coreena doesn't have a puppy and I got a puppy from a different organization we were invited to attend. I wish I could explain how much fun it was! It just feels like home! All the "pups" were between 5 and 6 months old although a Goldendoodle was brought for Coreena/whoever extra to handle who is approaching 2 years of age. I loved it so much! It was laid-back and fun and the two raisers we haven't met before were welcoming and easy-going. Most of these pups have only been in public a few times but it was a quiet morning at the mall and not a lot was asked of them other than to not pull on leash and be unobtrusive. (Not major commands, it was all about making sure they were comfortable and working on building confidence)

I took a lot of pictures but here are just a "few". Meet the pups that attended!

^This is Terra. She's a female standard poodle and is being raised by a first-time raiser^

^The black on is Vida, a female goldendoodle. She's a doll! On the right is Tundra, Terra's brother.^

Vida is her raiser's second pup to raise, her first was Joe Cool from the Peanuts litter who is currently in Advanced Training. Tundra is being raised by Sandy, one of the founders and the trainer of the organization. She's the "local" one to us, an hour away! It's a great privilege to watch her work and have her challenge me to switch tactics with the different dogs, I hope to learn a lot!

^Tundra and Vida (with Coreena and "Snoopy" in the background)^

^Terra outside for a potty break^

^Vida outside for a potty break^

One of the things focused on was asking the pups to do "ups" and "jumps" on benches, "ups" on garbage cans and looking at the escalates. The goal being that what the pups do themselves builds confidence not only on different surfaces/difference circumstances but in general. Something I've never thought of doing in public to that extent but makes perfect sense since we do a lot of setting up in training sessions for similar things!

^Tundra doing a "jump" on the bench, then an "up" on the back of the bench^

^Wyatt, a male labradoodle, "Mr. Photogenic" as I call him, looking Crazy!^

^Terra working on her confidence. She absolutely stole my heart!^

^Aw, Terra!^

^Snoopy (23 month old male goldendoodle) watching the pups gain confidence^

^Wyatt was enticed by a pine needle to "up" on the garbage can. (Ignore the people watching, I didn't notice them until I edited the picture!)^

^Snoopy looks like an "Eeyore"... it's because he is! Calm, sweet, easy going. Great to handle, but would bore me to tears if I had him for too long!

^Tundra! He's got some huge paws on him! I can't believe how big he got from 5 weeks ago! (We handled him a bit at the graduation in October)

^Vida and Terra telling secrets we can only imagine!^

If you can't tell, we had a great time! They're hoping to make the outings a monthly thing and we are excited about that. Where do I fit in the picture, though? Well, it's kind of complicated and kind of not. I've loved Canine Angels since the first graduation we attended 15 months ago. However there were personal reasons I couldn't apply to raise for them, then. There are also personal reasons I'm not raising for them at this time. It has nothing to do with them, but I feel it's better for everyone if I hold off until Coreena has shown herself to them without me fully in the picture, the same for Tabatha. Those of you that have followed me for any longer than a year knows the past history. I only got Tiki because I love raising service dogs for people that need them. I fear that I wouldn't have the self-control to not accept a pup from Canine Angels even if the timing wasn't great, if I didn't have one. They understand and seem to respect my decision, they also completely support it and have invited Tiki and I along on all the outings. The only thing is they need pictures they can use on the website and in the newsletter and such without her in them because she is from a different organization which I respect completely and understand. In fact, one of the first things Sandy said to us after she asked about my pup was "when she's old enough bring her along!". I love that they don't care what organization a dog is from, it's still being raised with the same goal in mind.

I'll share more later as I have a lot more pictures but just know, it was great to hang out with dog people that respect all organizations, and to be in such a relaxed environment. We talked "dog" so much and since Sandy raised for GDB when she was younger, well, we had a lot to talk about! Oh, and the training talk, oh I was in heaven! Thankfully this seems to be working out extraordinarily so far!

Shaping Success

2010-11-18T16:23:00.000-08:00

Tiki, Through The Lens

2010-11-17T16:31:00.000-08:00

^That's not a trick of the light, the top of her head is very chocolatey! We'll see if it sticks around!^

^In this photo and the one below you can see her callick between her eyes if you look close enough^

^Her eye contact is so good sometimes it feels like she's looking right through me!^

These photos were taken last week but she's 13 weeks old today! Tomorrow she's getting her 3rd shot of the DHLPP series so we'll get another weight on her. She's been reliably gaining 2 lbs a week but feels like she's gained more this week so we'll see!

Does This Count?

2010-11-13T17:55:00.000-08:00

Does it count as a first outing if we just went to socialize outside of Safeway? Tiki is a very confident 12 week old puppy and she already thinks that every person was put on the earth to love on her. I decided we should ease into full public socializing by getting manners in place in more and more challenging places. We had to go to Safeway so while Alex and Max got the necessary things Tiki, Coreena and I stood outside working on manners, eye contact and ignoring people. She did amazingly well and I have big hopes for her when we're ready to socialize fully in public! She was successful ignoring people, greeting people, ignoring carts, ignoring the recycling carts, ignoring cars and saw the automatic doors. We'll be doing more work outside of and just inside of stores but we have four weeks to get where I'd like to see her. Not to mention she did great walking on a loose leash and giving me eye contact while walking! Such a big leap since even a week ago she refused to walk beside me!

Enjoy the poor-quality cell phone photos!

^Great eye contact!^

^A very small "up"^

^Eye contact in a small "up" with a very happy tail!^

Lab X Golden

2010-11-12T10:34:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Coreena watched Galaxy and it was kind of fun to have a lab, a lab/golden cross and a pure golden! It was also fun because Tiki was 11 weeks old and Galaxy was 22 weeks old.

First up was playing at Coreena's house with Golden Eva. It took Tiki a little bit of time to observe before she decided to join but as usual once she looked on for a bit she jumped right in! This girl's got spunk!

^Tiki watching Galaxy and Eva run from beside me.^

^Galaxy and Eva playing chase^

^Tiki getting a little more brave, poor quality photo but the subjects are cute!^

^I promise, this photo is not (poorly) photoshopped!^

^Lab X Golden^

^Golden X Lab^

^When Tiki jumps into something she really jumps in! No holding back for this girl!^

Next up was some more playtime and then dinner with Eclipse at my house. Really we had 7 dogs at my house (Teddy, Kira, Eclipse, Tiki, Eva, Rizzo (recovering from her spay), and Galaxy) but it didn't feel like that many especially considering two were under 6 months old! The hardest part with feeding them all dinner were the various commands! Eclipse's dinner commands are "sit, wait, okay". Galaxy's are "leave it, break". Tiki's are "sit, wait, release"! But we released everyone to eat successfully!

^Golden X Lab^

^Galaxy eating dinner^

^Tiki eating dinner^

I'm sure when Coreena gets a pup having so many dogs around will be quite the common occurence! It's fun and interesting though so all is well!

Ally w/ *just* the four kiddos

Some Breakthroughs!

2010-11-08T17:56:00.000-08:00

I wasn't in the best of moods or mindset today but we made some breakthroughs training-wise despite that!

Tiki; I actually got her to walk beside me on a short walk today! Granted, I had to use hot dogs but it was a major breakthrough! She would even offer me eye contact shortly after being startled by something. She was very easy to redirect for such a young pup! We're working on Shaping Polite Leash Walking with her and she's doing great. Since she arrived she hasn't wanted to walk beside anyone, she was always 1-2 feet behind unless something really exciting was in front of her, so it's a nice feeling to be getting somewhere with the encouragement to walk next to us. She also just refused to come inside because she needed to poop! Yay for progress in house-training despite our mistake!

^Eclipse, Galaxy & Tiki waiting for dinner!^

Eclipse (This is the exciting one!); I really want to train Eclipse some more intricate tasks as well as clean up some of his old ones. Namely, his "hold" which is non-existent and his "nudge" which is severely lacking and he thinks means "bite whatever I ask you to nudge". It's quite frustrating to start over on a certain task that's been allowed to be used incorrectly. His nudge we started completely over on today. Meaning, I put my hand right beside his nose and any glance or twitch toward that hand was clicked and rewarded. He's now purposefully touching my hand with his nose, although I have to be very selective to not click/treat any tongue flick or the cycle will start over of him thinking he needs to mouth everything. "Hold" went even better! I bought four Iclick clickers about a month ago and one of the amazing things about these clickers is they're super easy to click! They're so easy you can accurately click/treat using your foot to click! That's what I did today so that I could both sides of the toy we were practicing "hold" with. After a few reps of me holding both sides we eased back on my assistance and he successfully held the toy for a full 3 seconds! The most he's done before is 1 second! I was so thrilled! Getting reliable "holds" and "nudges" will open up a lot more possibilities for things to train the silly golden boy and I'm hoping a hand target will be fun enough that it will be a tool we can use for desensitizing him to the outside. More on that later.

Oops, My Bad!

2010-11-07T13:37:00.000-08:00

Alex and I made a mistake with Tiki.

No, we don't regret getting her. In fact Alex is happy that he's finally getting to experience what "really" raising a puppy is like! I think he enjoys it much more than he thought he would after the bad experiences raising Eclipse and Eola!

In fact, she's doing great in almost all ways. Yeah, she's got some jumping up problems, and she's got a lot of energy, and I have to work with her on not biting my fingers off as she takes treats, and she's still not completely house-trained. Oh, that one! That's where our mistake was made!

October was unseasonably warm here. We don't have a dog door just yet but because it was so nice outside the back door was almost always open. Rather than reminding myself of Tiki's future I decided to take the easy way out and allow her access to the outside. If she could get outside, she'd potty outside. Big deal, right? Wrong! This cute little 11 week old puppy started flat out refusing to potty on leash! She's definitely got a mind of her own and she'd pee on leash for us but then she'd want to walk 10 feet away to poop! That won't work in public and it certainly won't work for somebody with mobility issues, so we decided to fix it and fast!

We've gone back to relieving her on-leash, every time unless she's in the yard playing with the other dogs, but if we take her out, it's on-leash. Not only on-leash but we'd walk out, stand in one spot and with the leash around a hand put our hands in our pockets so she didn't get anymore room to roam. After just a couple days she will now go almost immediately and in response to the command and if she needs to poop she does so quickly, within the radius of her leash.

Whew, crisis averted! Re-training leash-relieving to a 6-month-old puppy is not fun or easy! Training it to an 11-week-old, is. I'm just happy I recognized it and we took action immediately, that way we have one less error to fix later!

Ally w/Tiki (the leash-relieving pro!), Eclipse (leash-relieving, that's old news), Teddy & Kira

My Heart Is Melting A Little

2010-11-07T09:02:00.000-08:00

Test Results

2010-11-05T21:29:00.000-07:00

We got the test results from the U/As and blood panels back today... We have good news and we have bad news. If you haven't looked at Coreena's blog yet, you might want to. For those of you that don't know, Coreena is my twin sister and she raised and now owns Eclipse's sister, Eva. Eva was "diagnosed" with kidney failure at 7 months but the local vets and everyone but the vets that treated her were very concerned about her kidney function from when she was 11 weeks old. She's had a couple U/As since then and the most current one, from today, they found what appear to be tumorous cells in the sample. Coreena and Max are waiting on a quote for the urine sample to be sent to an oncologist but we're hoping to sit down with the vets tomorrow and get some more information. That was the bad news.

The good news is that Eclipse's urine analysis showed that the specific gravity (concentration essentially) is well within normal range. We didn't hear anything about the blood panel but we did get an unofficial look at them when we dropped off the urine samples and all his values looked "normal" other than one which was just barely elevated. We're planning on doing a water deprivation test in the next couple months to see what his kidney function is at this point. At this point, all is well with Eclipse. It's just his sister we're in shock over. And here I was freaking out Wednesday night over my boy... worried over the wrong golden child.

The Big Retriever

2010-11-04T16:38:00.000-07:00

These photos do NOTHING for Eclipse, but they're cute none-the-less.

We took him and Eva to the vet's this morning. I'll let Coreena fill you in on Eva's current physical condition but overall Eclipse's is, well, in a word, AMAZING! He weighs in at a very healthy 55 lbs which I was happy about since I got him a bit too plump at one point. His nails are at an almost perfect length thanks to the dremel and pushing the quik back, his coat is very soft and healthy, his eyes look good, his black stomach is due to his allergies and all else looks good. His coat looks so good the vet asked if he was currently getting Omega-3 supplements, which he's not!

We got a full level 2 blood panel done, just waiting to hear on his levels. In the morning I also get the pleasure of "catching" his first morning urine so they can get a more comprehensive view. He also has a very very slight yeast build up in his left ear that we're addressing which is again, due to his allergies. One flea bite and he's miserable! He gets red skin, scabs from scratching, a black stomach, ear infections and red rimmed eyes. The vet wants me to try him on a home-made diet for 30 days to see if he has food allergies but I'm not sure... I think it's purely the fleas and if he gets one single bite you can tell for weeks.

I will update when we get the test results back. It's costing us a pretty penny to get all these tests run but it's worth it to know where he stands for sure!

Nothing Interesting To Say

2010-11-03T12:48:00.000-07:00

Other than Tiki experienced her first Kong with kibble in it yesterday. It did little to wear her out, though, the little energizer bunny!

She's a Smartie!

2010-11-02T06:07:00.000-07:00

I have to say Alex and I are being very spoiled with Tiki. She's a spitfire alright and has a go, go, go personality but she's also smart as a whip. At 10 weeks she can play for two hours straight and not miss a beat! She's learning a lot with just doing short clicker training sessions with her parts of her lunch and dinner and thankfully we have Eclipse to keep her entertained and to expend all that energy the rest of the time!

So far she's learning "Better Go Now" (the potty command), "Tiki" (eye contact), "Sit", "Down", "Off", "Wait", "Release", "Let's Go", "Give", "Drop", "Nudge" (poke my hand with her nose at this point), "Go In", "Come Here", "Leave It", the retrieve sequence formally as well as the play retrieve, and we've just started introducing the "Heel" position just by clicking her when she's in that position during training sessions. She's doing great! I can't wait to get her into puppy class so we can really start generalizing the commands and get some pointers where we need them!

^Reminding me that it's dinner time^

^In this one you can see her adorable little callick. It's almost impossible to capture in photos!^

In other news, the big guy, Eclipse, has a vet appointment along with his sister Eva to get their kidneys checked out on Thursday at 8:20 a.m. I'm not sure what tests we're all having run although I know the blood panel will be being done. I may have to set up another appointment to do the water deprivation test so they can get an accurate reading of his actual kidney function. I'm quite afraid of the results.... kidney function usually decreases at the age of 2 in dogs that already have compromised kidneys. Eclipse's kidney function 14 months ago when it was checked was only 31%... kidney "failure" is 30%.... We're preparing ourselves to receive bad news...

Moose!

2010-10-29T14:29:00.000-07:00

Since I know pictures are what you're here for, there's plenty in this post!

Coreena and I took Tiki to the vet today for her shots. The little gal weighs in at 15.6 lbs at only 10 weeks 2 days old! Pictures do not do her size justice!

She handled the shot and dewormer like a champ!

The wait was very short despite us "walking-in" rather than having an appointment, she handled that well too!

The only thing she didn't handle well was the block for the microchip implantation...

The poor thing was not a fan!

I wasn't a fan of the $37 price tag on them implanting the microchip! I've done it tons of time and for free!

Even though that's a stress yawn... she's sleeping quietly now, although not from the shot! She's been full of it for the two hours since the shot and it's her normal naptime! :-D

Tiki's Lessons for Me #1

2010-10-27T12:38:00.000-07:00

Pretty much every dog I interact with, train, or raise teaches me something, which is the way it should be. Tiki is no different. At 10 weeks she already taught me a couple lessons.

Barking in the crate means more than "I'm bored" or "I have to poop". Tiki is a pretty vocal puppy in the crate but not in the typical manner. She doesn't cry when she first enters the crate, it always takes a bit. Sometimes she does have to poop (she's been waking us up about once a night with diarrhea, but hopefully we've got that kicked now!) and sometimes she is just bored. In the x-pen it's boredom when she cries so she gets a rawhide with peanut butter on it (well... will again once we've for sure gotten the diarrhea kicked).

After we first picked her up she cried in her crate. The only thing we could figure was she was hot. This puppy does not like being hot! She'll cry in her crate if she's too hot. She also cries in her crate if she's lonely or scared. At this point she's not a real fan of being alone. Smart me forgot that last night while she cried for an hour because her crate was on the other side of our room from our bed... Simple solution at least, moved her crate next to Alex and she slept soundly until I got her up, an hour after Alex was up and around.

In other news, she's doing great! She's outgoing, loves playing with Eclipse, isn't afraid of our steps, tries to get in and out of the car by herself, and is learning manners and cues.

We are doing the NILIF (Nothing In Life Is Free) with all the dogs, including Tiki.All that means is they must do something for anything they want. If they want outside, they have to sit, if they want a love, they have to do something (we can love on them as much as we want, but if they ask to be loved on we ask them to do something). Tiki's getting the idea quickly and it's not so uncommon in the service dog world, it's just never called that *grin* She's beginning to understand "sit", "Tiki", "come here", "Better Go Now", "Wait", "Release" and the beginnings of zen. We're going to mostly be doing the Sue Ailsby Training Levels with her as well as putting her in obedience classes possibly starting next week. We are doing clicker training with her and she already know that "click means treat" so all is well. She's going to the vet Friday for some shots (they missed the 8 week shot I believe, so we're going to do some juggling of shots) and we'll get a weight on her then. She's a big girl, short and stout. I love me some good ole' English, blocky-head labs!

I'll update again soon, right now it's dog, kid and me nap time I do believe!

Ally w/Tiki, Eclipse, Teddy & Kira

Getting To Know You

2010-10-25T12:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, no more teasing. Alex and I got a puppy. She's a 9 week 5 day old purebred female black lab donated to Canine Support Teams by Oak Canyon Labs. It's no coincidence that we picked her up when Charlie went back for training, we found out two weeks ago that she'd be ours and so Charlie's recall was pushed back so we wouldn't have to make the 1800 mile round trip twice.

Her name? Oh yes, sorry. CST was amazing enough to name her Tiki for me. We found out we could raise here the same day Tiki the elephant died. Coreena asked if they would be willing to name her Tiki for me and they did! There's something amazing thinking about the legacy Tiki the elephant left behind and all the good Tiki the puppy could do.

^First bath, mid-shake^

^She makes my heart melt a little bit^

I got her Saturday morning but am just starting to really get to know her personality. We made the trip in 35.5 hours, total. We left Friday at 7 p.m. and arrived hom Sunday at 6:30 a.m. We only stopped to sleep once for a couple hours (well, Mom and Coreena slept a couple hours...). Tiki was such a trooper on the trip! To begin with she whined because it was hot but once she settled down she just slept the whole way! She's turning out to be a great sleeper and has only had one accident which was entirely our fault since we left her in the x-pen too long. She's very quick to relieve outside on-leash on any surface which we are so thankful for considering the storm front that came through!

^Oh, sweet chubby puppy!^

I didn't want to raise a puppy until Eclipse was at least 2 years old. Coincidentally we arrived home on the morning of Eclipse's (and Eva's, Echo's, Eola's, Jasmine's and their two other siblings') birthday!

We bought this big dog bed from Costco Friday afternoon... the dogs all rotate who gets to sleep on it and they all look so comfortable curled up on it... I have a feeling we'll be investing in at least three more!

At this point Tiki seems to be a very confident puppy who isn't afraid to try things. This confidence may make things challenging, but right now I'm just thankful to not have an anxious puppy. She seems to be fitting in well. We are allowed to take her out in public before she gets all her shots, we just have to carry her. I haven't decided yet if we will or not, maybe a few quick in and outs but no big outings as there are other ways to socialize a puppy and I feel if you socialize correctly, you have more opportunities to help the dog be successful and well-adjusted.

Oh, Tiki, welcome home!

In Loving Memory

2010-10-24T13:42:00.000-07:00

Tiki

Tiki Love

2010-10-21T14:20:00.000-07:00

The elephants scattered around our house remind me of my Tiki :-)

Wordless Wednesday-Before And Afters

2010-10-19T23:38:00.000-07:00

^My Favorite!^

Saving What's Left of My Sanity

2010-10-14T17:33:00.000-07:00

I have a reactive dog, a reactive dog that still needs exercise.

Since we've moved Eclipse's walks have been non-existent. I'm working on a new (to us) leash walking training program, so when we do go on "walks" it's just in front of our house and the dog-less neighbor next to us. The first time we did it he did so great that I took up to the road (we live on a gravel alley) but he froze as his feet hit the concrete. I see a lot of desensitizing to the concrete in our future. The hard part is that 20 yards from the beginning of the concrete live two big mixed-breed dogs. I have no issue with the dogs, they're actually very pretty dogs, but they are barrier aggressive, meaning they charge the fence with their big barks and scare the poo out of Eclipse. So at the very beginning of our walk he's on edge and extremely stressed. Which means every fence after that has a big scary monster behind it. I can not justify forcing him to experience that stress to wear him out every day, so I don't. The good news is we're going to start working with a trainer on Eclipse's reactivity thanks to her bomb-proof dog. We'll even be able to simulate a barking dog behind a fence (Eclipse's biggest stress inducer) with one of her other (harmless) dogs.

In the meantime, though, how do we survive? Eclipse is a smart dog, so we do a lot of training. Currently we're working on a nose touch (nudge is the command) but we're starting from scratch since if you offer your hand he licks it, if you offer a target he bites it, so we're re-training this one. We're also desensitizing the head collar thanks to natural peanut butter in a food tube, it's slow going since he's had almost 2 years of hating the head collar but I have faith we'll get there. He almost always gets his dinner out of the Kong Wobbler for that small amount of stimulation and I plan on getting him a Tug-A-Jug and a buster cube as well to challenge him a bit more. He gets part of his breakfast in the morning (before 5 a.m.) when I get up and the other part I freeze in a Kong with peanut butter (when I remember to!) and he gets that when I get back with the kids between 9 and 10 a.m. The frozen Kong takes him 45 minutes to 2 hours to finish with depending on how hard I freeze it. Thankfully after that much work he's ready for a nap.

Just yesterday we added another tool to our arsenal. My mom has been wanting to get rid of her treadmill so we got it. Eclipse wasn't trained initially to walk on the treadmill with positive reinforcement but since he has been rewarded for walking on it and does so willingly. Yesterday when we got it moved into our bedroom (although it probably won't stay there, we're just waiting until we have all the furniture for the guest room so we can get everything arranged at once) and all set up Eclipse went and stood on it and just looked at me. So I turned it on for him and he walked for a few minutes, his tail just wagging as fast as it could! Even Teddy and Kira are getting the hang of it. For now I'm waking up 10 minutes early, feeding and pottying the dogs then letting Eclipse walk on the treadmill while I get dressed and ready for the day. He will eventually be walking 15 minutes in the morning but I cut him off at 7 minutes today since he hasn't walked that much regularly in quite awhile.

Always, and Forever, Tiki

2010-10-08T13:45:00.000-07:00

It's been a long week for a number of reasons, and unfortunately it's been a hard time for the local community. Wednesday morning, Tiki the elephant died. You may remember that my first job at 17 was working at the local free-range zoo with the elephants. Tiki was the smallest elephant and the gentlest. She, along with Alice the other female, were 36 years old when I worked there, which is not even quite middle-aged for an elephant just like humans. She was the calmest, most even-keeled elephant at the park. As such she was the matriarch and the first one new employees got to be around and eventually, the elephant everyone learns to handle first.

She was such an amazing creature. She's been sickly for a long time and had ulcers on her front legs from laying down to sleep at night due to not feeling well. When we'd treat her ulcers a silent tear would slide down her cheek. I'm not humanizing her by saying she was literally crying as I am now, but when you look into an elephant's eyes, when you know what they're feeling, they do feel amazingly human. Tiki (along with her herd members Alice and George) taught me so much about using positive reinforcment training, they taught me about animal behaviour, body language, humanity, understanding, commitment, compasion. Handling Tiki was one of the most rewarding things I've ever done and I wanted so badly to go work with and get to enjoy her for one more summer. Unfortunately a woman severely misunderstood something I said and got me fired from the Safari in June not even 3 hours after I went back to work there. I know it's a part of the grief but my anger toward that woman for ruining the time I would get to spend with my Tiki is very very great right now as I know that next summer, even if I were to go back, nothing would be the same for my Tiki wouldn't be there.

At more than 4 tons she was one of the gentlest creatures I've known. I have a photo of her, with a small feather on her head and while it was just in the hay that she'd been throwing on her back it truly portrays what made Tiki, "Tiki".

While I haven't been near her in four years, my love for Tiki will never end and I will forever be thankful for the lessons she taught me. I just, I can't believe she's gone and I fear for the mental health of Alice and George as well as for the future of the elephant barn at the Wildlife Safari. Without a Matriarch... humans can only do so much. Maybe, just maybe I'll pull it together enough to go visit the memorial set up for Tiki and add some pictures from our time together. I think I should... or I'll forever reget it.

I suppose that now, and forever here-after, it will all just be a distant memory.

http://kezi.com/news/local/191247

October

2010-10-05T20:53:00.000-07:00

Surprisingly enough the weather is still very decent, decent enough to walk in flip flops no less.

Coreena and I took advantage of the nice Oregon fall evening by walking the dogs to the park on the same road we used to walk all the time as pre-teens. The gorgeous small town road brings back so many memories and just feels like home. So happy we live a block away from my lovely little road.

And what would a walk to the park be without working on "up" and "jump" discrimination on the playground equipment?

Of course obligatory photos as well.

The sun settling behind the western Oregon hills.

Yeah, Kira and Teddy joined us well.

New Addition(s?)

2010-10-02T15:54:00.000-07:00

Meet Henry!

He's a 2-year-old male Scottish Fold.

We went to pick up his mom (also a Scottish Fold) yesterday but they couldn't find her. Which is fine since I prefer males, and Henry's turned out to be pretty great!

He was so stressed he was hiding for 18 hours, we barely saw the little guy's cute face.

So when we heard the family found Cielo, the mom, and we could come get her we jumped at the chance to add another fluff to our family and a cat that Henry is comfortable with and would help him adjust. Instead we came home with Finnegan, his brother. Within 10 minutes of getting here with Finnegan Henry was out asking for pets and purring up a storm. Now Henry's pretty comfortable but Finnegan is hiding on a window sill. They're getting used to us, the dogs, and the new house all at once instead of us stressing them out multiple times. They both seem like amazing fits and we can't wait until Tuesday/Wednesday to be able to let them go outside so they can come and go as they please like they're used to.

We weren't expecting to get two cats, but it works for us! Besides, the family we got them from is very very sweet and aren't in a position right now to keep all of their animals, so we're happy to give these two of their guys a good home.

Ally & Alex w/Eclipse, Teddy, Kira, Henry & Finnegan

Eclipse

2010-09-27T20:11:00.000-07:00

Is learning to be calm more and more everyday.

Is enjoying laying in the sun and running in the yard.

Is going to learn to take clothes out of the dryer.

Loves having two small kids around to play with everyday.

Is going to relearn how to open the fridge, get a drink, and close it again before bringing the drink to me.

Loves his "brother" and "sister".

Is doing fantastic!

Likes laying under the dining room table and by the sink while I'm cooking.

Is being kept of the verge of "too fluffy" so if he drops weight for any reason we have some bumper room.

Is still learning new things regularly.

Is going to get a kitty roommate.

Is learning to relax on walks.

Is potentially getting a service dog-in-training roommate.

Has the goofiest bark which you only hear when he's afraid.

Has the prettiest golden tail.

Gets new toys on a regular basis.

Is learning to approach everything with a smile on his face rather than concern.

Is realizing more and more everyday that he doesn't have to "work".

Is getting his kidneys rechecked this coming month.

Is learning to use his feet more than his mouth.

Is hopefully never getting vaccinations again.

Is regularly put through his "paces".

Ideally will never again have to go through a move to a new house.

Is getting three new beds and a dog door soon.

Is spoiled beyond belief.

Is loving being a pet.

Is becoming more and more the dog he wants to be with each passing day.

Has been home for 7 months!

Do Videos Count as Wordless Wednesday?

2010-09-22T09:41:00.001-07:00

No? Oh well.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-15T07:53:00.000-07:00

The sky Monday night

This morning's sunrise. It got even more amazing but I was preoccupied with the kids...

The Great Move!

2010-09-14T19:22:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it wasn't really all that grandiose but it did go quite smoothly. Well, minus one little hiccup!

Shall I back up?

Three weeks ago we looked at a house a friend had for rent which I blogged about. The same day we looked at it we put in our 30 days notice at the duplex we'd been in for the past 10+ months and started working on some minor things at the house. This past weekend was the move.

I watched my niece and nephew Friday as always and had to walk from my mom's house, where I was watching them, to the duplex since we sold the couches and the lady was picking them up. When we got back to my mom's from the duplex Aiden was being a turd about getting out of the stroller so we acted like we were going into the house without him (all in fun, we were all in excellent moods!). As I went back to get him I passed my mom on her front steps (all of two steps mind you) and as I stepped onto the walkway my left foot was mostly off the edge of the walkway and the way I landed on it twisted it and I fell. I'll admit it, I fell on my right knee on cement and my left foot hurt horribly and I cried. First I cried because it hurt, then I cried because I hate my feet! This is the same thing I did to my right foot when I was 15, although time I stepped off a couch.... I know, ridiculous!

So... Friday I was useless. It hurt horribly to walk and I could barely hobble around but I refused to do absolutely nothing so I pushed myself. Thankfully we had a lot of help and got almost everything moved over Friday night. Saturday evening a couple trips were made but mostly I slept a lot and had to sit almost all day. Sunday I again slept a lot but got some things done around the house, including finding my foot braces that I keep around for a reason. I've been wearing my brace on my foot almost constantly since Sunday and it helps keeping the swelling down and gives it a little more stability so it's easier to walk. Although I left it off today to see what it'd do and it swelled a little it's doing much better and has pretty shades of purple all over it!

What my foot looked like Saturday evening. Don't mind the nail polish, I've had other things on my mind!

My foot this afternoon. Some swelling especially by my ankle but overall much better, other than the crazy bruising!

Besides the foot fiasco it's great here! We still haven't gotten the yard completely fenced but there's still a lot of cleaning to be done back there so we don't want the dogs hanging out back there anyway. (The yard is almost completely fenced but there's a 4 ft section at the back of the garage that we have chain link for and a 9 ft section between the house and the garage that we're getting a kennel panel for) Even though that project hasn't been tackled yet doesn't mean the dogs don't get outside time, though. We have a great deck on the front of the house and since the weather is nice we just open the front door and with a baby gate up at the opening of the deck they have a great time outside.

One of the best things about the front of the house are the four windows in the living room allowing to see the entire deck. The dogs are constantly looking through the windows checking on use when they're chilling and it allows a safe outside place for the kids to play when they're here while I do other things and keep an eye on them at the same time.

The place is literally big enough that we could do entirely without the two extra bedrooms but they'll be put to good use in time. One of them already has Aiden's toddler bed in it for his naps so he doesn't have to sleep in our bed.

I also love the laminate wood floors that are throughout the living space! Not only do they not hold onto dog hair (although they do mean I sweep multiple times a day to keep the shedding beasts' hair under control!) but they also remind me of grooming that I tend to neglect on the dogs, like trimming their nails. So, I have a training project going on that I will share on Thursday! Until then, let's hope I don't re-injure either of my feet! They're kind of necessary with three dogs, two kids to watch after and a house to keep up with!

Sometimes All It Takes Is Looking Up

2010-09-09T06:41:00.000-07:00

All pictures were taken from the backsteps at the duplex a couple weeks ago in the midst of a summer cloud cover. It was around 7 a.m. and absolutely breathtaking!

Oh, The Oregon Coast

2010-08-31T08:33:00.000-07:00

Needless to say, we love the Oregon Coast. The day that we spent over there a couple weeks ago it was gorgeous and I managed to get some great pictures. The ocean was very flat for the Pacific so no amazing wave photos but enjoy the ones I did manage to get.

Second Anniversary

2010-08-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

Just like our first wedding anniversary we spent our second at the coast. Since the entire time we dated Alex lived at the coast and the first time we really spent time together was on the beach it's just kind of fitting that at least our first two anniversaries have been spent on the sand. Last year you may recall that we had the amazing opportunity to ride horses on the beach and we met a horse named "Eclipse" while we were terribly missing our Eclipse. This year not only did we spend our anniversary with our own golden Eclipse but also Teddy and Kira and Alex's family including his parents, grandparents, his brother and his wife and daughter.

It was a great day, I love spending time with Alex's family especially when there's nothing really going on but "chilling"

The dogs' favorite part though was that we had the beach completely to ourselves after the first half hour of being there. It was a gorgeous day with no wind and very very decent temperatures. It was a nice break from the heat that has been plaguing us over here but was still quite warm.

The shiny things in the sand are small dead jellyfish. Thankfully the dogs showed no interest in them (Eclipse is checking out the water in the above photo, not the jellyfish)

While Eclipse and Teddy had the most fun Kira was talked into running on the sand for a bit.

We love seeing her on the beach since she adores the sand and throws her head back and runs as fast as she can. Her stout little body is so cute when she runs!

Eclipse and Teddy loved that we gave them the freedom to take themselves down to the sand from the picnic area whenever they wanted. Much of the time Alex joined them since he loves the beach just as much as the boys do

Kira stuck much closer to the picnic table since Alex's family has zero qualms about feeding the dogs leftovers, thankfully they were respectful about not feeding Eclipse any table scraps because of his sensitive tummy!

Eclipse and Teddy were adequately wore out from their galavanting on the beach and quickly settled in for the ride home. Our two dogs that are slightly uncomfortable in cars couldn't have been much more comfortable after a day at the coast!

The 6 Month Mark!

2010-08-27T10:03:00.000-07:00

We've hit the necessary 6 month mark! Last year I said that I wouldn't apply to raise another puppy until Eclipse was in one placement for a six month period. I figured that the likelyhood of him being in one home for 6 months and then the placement changing was slim. I said that because we needed to keep a spot for Eclipse open in our little two bedroom duplex (probably around 900 sq ft). I knew that if I took on a new puppy and then Eclipse was allowed to come home that there simply wouldn't be enough room. We've finally reached the six month mark almost a year after setting that goal but I'm not applying for a new puppy just yet, although it's potentially coming sooner than had previously been thought.

We figured we'd be in our duplex until this winter or early next year but that changed all of a sudden. There is a family friend that moved to Mexico a couple of years ago right before our wedding but he still has rental properties up here. He had a little two bedroom house for rent we heard so Alex called him and while that house has a renter for it he had a three bedroom two bath house with a fenced yard that he'd like for us to rent and it was within our budget! The great thing is this house is great for us and while it needs work (his son lived there previously and trashed it) it's mostly cosmetic work. It has a large fenced yard for the dogs and we'll be able to put a dog door in for them to potty during the day if we're gone and at night so much less crate time for Eclipse and Kira! The yard does have a giant cement pad that looks like it was a foundation for something previously but next spring the owner is going to pay to get the yard leveled and covered with top soil for a full yard for the dogs. It's great, we love it! Eclipse doesn't get anything special today since our next couple weekends and evenings will be spent working on the new house (staining the whole kitchen and cleaning the cabinet hardware, texturing and painting all the rooms we can get done, fixing up the yard, trimming trees, repainting the deck) and packing the duplex. We're moving in the tenth and the only really important things that need done at the new place is getting the kitchen finished and a fence put up between the garage and the house.

We are being so blessed in this whole situation since we hadn't been planning on moving so soon and so have no deposit saved up. Our friend is being extremely nice though and is charging us an almost non-existent deposit and is accepting the first and last month's rent in two different payments and no pet deposit! The chain-link for the small part of fencing is being given to us by Copper's owners since they have left-over from them replacing part of their own fence and my mom is helping us with sanding and staining the wood in the kitchen and is helping me figure out how to best utilize the 1300 sq ft we now have at our disposal. Our weekend will be busy but I'll try and get some before and after pictures to share.

While the six-month mark has been reached I'm going to give it a month or so for me to decide if I can handle our pets and watching the kids and up-keep of the house and my other responsibilities before adding a very important puppy to mix. The six month marks an exciting change in our lives and I'm happy to be able to share it with you all!

Cuddle Bug

2010-08-14T21:41:00.000-07:00

Eclipse is a cuddler, majorly. He, along with Teddy and Kira, is always ready to cuddle with me when I need it. Today I was sick. What made it worse is tomorrow is Alex and my second anniversary (not to mention the 98*!). We're not going horseback riding on the beach again this year but we have plans to go to the beach and celebrate our anniversary along with my brother-in-law's and Alex's grandparent's anniversaries tomorrow as they are all within 8 days of one another. I needed some cuddle time with my Roo so he obliged. :-)

Unfortunately he had to cuddle with my legs only as it was just too hot but it certainly helped!

Behaviour Modification

2010-08-10T09:13:00.000-07:00

It never ends. We've made long strides with Eclipse's leash reactivity but since I usually walk him early in the morning (before 7 a.m. now) we rarely encounter other dogs for him to react to. Saturday was a different story though. We walked by a house down the street that has a corgi mix tied outside at all times. This dog has a big bark and a longer line now and really freaked Eclipse out by charging at him. Unfortunately I didn't know the people had put a longer line on him so we hadn't crossed to the other side of the street. Eclipse got so riled up! For the next 200 feet or so he kept turning around and looking, FYI I'm going to project human thoughts on him, presumably to make sure this dog wasn't going to come "get him".

He's obviously very stressed in the below picture and his body language and looking back weren't the only clues. After that he urinated 6 different times, defecated twice (once less than solid), and was very cautious walking by every fence we passed.

These are the two big male goldens that he first reacted to so long ago. He's still not a fan of being around them, from 50 feet away he'll stand at "attention" and look at them then turn around quickly and walk as fast in the other direction as the leash and I will let him. As he's walking away he offers pacification signals, sniffing the ground, exploring the fence, etc. Once we get a little ways away and let him off leash he's happy as a clam and frolicks to his heart's content!

Just Being

2010-08-09T08:57:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning Eclipse and I ventured out by ourselves with no cell phone, no time frame and no worries at 6:30 a.m. We "enjoyed" a walk to the school for Eclipse to have some time to let loose!

I love seeing him just be a dog!

No stress

No anxiety

No pressure

No training

Just being

Just me and my boy

Enjoying an open field

No cares in the world

Other than being together

Remember every now and then to just be

Gluten Free Chinese Food?

2010-08-08T08:52:00.000-07:00

Note for my new followers: I, along with four others in my family, have an autoimmune disease called Celiac's Disease. I'm sure many of you have heard of it. Essentially if we eat gluten (the binding protein in wheat, rye, barley and some oats) our immune systems attack our small intestines. Other parts of our bodies can also be attacked causing headaches, fatigue, joint pain, rashes, fainting, extreme stomach pain, constipation, diarrhea, vomiting, etc. Over time if someone with Celiac does not eat gluten free their body experiences more and more harm from itself which can lead to other autoimmune diseases and thyroid conditions amongst other things. My twin sister and I were diagnosed when we were only 1-year-old but due to lack of knowledge about Celiac's Disease 21 years ago we have eaten gluten our whole lives, until last winter that is. We've struggled at times to remain gluten-free and are still learning what all has gluten in it. To be safe I usually stick to things that are known to be gluten-free such as unaltered meats, fruits and vegetables as well as things that specifically say that they're gluten-free.

As you all know, I have weaknesses. One of them being adorable dogs that I can train or cuddle or look at. Another is food, which explains part of the reason for my current battle with my weight (up 50 lbs from my lowest ever weight four years ago, 40 lbs from my wedding two years ago). My weight is affected not only by my love of food but also by depression, my suspected thyroid condition (that I still have yet to get re-checked! I better get on that!), and from eating gluten despite Celiac.

You see, when we realized that my Celiac was likely the cause of my extreme 8-week-long illness in November/December last year I decided to just cut out gluten. Little did I know what all that would entail. I've ignored my body on a number of occasions since then and have seen and felt not only physical but also emotional repercussions. I've indulged in pizza, cheese bread, pie, cake, a simple sandwich, burgers with buns, and who knows what else. When not indulging in gluten-filled deliciousness I indulged in other ways. Did you know Skitt1es and St@rbursts are gluten-free? As are L@y's potato chips? So are potatoes, pudding, cheese, chocolate! amongst other delicious not so good for you items? Needless to say my want for gluten re-directed itself and fueled my love of sugar, salt and calories to a higher than ever before level. One week I decided I was going to only eat things that are naturally gluten-free meaning fruit and eggs for breakfast, salad and fruit for lunch and salad and meat for dinner. I didn't admit how many calories cheese has in it so I used it quite a bit and I wasn't using g-free r@nch to my horror but in that one week I lost 5 lbs! Being so restricted on my diet was hard though and I quickly slipped back into eating half a bag of L@y's at a time and have a candy bar a day and drinking soda. Thankfully without the gluten influence I've only gained back 1 pound but I'm still far, far from where I am comfortable being.

With some changes that Alex and I have made recently I've decided to get out of my "funk" and venture beyond salads and nachos (oi, the calories in those things!). I love Chinese food! Beyond just the pan fried noodles Chinese food is full of gluten. Soy sauce has gluten in it. You know how many Chinese dishes have soy sauce in them? All of them, other than maybe rice. Friday I decided I was going to make a g-free dinner, something with taste in it as I believe part of my longing for candy is the lack of varied tastes in my diet. So my online search for something fun and tantalizing to make began(of course I ignored the g-free cookbooks I have). At only the second site I visited I came across Sesame Chicken. For real? I couldn't believe my eyes, g-free sesame chicken! Could I make it? I didn't care if I could, I was going to try, if it turned out awful we could always eat a salad.

We ventured to the store and got all the ingredients needed, some of which were difficult to find, and I got started. Oh, it was so fun! I borrowed my mom's wok and felt like I was actually cooking something, not just heating up chicken, turkey or beef! You see, I'm not a cook. I find cooking to be boring. Stirring and flipping and peeling and seasoning, blah. This was fun though! Seeing it come together and smelling it actually begin to smell like real Chinese food was amazing! I invited Coreena over to try it but she didn't come, then I invited my older sister and her two children who have Celiac over but they didn't come. That left a ton of delicious food for Alex and I.

So it didn't turn out quite like the picture on her website but I didn't mind, I'm under no illusions that I'm a chef! Let's just say it was so good we couldn't stop eating it and ate way more than our stomachs could comfortably handle! I'll definitely be venturing out to try more recipes soon!

Next time, though, I'll be sure to give us much smaller portions so we don't fill ourselves to exploding! Hopefully eating tasty g-free food will limit the amount of not so healthy calorie-packed treats I want which in turn with regular exercise (walking the dogs in the mornings, using my parents' exercise equipment and my newfound joy of jogging [albeit jogging, walking, jogging at this point]) will help me to shed the extra weight healthily and consistently. A great motivator is seeing photos of myself, while I don't post most of them, be assured, they're not "pretty"! Enjoy your gluteny-goodness, or your g-free treats, whichever way you roll!

Help Find Angus

2010-07-29T13:32:00.000-07:00

PLEASE CROSSPOST AS YOU CAN

Please Crosspost all over -

Angus is small stocky German shepherd who was lost from

712 Iowa Ave

in Colorado Springs,

he is microchipped and has on a yellow home again tag .

Please crosspost and help Dianna find her dog.

If you find Angus call Dianna at 719-223-9585

or call Connie Williams at GSDRColorado at 719-836-0594 or 719-207-0323

or Call the home again number on his tag .

Connie Palmer WilliamsGerman Shepherd Rescue of Central Colorado "

GSDRColorado

"but, I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep...

Robert Frost

http://www.gsdrcolorado.com/

Shooting Range

2010-07-26T13:12:00.000-07:00

Alex and his step-dad went shooting above the house while Eclipse and I stayed behind to gage how he would do. He didn't flinch at all when the very loud shots went off (it's a very powerful pistol, but I'm not a gun person and have no idea what it was) so later when Alex wanted to shoot the less powerful rifle we decided to take Eclipse with and see how he did.

He did great! He'd flinch a bit when the shots rang but he recovered very quickly and was never once stressed enough to try and run (he was leashed on "the farm" for the first time for safety) and was never too freaked to accept turkey bacon, so it was a success! We'll continue exposing him to quieter gunfire and maybe someday will train him to be an actual retriever. All in good time, though!

Continue reading, there are 7 more posts below this one of our fun/adveture/exposure-filled weekend!

Around The Farm

2010-07-26T13:02:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's not really a farm. It's just a big giant lot of land in the hills of Western Oregon. It's a great place and we love taking Eclipse there!

Muscle Cars & Friends

2010-07-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

Eclipse got to ride in my MIL's Camaro this weekend.

I was afraid he'd be stressed in a different car with a smaller area for him to be

I needn't have worried though, he seemed to enjoy the smaller space and being closer to us. He's a little stressed in this picture because Alex had gotten out of the car and he doesn't like being left behind.

This is my BIL's new puppy, Kaluah

MIL's almost 6 year old min-pin "Missy"

We Love It Too

2010-07-26T12:31:00.000-07:00

We love the beach! It affords some amazing photo opportunities!

Warning: The following could be offensive to some although it's just nature

The gull brought this crab onto the beach, the following is their fight

Round 1: The Gull

The crab grabbed onto the gull's chest and the gull kept hold of him

Round 2: The Crab

We thought that maybe the gull dropped the crab...

But we were wrong!

Round 3: The Gull

The gull is the winner in this battle

The leftovers provided a good test of Eclipse's ability to focus on his handler.

As you can see his passed the test with flying colors!

Pictures of people and their dogs down the beach. This photo is unedited and shows how foggy it was

Edited photo of an old golden and two border collies who were in love with their balls!

Still A Joy

Another Anniversary

3! Already!?!

Shame shame

Still No Pictures

Wow!

New Adventures!

Oh, Tiki!

QRSTUV

Beaglemania-Giveaway winner

Book Review-Beaglemania

Weekend Of Celebration-Sunday Edition

Weekend Of Celebration-Saturday Edition

ONE YEAR!

A Very Tiki Video

Photo-Canis

Private Blog

Tiki At 6 Months

Another Amazing CAST Outing

Making The Rounds

Slacking, yet again

Is It True?

Flashback Friday

Fun Times With SDITs!

The Past Year!

Urgent! Anyone Able To Help? *UPDATED*

2 YEARS!

December Puppy Outing With CAST

Lunar Eclipse

Slacker Alert!

Figuring The New Camera Out

I Got It!

Milestones

Some Lasts

Finally!

Just In Time

Oodles of... 'Oodles!

Shaping Success

Tiki, Through The Lens

Does This Count?

Lab X Golden

Some Breakthroughs!

Oops, My Bad!

My Heart Is Melting A Little

Test Results

The Big Retriever

Nothing Interesting To Say

She's a Smartie!

Moose!

Tiki's Lessons for Me #1

Getting To Know You

In Loving Memory

Tiki Love

Wordless Wednesday-Before And Afters

Saving What's Left of My Sanity

Always, and Forever, Tiki

October

New Addition(s?)

Eclipse

Do Videos Count as Wordless Wednesday?

Wordless Wednesday

The Great Move!

Sometimes All It Takes Is Looking Up

Oh, The Oregon Coast

Second Anniversary

The 6 Month Mark!

Cuddle Bug

Behaviour Modification

Just Being

Gluten Free Chinese Food?

Help Find Angus

Shooting Range

Around The Farm

Muscle Cars & Friends

We Love It Too

Urgent! Anyone Able To Help? UPDATED