Selfie Tuesday

Selfie Sunday

Okay, so it's technically Monday. I suck at this. What else can I say. lol

Selfie Sunday

We missed selfie Saturday, so it's Sunday instead. Last week we were in New Orleans so I couldn't do it then. It was the first time I left the Wimby with someone other than my MIL or my aunt. It all went fine, but I worried. I finally understand what parents go through when they leave their children with sitters. It's not the children you worry about, it's the sitter. What if the child does something to the sitter. What if they try to run away, or they make a horrible mess or they're just generally obnoxious? I'm happy to say that I got no such reports. The Wimby survived and New Orleans was wonderful! I'll worry less next time. If he agrees to sit for us again...

Trophy

I decided to have the Wimby's head mounted on a bed of pillows. Taxidermy style! Bahahaha

Pupachino?

Look at how patiently my baby is waiting. She knows we are in the drive thru for Starbucks, one of her favorite drive-thrus. She knows a pupachino coming her way!

Selfie Saturday

On Our Way to the Halloween Hoopla

Bowties Are Cool" - The 12th Doctor

How Is This Comfortable?

Anxiety at the Dog Park

Charlotte loves going to the dog park. I love taking her to the dog park. The look of joy on her face as she runs around with all the other dogs is priceless. Yesterday though, I had to leave the dog park early because I wasn't  comfortable there. In fact, I was a bit afraid of the number of aggressive dogs that were there.

I need to give you a little history of what happened this summer. Back in August, however, I was bitten by a dog. This did not happen at the dog park, rather it happened while I was walking Zynko around the neighborhood. He got loose from his collar and ran into the backyard of a pit bull and got into a fight. While I was breaking them up, my hand got in Zynko mouth and he bit me. The pit bull had locked onto his neck, and the owner was trying to get him to release. It turns out that single got hurt in this fight. I do not blame Cinco or the people for their actions, they were merely following their nature. My problem now, is that I am afraid of pitbulls because of witnessing firsthand the power of that job in action. I'm also leary of huskies because of experience  their ferocity first hand, regardless  of  why he attacked. You'll probably want to judge me because of what I'm saying here. Please keep it to yourself as I've  judged myself repeatedly about this incident. Also please know that both dogs came out of the ordeal just fine. In fact, Zynko has a wonderful new home in Indiana and has been renamed Atlas. You can follow his progress at www.facebook.com/groups/649064981898451/

I was afraid of becoming afraid of dogs however so I took Charlotte  to the dog park the same week it happened. This was also more logistically sound because I couldn't  walk her since both my hands were  completely  bandaged. I thought I was doing great in my mental recovery. A couple of the huskies  have even let me pet them and one gave me kisses on the face.

A couple weeks ago, one of the puppies we've known  since we started going got aggressive  with fist a male puppy and then he went after Charlotte. Proving I haven't  gotten any smarter, I jumped right into it and pulled him off her kneck. She was probably  more shaken then I was at first, but in the ways of dogs, a bunch of treats and a few tosses of the frisbee and she'd moved on. I thought I had too, until yesterday.

It was busy at the dog park. A nice Friday afternoon with the threat of colder weather right around the corner. It was nice and busy, but not packed. There were however two dogs that were wrestling a bit harder than I like, so Charlotte and I walked towards the back of the property to find some dogs to play with. There was a gentleman  standing near the reeds and I could hear crashing about inside.

As Charlotte  began to investigate, out popped a little white dog to greet her. Her owner and I began talking, as the rustling continued in the reeds. He was telling me that he was staying on the opposite of the park from a giant dog that was making him nervous. His lab the one that was still crashing about in the reeds, is 8 years old and gets along fine with other dogs, except the younger ones that are trying to establish dominance. His concern was that if a dog like that decided to bike his dog there would be nothing he could do about it. Needless to say a lot of memories flashed back, but I tried to push them down as we continue to talk. It turned out that the dog he was talking about was one that I had met before, a nice enough young male Mastiff that is unneutered. Unneutered dogs can be a problem because they can be more aggressive. The gentleman and his dogs moved on towards another part of the park as the Mastiff came in our direction with a woman I kind of knew who has three huskies. We continued walking in the main area Charlotte wanted to play with her frisbee, so I threw it and she and the Huskies gave chase. A lot of dogs don't  want the toy, just the thrill of chasing another dog, so it normally isn't a problem. I threw it again, and this time one of the Huskies got it from her. It was funny until she tried to take it back and then he snapped at her. His owner scolded him and got the frisbee back and I put it away to prevent any more problems.

This is all pretty common for the dog park. There are bound to be a few growls and snaps but usually all the dogs get along really well together. At some point I'd lost the husky owner and picked up the mastiff owner. As we came back around towards the front of the park!  the two dogs that I had decided to stay away from when we first got there where is still interacting pretty roughly. Another guy with two pit bulls was just coming in to the park. Everybody rush the gate as they always do, & I went over to pull Charlotte away to give the new dogs room. The massive owner did the same thing, and after the dogs were through the gate I let Charlotte go. The one dog came in pretty high strung and gave chase to her immediately. The other dog went for the Mastiff almost immediately. There was no violence as both owners put a quick stop to it, however my anxiety was mounting very quickly. I took Charlotte away from the other dogs, back towards the back of the park, but it felt like I couldn't  get far enough from the crazyness. It was probably  no more crazy than other times I have  been  there, but it felt like there was a lot of bullying of other dogs and I decided I needed to leave after only 20 minutes of being there.

There have been times at the park when there was close to 50 dogs and I never felt nervous. But it felt like yesterday  there were far more "security" breed dogs than I've  seen there before. I don't  know  if it was the type of dog,the suggestion from the first guy I talked  to, or the possibility  that cold air makes dogs aggressive , but the  vibe at the dog park was definitely  different  yesterday  and it made me too concerned  for Charlotte 's safety  to stay. I don't  like the idea that we may both lose something we love so much, so I'll try taking her out again today. It might be that I just need to stay away at high traffic  times.

Business Update

After a fairly uneventful summer in the dog treat business, I joined a friend at a craft fair this last weekend.

This is what my booth looked like. 

I have to admit that I decided not to take A TON of product with me. I tried doing a table at a garage sale at my aunt's church this last spring and ended up bringing home all my product. I didn't have to bake treats for anyone for a month strait! So this time, I only brought 15 bags of Wimba Treats. I also along Wimba-Cat! Catnip Toys. They are heart-shaped "mice" that I sew by hand and package in groups of three. Additionally I decided to try my hand at Carob coating on cat-shaped Wimba Treats. Unlike the original, I cannot claim that these are Charlotte Approved. She gave me the weirdest look the first time she tasted it and the second time she kept picking up the treat and dropping it like it was a sticky and somewhat undesirable toy. I quickly threw it away before I ended up with Carob all over my house. But I took them with and offered them individually for $1.00 each. Last, I had pumpkin shaped Wimba Treats that I was offering for $0.50 each.

Well, I am pleased as punch to announce that I sold out of the bagged treats! I also sold 5 packs of the cat toys and about 5 Black Carob Cats. I have declared it a bloomin' success! I'm actually considering doing another craft fair!

The only downside is that I didn't have any left over treats for Charlotte (except the pumpkin shapes) and I'm about out! Looks like I better get a-bakin'!

Ears? or No Ears?

Travel Bowl

Charlotte loves car rides. She's been going with me in the car since I brought her home.

Usually they are short trips, such as to my aunt's house or to the dog park. The other day however, we had a lot of running to do. First to Petco for cat food and litter, then to the other side of town to get her food at the Feedloft, then past a Starbucks for me. Between the stores and driving, we were out for over an hour. I always have her doggy "diaper" bag in the car, so I had a travel bowl and some water, but trying to find a place to put it where she could reach it and not tip it over was quite tricky!

Then it came to me - a flash of inspiration! "They" need to make a dog dish that would fit in a cup holder! Maybe I should make a doggie dish that fits in a cup holder! So I when I got home I requisitioned one of my travel mugs to become Charlotte's travel bowl. I glued her small plastic dish to the lid and Voila! A travel doggie bowl that fits in a cup holder.

Sort of.

See, I drive a Mini Cooper so the dish had to sit in the cup holder at a bit of an angle because it was so close to the counsel. But I was so enamored with my idea that I wanted to share it with others. I will be selling a few of these at a craft fair this fall and I wanted to see if I could come up with a less expensive and cuter version. And I did. FYI, it also turned out that someone else had already come up with the idea and manufactures a couple different styles, but if you want a cuter one or just want to make it yourself, here's my version.

I got a bowl from the dollar store, and a kids travel mug that you can decorate the insert yourself, then I just glued the bowl to the lid. The glue I used was E600, suggested to me by a friend. It's not easy to find something  that would adhere plastic to plastic,  but this did the job. So there you have it. Cup-holder-size-doggie-travel-bowl. I'm calling it the Go- bowl. For now. Until I come up with something better. I may eventually offer them in my Etsy shop, but for now I just want to see if I get any interest at the craft fair first. One word of advice if you make one for your dog - actually 2 pieces of advice. First, let the glue cure for a week. The smell is noxious to humans, so you can imagine how it will offend your dog whose smeller is like 1000 times better than ours. Second, only put a little water at a time in the bowl. Few dogs drink without  dripping and even if they do, taking a corner or stopping suddenly can give your car's interior a bath you hadn't intended on it getting.

Sleeping Sweetly

Eddie

Just so you don't think I've forgotten all about my other babies (the cats), here's a beautiful picture of Eddie this morning. I'm usually not into sun flare, bit I like the way this one turned out.

Night Time Selfie

Every night when I go to bed, Charlotte jumps up and lays across the entire top of the bed. This means I have to shove her out of the way in order to even get in the bed. Then, when my husband comes to bed she jumps down and leaves and I finally get my side back. Got to love night time rituals. :)

Jumping the Gun

It's amazing how often I jump the gun, put the cart ahead of the horse, put my foot in my mouth and in general look like a schmuck. I tried to find a home for Zynko without ever talking to his owner first.

Doh!

His friend Bobby had said they might be looking for a home for Zynko the first time we spoke. The second time he inquired about the Humane Society. I know that his owner is fighting cancer. I also know from another neighbor that Zynko once threatened Al when he tripped and fell. I just assumed that this was a dog in need of a new home. (And in my opinion, he still is. Living in the backyard full time with hardly any company is no life for a dog - particularly one that come from a pack background like a Siberian Husky. However, it is NOT my dog. I have to get his owner to agree to letting him go since he's not abusing him or starving him or chaining him up. Rather, he's just kind of ignoring him, and that's not a crime.) So I posted him to the Rescueme.org website and I got two inquiries. One in New York, one in Illinois. So I finally stopped to speak to Al this morning. I asked if it was in fact true that he might be looking for a new home for Zynko? He said that at the time Bobby had told me that, he was really sick and that was his sister's speaking, not him. He just wants to get through chemo at this time. He's not looking to get rid of his dog.

Oops. Thanks, I'll be taking that Dunce hat over here.

So, now, I have to rescind everything I've put out on the web. I am not looking for a new home for Zynko. You better believe however, that once all beats cancer I'm going to start working on him to take more of an interest in his dog. Walking is good exercise and the dog walks pretty well on the leash. You just have to be strong enough to hold onto it!

Zynko

I have a neighbor who lives a few doors down that owns a Siberian Husky and his name is Zynko.

Charlotte and I always stop by to say hello to Zynk on our walks and to bring him a few cookies. He'd gotten to where he was waiting for us by the corner of the fence every time we showed up. I think he could smell us coming, or possibly hear us if I was talking to Charlotte as we approached.

Zynko lives in his backyard full time. This has been a great cause of concern to me, especially during those so-cold-you-shouldn't-leave-your-house days this last winter and the it's-hot-enough-to-kill-old-people days during the summer, but my other neighbor called animal control and was told that nothing could be done for the dog because he had shelter (access to the garage) and food and water. 

I've spoken with the owner on a couple of occasions and I truly believe he never meant harm to his dog, he just didn't know how to take care of him, as evident from the mats of fur that had formed on him. I'd taken to stealth clicker training and grooming through the fence to try to make things better. 

Then one day, there was another person in the backyard and I stopped to chat. That's when I found out that Zynko's owner was in the hospital. I immediately offered to help look after him. The friend of the owner said Al had been considering getting rid of him as he was too much for Al to handle. I asked that if he did, please contact me first.

Well, the first day I went to watch him, he got out on me, got into it with another dog and snapped at me more than once after capture. I persevered however, going back the next day. He seemed happy to see me and I put him on a leash, walked him to my yard to work on doing some grooming. He snapped at my husband, then calmed down with him. 

Day three he went ballistic when a guy with a chihuahua stopped to ask about him (he garners A LOT of attention because of his size and looks) and when I took him back home, he snapped again while I was taking the leash off. On day four, he put his paws on my shoulders and offered a growl in my ear when my back was turned to him. I gave him a stern "Get Down" and he did, but now I was both pissed off and a little scared. I left him alone for a day, only checking his water and food, while I read Approaches to Modifying Dog Aggression from Whole Dog Journal.

According to the journal article, dog have max stress levels for certain stimuli, the same as humans, and those strimuli can continue to bother them for up to two days after the event. So in this case, getting to leave the yard = stress. Seeing a small dog you want to eat = stress. Meeting brand new people = stress. By themselves these things are manageable, but add them all together and you have a dog that is over his stress threshold. The example the article used comparing how road rage happens with how aggression happens. It made perfect sense. Zynko had been overstimulated beyond his ability to cope, plus he didn't know who was in charge and was trying to find out if it was him. After giving him some cool down time, it was like I was dealing with a whole different dog. 

He play-bowed when I came into the yard. He gave me high pitched puppy-speak, he sat to get his leash on and most importantly, no more dominating and no more snapping. Our relationship has been growing ever since.

Zynko's owner is home from the hospital. He has cancer and is going to chemo. I had to tell his friend that I've since realized I cannot take Zynko if Al is still looking to get rid of him because of my cats (his prey drive is crazy high) and the fact that I don't have a fenced backyard. He asked if the Humane Society is a no-kill shelter. I had to tell him that I honestly didn't know. Because of this inquiry though my assumption is that Zynko is going to be needing a new home, 

I've taken it upon myself to start searching for a potential new family for him. Both Husky groups in the area are not accepting owner surrenders at this time, so I posted him to a site called RescueMe.org. I'm not certain how much good this will do though, because I worry that all the things that need fixing are also things that will keep potential adopters from even reading his whole post. I had to be honest though. I don't know how aggressive he is. I don't know how he is with male dogs. I do know he can't be trusted with cats and frankly I'd be afraid of him overpowering a small child. He's a HUGE dog! But he can be so gentle, so maybe I'm misjudging him. He likes to give me licks when I bend over to fill his water bowl with the hose. Here's a video of him playing with Charlotte in the yard. Even when she tries to push him around, he doesn't get mean with her.

I'm not very good with social media, but I'm going to do my best to get the word out about him because I believe that there is someone out there who will be perfect for Zynko and whom Zynko will be perfect for. I haven't approached Al about this yet because I figure he has enough on his plate with kicking cancer's ass right now. But if you are reading this and you think you might be that person and you can come to the Joliet Illinois area to meet him, I will act as a go-between to make this happen. If you aren't the right person, but you want to help spread the word, I will be posting things about Zynko on my Wimba Treats Facebook page. Please share. And share. And then share some more. And like the page so you can see when I do post more things about him. I'm making Facebook.com/WimbaTreats "Zynko Central" until I can find him his furever home.

**UPDATE:

If you read my next blog Jumping the Gun, you know that I am no longer looking for a home for Zynko. Thanks to everyone who read this blog and cared about this dog. I will continue to update his progress from time to time.

What's a Wimba?

In honor of my new Etsy Store, IttyBittyInc, I've decided to change the name of my blog. Instead of referring to my Heinz57 furbaby as a mutt, you can now think of her as a "Wimba". 

What the heck is a Wimba?!?

My husband if a good one for assigning nicknames or terms of endearment on those he loves. Only he doesn't give out the usual ones of "baby" or "sweetie" or even "honey". Instead, being the creative type (and believe me, he is!), he tends to make up his own words. I have no idea where these words come from, but they become endearing and a part of our family lexicon. And most importantly, a term of affection. When he calls you by one of his pet names, you feel all warm and bubbly inside. Because it's special, you know?

The name he assigned the dog - randomly and out of the blue - was Wimba. It's not a combination of words, it's just his word. But this word has taken on a life of its own in our family. The dog is a "Wimba" and we often call her "Wimby". Like a nickname for a nickname I guess. I'm not sure. Like I said, a life of it's own. 

So how does an Etsy store named IttyBittyInc figure into this? Her dog treats is the simple answer.

I've been making Charlotte's dog treats since she was a puppy. It started as a way to make sure she was getting healthy treats since she was getting SOOO many treats as we went through the training process. I found a recipe online and started baking them. These were the original treats.

I simply rolled out the dough and cut it into bite size pieces before baking. It wasn't long however before I started experimenting with cookie cutters. I finally found a great mini bone cutter and started baking them as actual dog bones instead of just "crackers". 

By this time, the term "Wimba" was fast becoming a common term around our house. So one day, when my husband came home and asked what smelled so good (hoping it was peanut butter cookies), I told him I was making "Wimba Treats". He started laughing and said that was what I should call them from now on. So I did. 

In my Etsy store, you can purchase Wimba Treats. I'm selling 40 treats (about 3.5 oz.) for $5.00 plus $3.25 shipping and handling. 

If you live int he Joliet area, you can skip the shipping and buy some in person this weekend. I'm going to be selling them at the church garage/vendor sale. The address is Hope Methodist Church, 2506 Caton Farm Rd., Joliet.

For future local sales, you can follow along on my Facebook page. 

Learning Loose Leash Walking

This my friends, may not look loose, but believe me, the fact that I was able to aim a camera phone at her instead of hanging on with both hands is a HUGE improvement.

Of all the things I have done well with the training of my dog, walking on a leash is NOT one of them. I have messed this up 12 ways to Sunday, beginning with not starting early enough. 

I was going to say I've never had a puller before, but that's not true. Our Cocker Spaniel/Lab mix was a puller for a short time. I've never had a dog strong enough for it to be an issue though. When a small dog pulls, you're like, oh, there's something on the end of that leash. When a medium dog pulls, it's annoying, but tolerable. And with Beathoven, he eventually stopped pulling though I don't remember how. Maybe it was the influence of our older dog, a Lhasa. But with a 60 lb plus dog, pulling becomes an exhausting workout. I know she doesn't fit the category of a large dog by any means, but she is freaking strong!

So anyways, when we brought home this adorable, about the size of the cats, 12 week old puppy, it was February. There was snow on the ground. I was not about to attempt teaching a puppy how to walk on a leash in the snow. I don't like the cold enough to walk in it period, let alone with a puppy. So the first time she was on a leash since coming home was Easter. She was a good dog and was already learning the boundaries of the yard, but a walk! Well, that was more excitement then she could handle. We tried a few corrective jerks of the leash but that was incredibly ineffective. So I started looking at positive training methods. I did the thing where you stop and wait for slack in the leash and marking it with a treat. This seemed to work, but then she'd take the treat and start pulling immediately and I began to feel like I was being played for treats. So I stopped. I tried walking with treats in my hand and feeding her whenever she'd "hit her mark" and this had some limited success. I tried a few other things as well though I'm having trouble remembering what all they were now. It was like I had trainer ADD. Not fast enough results, fine lets try something else. This isn't working, maybe try the first one again, or the third. Or maybe I can combine them. 

I know now I didn't really give any of the methods enough time to become effective. I thought I'd finally made progress one night with the worlds slowest walk. I put her on a ridiculously short leash so she'd have to be right by my side and I'd know the instant that she released the tension on the leash so I could treat and praise. By the time the walk was 3/4 over, I was able to lengthen the leash and she "loose leashed walked" the rest of the way home. I was thrilled! Until the next day when she started all over again. 

We've finally made progress. Improvement started with me changing direction. Literally. "You're going to pull forward, fine I'll walk the other way. You're going to pull that way, fine, back the way we came." I spent probably 15 minutes one day walking back and forth in front of the same 3 houses. Every time she'd bump my hand, she'd get a treat. Eventually she was walking like a normal dog and checking in for treats every once in a while. I felt victorious! She still pulls like crazy at the beginning of a walk, but by the end, we've settled into a much more comfortable routine. And bonus, the neighbors all know I'm crazy now so they've stopped giving me strange looks. 

Clicker Ring

A while ago I heard about this guy who was raising money to manufacture a Clicker Ring. If you know what a clicker is, then imagine it on your finger.And smaller.

I don't use the clicker with Charlotte nearly as often as I did in the beginning, (which is kind of the point) but every once in a while I'll pull it out to teach her a new trick. I never fail to get a kick out of how quick and easy it is to teach with a clicker. Thanks to a boring snowy evening this last winter, she can now open a closed door if there is a pull attached to it and it's not latched. Cracks me up every time to see her come and go at her own leisure. Although it's usually to pursue one of the cats who have known how to open closed doors for years. They taught themselves that! Point is, be careful what you teach!

Anyway, if you've used a clicker, you know that it's a little awkward to handle, especially at first. You have to develop a style that fits you to click and treat effectively. That's my only complaint with the system. So when I saw Josh's idea of a ring I was like "I am ON BOARD with that idea!" I've been following along ever since on his journey to create a new product. Below is a video describing the process he's followed on this journey. It's interesting to learn about all the behind the scenes stuff that goes into a new product/idea.  It is not an easy thing! But it sounds like he is nearing the end of this chapter and is about ready to send his "baby" to market and is taking pre-orders at this time. I've already ordered mine. If you want to learn more about this awesome product go to his website ClickerPlus and check it out.

DARTH CHARLOTTIS

Evil dog lord of the sith. She believes in ruling while wearing cheerful colors!

So Sad

Legs McGee

You know your dog has long legs when she can sit on one step with her front legs on the step below.

The Packs all Here

We refer to our little family as "The Pack". My husband started this. He meant it as a reference to all the dog trainers who tell you to be the pack leader so your dog understands the higherarchy of the house. I like to think it's because only two of us are human. But whenever they gather around us - the alpha male and female - Tony calls it packing up.

This used to happen all the time when Sammy was alive. It rarely happens now simply because Charlotte tries to eat the cats every time they come near her. Agatha is the only one willing to tolerate it. Eddie always keeps a distance, so these days, even getting him in the same room is an accomplishment.

Buy this rainy Saturday morning, they are all chilling with me in the bedroom. The only missing today is Tony. He had to fly out the door, late for work.

First Pupachino

I think she liked it!

Neuroticism and Parenting

I ran across an interesting article on Facebook yesterday. According to Distractify, 'Neurotic People Make the Best Pet Parents'. This title caught my attention because as a needy individual, I wanted to know if I qualify as a "Best Pet Parent" and also because we'd just covered neuroticism in one of my classes and it didn't sound like a good thing.

The official definition is this:

Neuroticism is a fundamental personality trait in the study of psychology characterized by anxiety, fear, moodiness, worry, envy, frustration, jealousy, and loneliness.

This made me wonder if "neurotic" is one of those terms we tend to throw around without really knowing the exact definition. For example, we might say "she's completely neurotic" but actually mean "she's bat shit crazy with a special bent you don't find in normal crazy."



One of the images that came up when I Googled Neurotic

My conclusion is that I don't think we're completely misusing it. I think when we call someone neurotic we're kind of getting at the gist of the person's problems without actually naming any of them.

According to the article though, a neurotic pet parent is this:

"An online survey of more than 1,000 people found that while "helicopter parenting" isn't great for human children, clinginess and overprotection might actually be good for rearing dogs and cats."

 I guess if helicopter parenting is spurred on because of fear, anxiety or worry, then yep, that's neurotic. But here's the thing - I've never considered myself to be a "helicopter" type person.

I'm not insisting that my dog get all A's in puppy obedience. This is mainly because we didn't go to puppy obedience, but even if we had, I wouldn't have strived to be the best in the class. And sometimes, when I put her outside while I'm watching TV, I forget she's out there. Oops. So, yeah, total fail as a helicopter parent.

The article goes on to say:

Participants who expressed the greatest affection also scored high on the conscientious and neurotic scale. "This finding suggests that the qualities that make for overbearing parents might work better for our domesticated canine and feline companions, who tend to require lifelong parenting," explains Futurity.

Needless to say, this article got me to wondering, am I am neurotic? So I took an online quiz to find out. Cause it's 2015 and that's what we do.

Turns out that yes, yes I am neurotic. Feels like I shouldn't be surprised by this revelation.

Anyway, guess I'm good pet parent in spite of my failure at clinginess and overprotection. I think. Wait, where I was I going with all this? And has anyone seen the dog?

Happy Easter Sunday

Happy Easter all! Charlotte  and spent the day lying  around  because I  woke up with  stomach  issues. Currently  we're watching reruns  of The  Big  Bang  Theory  while the hubs plays World  of Tanks. It's  an all American  holiday in our household. Sorry Jesus.

Selfie Saturday

Charlotte and I discovered Photo Booth on my Macbook. We are soooo technologically savvy! NOT!

Charlotte the Hoover

I've trained my dog to pick things up for me. It's a great trick. I tap at something on the ground with my foot and she picks it up with her mouth and hands it to me. I originally started training her this trick as a form of punishment for tearing up a paper towel. My thought was, "Why should I have to pick that up? I'm not the one who chewed it up." So, with clicker in one hand and a bunch of treats in the other, we began. She picked up the concept pretty quickly. Getting her to put it in the trash took a little more work. Half the time it landed on the ground next to the container.

I decided to expand this skill to include her toys. She only has about 15 billion of them because I'm an over indulgent pet owner. Just ask my husband. So, we worked on picking up our toys and putting them back in the basket. This one went a little rougher. She'd pick up a toy, put in the basket, take another toy out of the basket. And then another. And then she started dropping them in the trash can...I obviously failed to define the difference in receptacles. Okay. Better to have her hand them to me and I'd put them in the appropriate place.

This worked out great! We progressed from toys to stray socks, or things I dropped. I hardly ever have to bend down any more.

Well, because she's Charlotte, she has a thing against stuffed animals being stuffed. Particularly if there is a squeaker in it. She'll create a hole, remove the stuffing, remove the squeaker, remove more stuffing. I'll rescue the toy, sew it back up and return it to her. Often she commits these murders in her crate, so I don't see the stuffing at first because it's not in my line of sight.

Charlotte in the "Crate of Shame" with her next victim.

Well, one morning last week, I'm sitting in my chair, having my morning coffee and here comes Charlotte with a big old piece of fluff in her mouth. She walks up to me and deposits it in my lap. My eyebrows go up and I say in a surprised voice "good girl!" and I give her a treat. She trots off and moments later, here she comes with another piece of fluff. So I give her another treat. And this continues until all the fluff is picked up.

Now, every morning, while I'm sitting in my chair, here comes Charlotte with a piece of trash. And yes, for every piece of trash she gets a treat. These are hardly big treats. I keep cat treats on hand and she gets one or two depending on the size of the piece of trash. But even this she seemed to figure out. Suddenly she's picking up three and four pieces at a time and bringing them to me. Of course I reward her with more or bigger treats.

Here's the truly funny part though. This morning she ran out of fluff and bits of paper to bring to me. So she brought me a feather that had escaped from my down blanket. Then she brought me a hairball one of the cats had hacked up. Now if I could only get her to sweep up all the fur she sheds I could stop cleaning all together!

Crazy Dog People

You know  those crazy dog people? The ones who are covered in pet fur and sporting bumper stickers like this on their car?

Yeah... I think I might be one of those people. What am I saying? I started  a  blog  for my dog. Of course I'm one of those  people.

It wasn't  the blog that clued me in though. It was the treats. Today I reached into my coat pocket  and  pulled out a baggie of treats. I wasn't  surprised, I'd just  forgotten  that  I hadn't taken them out after our walk. This has been happening  more and more lately.

I take my dog with in the car quite often because the excitement  of going new places is good for her. In the car is my "doggie diaper bag".  It contains a spare leash, her harness for when she gets overly excited and I don't want her to strangle herself, a ball, a frisbee, a bag of training treats (of course), a spare clicker, poop bags, and a collapsible bowl and water bottle. Oh and a pair of gloves. Those are for me.

The treats may be getting out of hand though. We have a jar in every room of the house. It started as one jar in the kitchen. It started as "you get a treat when you come in from going potty outside successfully." Then I discovered  the idea of clicker training and positive reinforcements. So I put a jar in the living room so we could work on training while watching TV. Hey, if you're laying on the couch the last thing you want to do when the dog sits on command is to jump up from your comfy position to walk into the kitchen for a treat. This doesn't  work because the moment you get up, the dog gets up and follows you. So now she thinks she's  getting  a  reward for following  you to the kitchen .  So there's  a  jar next to the computer, next to my reading chair, in the craft room as well as the original one in the kitchen and living room.

Yep, officially a crazy dog person. But she's  so darn cute!

And pardon me for saying  so, but my dog is really smart. She can do anything -as long as you have a treat. ;)

Don't Chew the Bear

I bought Charlotte a bear from the Goodwill. It cost $.50 

I thought she'd enjoy something she could play with that was large enough to pounce on - cat sized - that wasn't a cat.  She did. However she really enjoyed chewing on his eyes and nose. 

I asked her not to chew on his nose and eyes.

I think I made her sad.

How I Became a Dog Mom

Just over a year ago I adopted a dog. Well, she was a puppy then. But she's a 58 pound puppy now. We named her Charlotte Bronte because we name all our animals after authors.

The cats were/are Samuel L. Clemens,

and Agatha Christie.

Except for Eddie. He was named after my favorite newscaster/anchor, Edward R. Murrow. I was in Journalism for all four years in high school.

Sammy passed last January. That's how we ended up with Charlotte. This is what she looked like when we brought her home.

This is what she looks like now.

The loss of a pet leaves a hole that needs to be filled. Especially if you don't have children. And I wanted a pet I could take places. I know people take their cats places, but mine throw a holy bitch fit if I stick them in the car even to go the vet. Going for a walk with one is like dragging a 10lb. sack of flour around on a leash.

When I was convincing my husband we should adopt her, I said I needed something to nurture. I got that and then some. That's how I became a dog mom.