Foto Shoot Friday (and the Cuz)

YEAH! Spring is here! And the stupid ice storm didn't kill my dafodils!

I noticed lots of dogs take one day of the week and reserve it for a special post. Flash Friday, Wordless Wednesday, Love Thursday, Tanner Tuesday. Well, The Dogs are gonna start having Foto Shoot Friday!

We have 2 shots to end the month of March. It was really sunny...hence the squinting.

So it seems that every pup loves the Cuz! I noticed recent posts from Texas & Opy worshipping the Cuz & my crew just doesn't get it. I bought a whole bunch a while back and no one was interested. Lola has this disgusting giant green ball that barely fits in her mouth.



And that's all she wants to play with.

I gave most of them away but found a DinoCuz in with the yard toys.

"Nope...where's my ball?"

"You're not serious...it's dirty. A princess does not do dirty."

"Hmmmm...I know that smell!"

"LIVER BROWNIES!!"

Yes. I put a liver brownie in between the Cuz's feet so I can say that The Dogs are not so weird & one of them actually "played" with one.

I just want them to be normal!! Is that so wrong????

We're gonna be famous!

"Quick! Mom is walking Sherman (he always gets to go first!) so I hijacked the computer to make a very special announcement!

My flygirl Bella & I are starting our own Rock Band!!! I'd like to introduce you to

THE HOWLING JOWLS!!!!

(Tin-Tin...we'll send you royalities for coming up with such a cool name!)

Lead vocals...Bella Ramone

On electric guitar...Lola Hendrix!!

We're lookin for a good drummer...Cubby? Charlie? Peanut? Joe Stains (you're pretty jowly)? Any of you boys have drummin' skillz???? Have your people call our people.

Sh*t! She's back. BYE FOR NOW!"

Back to work!

I'm back to walking the crew separately. Good for me...good for them.

Sherman is suddenly my best dog. Funny how that works. Tonight we saw two Beardies & the owner asked if he could come over to say hello. I told her he was weird with other dogs sometimes, but we could give it a shot. He was fine...dancing around, wagging his tail. He sits & waits when people walk by, auto Sits at intersections, doesn't react to strange dogs. He's truly a joy to walk.

I'd been walking Penny with Sherman a lot over the winter b/c it's too freaking cold to spend an hour & a half walking dogs. I had been using the harness and not really working on her leash manners. I'm happy to report that all the LLW work I did a couple of months ago was not forgotten. She's really better on just the martingale than the harness. She now takes the cue of a tight leash to turn & come back to heel...80% of the time. We saw a bunch of dogs and she didn't react once. There IS hope for Lola!!!

The real challenge is little Miss Lolita.

"Do I look like a challenge?"

Since all of the Click to Calm stuff is fresh in my mind, it's been fun the past couple of days to work with some of the ideas. We've been working on sound sensitivity for a while. It's Soooo much better than it was a few months ago. Now rather than saying "Yeah Lola!" any time we hear another dog barking, I'm Clicking when the dog barks right before she has a chance to talk back. We haven't had one single "bark back" since I've been home. I've been doing a lot of stuff right in front of the house, on the porch & front steps b/c she is very anxious when we first leave the house. If she's calm & looks at me...c/t. If she looks at people walking by...c/t. If she offers behaviors...c/t. I've also been changing my body posture from my usual "Ok, Let's Go" speed walking to more of a stroll. I'm concentrating on walking more slowly, relaxed arms and shoulders (pretending I'm getting a shoulder massage from Dr. McDreamy is a great way to help me relax!). This makes a HUGE difference.

So for the last few days, rather than dreading my walks with Lola...I've been looking forward to them!!

While checking my email...I turned around and found Lola on one of the chairs in the office. I swear she thinks she's a person.

"Trying to get some rest here...enough with the pictures".

Sherman used to sit in those chairs. He's too lazy to jump up on them now!

Pics from last Wednesday's class

Annette emailed me so pics of last week's class. Here's a group play shot. Sting the Smooth Collie is just a baby...I think 5-6 months. Harley is a GSD/Lab that is one of the nicest dogs I've met in a long time and that's Apache's gigantic tail waving in front.

We tried to get a group shot of them all holding Sit or Down Stays. It started out well...



Lola had flung herself into a new position & Cheyenne says "I'm outta here!".

And then, it all started to go horribly wrong.


It was worth a shot!

Highlights from the Clicker Expo

I’m back from Cleveland, revitalized and rejuvenated! What an amazing experience! I got to experience some of the most amazing animal trainers in the world.

Emma Parsons – I swear I thought I was going to cry when she was talking about Ben, her Golden Retriever that started Click to Calm I felt like I was listening to someone tell the story of Lola & I (minus the force trainer hanging him by his prong collar). I’ve read her book but seeing her in person was much more beneficial to me. It lit a fire under my butt and in a weird way gave me renewed confidence.

I was talking to another attendee after Emma’s session & told her it had gotten so bad that one day I told Lola that I hated her. Her repose was “You don’t hate her, you hate the behavior”. I don’t know why it struck me as being so profound…because it’s something I already knew. But it was never communicated that way and it expresses exactly how I feel. My new mantra…”I hate the behavior, I hate the behavior, I hate the behavior…”

Shaping– I attended several shaping sessions & labs. And I realized how bad I am at shaping. I went to Shaping Potluck where Deb Jones, Emma, Kay Laurence, Joan Orr & Helix Fairweather shaped various behaviors in some of the attendees dogs. It was really amazing to watch. I’m a total lumper. I want the end behavior NOW! I’ve got a whole new bag of tricks up my sleeve …I just need to learn to become more patient!

Steve White - I didn’t know much about him before attending the Expo, other than he trained police dogs. But I attended his Shaping lab and his learning session on teaching Crossover Dogs. Both were exceptional. He is excellent in conveying information in layman’s terms and not making the process overly technical.

I was disappointed in a couple of things. One of the presenters I was really looking forward to seeing did not live up to my expectations. The hotel lunches were overpriced and you had to pay for everything. We didn’t even get free coffee in between sessions!

All & all, I had a fabulous time & will go again in a heartbeat. My brain is so filled with info, it’s hard to know where to start. Guess I just need to come up with a plan & run with it!

Dakota 1998 - 3/23/2007

Dakota - 1998 - 3/23/2007

Cleveland or Bust!

I'm off to Cleveland this weekend for the much anticipated ClickerExpo!

I'm extremely excited...although I'm going dogless and will miss my little Jagoffs terribly. And Scotty too, of course.

As I am the one that usually feeds them, I have to leave him details of what they eat.

Now in a normal day, they'll get at each meal:

Sherman - 1/2 cup Solid Gold (that's the one that is small discs)
Lola - 1 - 1 & 1/2 cups Solid Gold
Penny - 1 - 1 & 1/2 cups Eagle Pack (the little dark brown nuggets)

plus some canned food (I try to mix it up):




Sherman - 1/6 of a can
Penny & Lola - twice as much as Sherman

and some days they get Salmon, Jack Mackerel or their favorite (not mine)...canned green tripe.



I know Scott won't even bother with this so I'm not giving amounts!

Shermie gets some supplements:



1 glucosamine capsule (break it open) 1x per day
500 mg Vit C 2x per day
1 cranberry pill 2x per day

*Shermie is older and has some bladder issues (creaky joints & a tendency to get blood in his pee aka Struvite Crystals)

The girls get 1 capful raw, unpasteurized Apple Cider Vinegar 2x per day (for digestion and Lola's tear stains)



and every one gets the following once per day:

Vitamine E
Fish Oil
Coconut Oil

Again, not listing the amounts...he's not gonna do it!

Lola tends to have a sensitive belly, so if she's feeling a little "loose"...she can have boiled burger & cottage cheese for a couple meals, plus pumpkin & Berte's Digestive Blend (1 level scoop).

Don't forget the fun game we play at meal time!!

And Don't Overfeed Sherman!!
(Scotty thinks he can become Sherman's favorite if he gives him really big giant meals...not gonna work!)

So no blogging till Monday...don't forget about us!!!

Wednesday night class

Well, if you just met Lola for the first time tonight, you'd never know she had any "issues". I took her with me to Annette's class for graduation and she was absolutely perfect.

She did have to spend a good deal of class in the crate....which is good for her. It's helping with her self-control (she has, um...none).

"Yeah, if I'm so perfect, why am I in JAIL????"

She was wonderful during heeling and even though it was kinda close quarters & a 5 mo GSD was getting pretty snarky with everyone...she kept her cool. I was very proud.

After class we had play time & I tried & tried & tried to get some good shot of her & Apache...but they're both so crazy insane, the shots were mostly a blur. I think I only got this one b/c they were headed for a front-end collision with the crate!

Round & Round & Round they went. I was tired watching them!

I think Annette was happy b/c Apache found a fun dog that isn't totally intimiated by him & his very manly WOOOOFFFF!!!!

She was totally pooped when we got home.

Thanks for being such a good girl Mush Face!

Froggie Doggie (warning...PG-13 rated)

Sherman may hate Huskies...but Lola does NOT! In fact, she has such a crush on Zim from AO4 that she's sending him her Froggie Doggie pose.

From the side:

From the back:

"Hey Zim...come around & see me sometime"

GASP!!!!

Lola - I said act like a HUSKY, not a HUSSY!!!!

Saturdays events...reported on Monday.

Saturday, I took Penny & Sherman to the park for a much overdue hike. It was very snowy but not terribly cold. They both take turns feeling the wind in their fur.

The park was beautiful. No one was there & it was very quiet & peaceful.

The snow made hiking the trails a lot more strenuous. Not to worry...I had a good team of mushers!!

Sherman loves the snow & the forest & thinks he's part Wolf (which he's not!)

When I picked Lola up from CBW, we noticed she had a chunk out of her back. My first thought was she got into a fight, but she would have marks on her face & legs rather than the middle of her back.

Further inspection reveals a hole the size of an eye tooth. If I were a gamblin' gal (which I'm not), I would bet she was playing (hard) with another dog and it slipped & came down on her back. Ouch!

As always, Lola was pooped after Camp.

She sleeps the whole way home.

How many names does a Dog need???

So I was thinking the other day about how many names my The Dogs actually have...and how it's kinda crazy that they respond to all of them!

When Lola came home & I had to pick her official AKC registered name, I didn't want Sherman & Penny to be any different. So I decided all of my dogs would have "Fancy" names, in addition to their "Call" names and at least 1/2 dozen nicknames.

So let's start with the chubby black one..

Fancy name: SteelCity Nutty Professor (Our foundation dog)

Call name: Sherman

Nicknames: Shermie, Bubba, Turkey, Big Boy, Grumpasaurous Rex, Bubba-doodle-finklestein, Wolf

And now the Brown one...

Fancy name: Rizzo's SteelCity Lincoln Lady

Call name: Penny

Nicknames: Princess Penny Wiggles, Pen-Pen, Beauty Queen, Wigs, Peanut, PennyGurl, Frito

And who could forget the little White One!

Fancy name: KandL's SteelCity Copacabana

Call name: Lola

Nicknames: Sprout, LittleGurl, Lo, Woobie, BabyGurl, Munchkin, Boo, Boobernut, Mush face, Jowly lips

And Collectively we are:

Fancy name: The Dogs of Jackman Ave

Call name: Puppies!!!!

Nicknames: the Jag-offs, WOOObies, little A$$holes, my Boubies

"We think our Fancy name should be 'The Most Perfect Dogs in the Universe', donchya think???"

On a separate note....In celebration of St. Patty's Day...

We've gone ahead and nominated ourselves for Photo of the Month. Yeah, kinda self-serving....but Lola the Leprechaun worked hard for the Money Shot!

Do I look up???? What am I looking at?

"So, um...what's the deal with this? I assume I get lots of Cookies if I'm good".

"Almost...I've been posing & posing & nuthin!...gimme the liver cookie!"

OK...this is the final shot. And the one we're nominated for. Pretty cute, huh?

"Are we done yet?"

So go to Dogs with Blogs & vote for us! There are lots of good nominations this month so the competion it tough! But we never win anything...puh-lease???? She worked so hard!