Someone found her big girl voice!!

Lola is always the last one to finish any chewie. Most likely due to her funny teeth. So, she's chewing away on a fresh dehydrated pig ear and Penny walks over to see just what's taking her so long. GGGGGRRRRRRrrrr! And it came from Lola!!! She has never, ever growled at either of the other two. They just usually growl at her! Been a long time comin', I suppose!


Now does this look like a grumbly dog to you??? She's very good at the sweet & innocent routine.

Training progress (01-18-07):

Walked all 3 separately again. Man, I'm sure am getting a workout these days! Nothing earth shattering to report. Still working on recalls w/ Sherman, LLW with Penny & reactivity issues with Lola. Everyone's doing really well & I'm looking forward to a wonderful Spring!!

Training progress (01-17-06):

Penny & I have our first solo therapy visit on the 27th. We're going to read to kids at a local library. Our TDI coordinator suggested we work on getting our dogs to lay on a mat and practice reading to them. So Penny & I worked on getting her to lay quietly on the mat. I gave up trying to shape it & just directed her where to go. She laid right down & held her Stay.

Then we worked on the reading part. I should note that Penny hates when we read, especially the newspaper or magazines. When we're reading, we can't be paying attention to her & that is just rude (according to Penny). So, she laid on the mat while I read her People magazine & gently stroked her. She liked that. We're going to practice that a couple nights a week so she can get used to it.

She can also read, all by herself.

"Ashlee Simpson looks way better since she had her nose done"

Lola - Took her to Marsha's Super Puppy class. When we got to the shelter, there were 8-10 little dogs coming out of the previous class. They were all walking through the parking lot and Lola gave a couple little growls, but stopped when I told her to leave it. We had to wait outside for them to let us in & a PWD puppy came bounding up to the door. Lola got very wiggly & I made her Sit & Wait and asked the guy if she could say hello. He said sure & they had a blast getting to know each other. Once inside, a woman we know from other classes came over to say hello with her new dog. He basically jumped Lola & started fighting with her & she fought back. We quickly broke it up & she calmed down quickly. After that she was stellar. She was a bit nervous about a 150 Mastiff b/c he was giant (and is still a puppy!) but I asked her to Leave It & she did. We did lots of Heeling, Stays, Recalls and handling. This class is basically a CGC/TDI prep class for puppies so we'll focus on several parts of the test. Marsha came over to do the exam and I had Lola sit & told her to Wait. This worked beautifully!! She didn't jump or move (but she did give Marsha a couple kisses) One of my concerns for her is she's too friendly & wants to jump on people & kiss them in the face. We had a great class & I'm very hopeful that Lola is going to be a normal dog one day. I just have to put the time in now till she matures. I went through the exact same thing with Penny & Penny is perfect (almost). We'll get there.

Lola loves to sit on the couch & watch TV. Notice how she sits like a person.

Training progress (1-16-07)

Sherman - My boy is in heaven! It was 30 degrees during our walk & he had an amazing spring in his step. (Sherman has a very thick heavy undercoat and one of the 10+ breeds in him is probably something Nordic. Probably Husky...may be why he hates them so much). Our walks have become so much fun. A lot less sniffing & a lot more running. I can call him away from things much easier. At intersections, what was once "Sherman, Stop...Sit...Wait" is now mostly automatic or Stop (he then Sits & Waits).

Lola - bundled the little skinny girl up in Penny's coat & off we went. I've had an attitude adjustment & it shows. I'm becoming more assertive with her, which gives me more confidence and, in turn, her more confidence. There was about 10 seconds of stress whining/growling on the porch and zero barking at other dogs/people. We saw all kinds of people & 2 dogs. When she saw the dogs I told her Leave It and she'd turn her attention to me. She did get a little anxious when we turned on our street, but I asked for attention & we did some heeling & she calmed down immediately. These are the good days!

Penny - took her to Ruth's Advanced class. Penny hasn't been to class for a while but didn't miss a step. Ruth commented on how great her Attention was. We practiced lots Heeling w/ distractions, Recalls, lots of Sit & Down Stays & Stand for Exam. I learned something new about Penny. We've never done much with Stand. She doesn't know the cue & won't Stand from a Sit & usually Sits when placed in a Stand. It's always something I've wanted to work on, just never do. But tonight, I helped her into a Stand & told her to Stay & she didn't budge. Ruth came around for the exam and she glanced at her but held her Stay. Hmmm....interesting. She's such a good dog!

After 4 straight days of rain (and 50 temps), my yard is a total mess. Not that it wasn't a mess before, but the mud I've been cleaning up has been outta control.



Then today the temp fell to the mid-20s & a little snow actually fell.

While the girls don't actually like the cold, the blast of cold air at lunchtime shot them with a jolt of energy.

Yes, Penny has to deal with this crap from Lola on a daily basis (poor girl!). Her own personal step stool.

Introducing Sherman...the Slayer of all great big Evil Hedgehogs!!!

"First, I crush him with my powerful jaws!!!"

"Next I savor the kill.."

"Then I chew his body apart limb from limb"



"I rest"...I am Sherman, after all.

"Then I drag him to my Secret Lair...where I will devour him when I wake from my slumber."

"You all know what comes next. No need to document it. I don't have to remind you what happened to Santa"

It was all over in a few seconds...

The weather has rained on our training parade. The girls hate getting wet (divas that they are) so we stayed inside tonight & did some fun stuff.

Training progress:

Sherman

"I'm perfect & I don't need no stinkin' training. Give me treats for just lookin' good!"

Penny:

Poor Penny is really bad at shaping. I ruined all fun clicker stuff for her by using it to teach attention. Granted, she has amazing attention, but she does nothing but stare a hole into my head. I'm not good enough at this clicker stuff yet (but will be after the Clicker Expo in March!!). Tried for 20 minutes to shape her Go to Mat.

"How 'bout I just stare at you??? C'mon...Click, please!"

We managed to get one bony butt cheek on, but that took a lot of tossing the treat on the mat (c/t), she sits on it (c/t, tossing it away).

Finished her up with some quarter turns and automatic sits. She does love to heel. Weird dog.

Lola

Did some Go to Mat (her favorite clicking game)...got up to 22 seconds, did some targeting...used the target stick to teach Spin (c/t me! Faded the target stick and had her Spinning on cue in about 2 minutes!). Finished by practicing Stays w/ distance and duration...got to 25 seconds & distance of a room. We don't practice this nearly enough. (Note to self - Work on Stays!! But they're so booorrringg!).

"See Mom, I can Stay!"

Apparently, it's Love Thursday! I'm following the lead of Charlie & CoCo's Mom

For Sherman, who is the reason I love dogs.

For Penny, who is the reason I love training dogs.

and For Lola, who is helping me become a better person.

Pet Owner's 10 Commandments

1. My life is likely to last 10 to 15 years. Any separation from you will be very painful.

2. Give me time to understand what you want from me. Do not break my spirit with your temper, though I will always forgive you. Your patience and understanding will teach me more quickly those things you want me to learn.

3. Treat me kindly, my beloved friend, for no heart in all the world is more grateful for your kindness than mine. Don't be angry with me for long, and don't lock me up as punishment. After all, you have your job, your friends, your entertainment. I have only you.

4. Speak to me often. Even if I don't understand all your words, I understand your voice when it's speaking to me. Your voice is the sweetest sound I ever hear, as you must know by my enthusiastic excitement when your footsteps fall upon my waiting ear.

5. Please take me inside when it's cold and wet. I'm a domestic animal and no longer am accustomed to the bitter elements. I ask for little more than your gentle hands petting me.

6. Keep my bowl filled with clean water; I cannot tell you when I'm thirsty. Feed me good food so that I may stay well, to romp and play and do your bidding, to be by your side, and stand ready, willing and able to share with you my life, for that is what I live for. However you treat me, I'll never forget it.

7. Don't hit me. Remember, I have teeth that could easily crush the bones in your hand, but I choose not to bite you.

8. Before you scold me for being lazy or uncooperative, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I am not getting the right food, I've been out in the sun too long, or my heart is getting old and weak.

9. Take care of me when I get old. You will grow old, too.

10. When I am very old, when I no longer enjoy good health, please do not make heroic efforts to keep me going. I am not having fun. Just see to it that my trusting life is taken gently. And be with me on that difficult journey when it is time to say "goodbye". Never say, "I can't bear to watch." Everything is easier for me when you are there. I will leave this earth knowing with my last breath that my fate was always safest in your hands. Remember - I love you.

Training progress:

Sherman - actually worked on recalls & getting him to come away from sniffing stuff. I used to have the seven second sniff rule, but even seven seconds is to long. He sniffs forever!

Penny - Changed direction about 6 times. Got excellent LLW for 90% of the walk. Practiced heeling and stays on the porch. Two Beardies took us by surprise & Penny tensed but didn't flip out.

Lola - Used the EW & rubbed her with Chill Out before we left. The front porch is an issue. We really need to work on that...very tense body, "sharking" food and baby growls. Waited till she was calm(er) & could focus on me. Stuck to the front street. After about 30 seconds she was calm & taking food gently. She walks very well & is rarely out of heel position (although I don't ask for it). Good attention & I mixed in some targeting and automatic sits. Practiced some downs and attention in the front yard & she was startled by my neighbor, who she loves. Woofed a few times till she realized who it was & then went wiggling over to say hello. She was kinda frantic in her greeting...lots of jumping and trying to lick his face. He offered to work w/ me one day during daylight hours with her.

Sorry to be MIA...came down on Sunday with the Stomach Flu. Poor dogs had to be cooped up in the house with me for 3 days. By today, they felt they had given me enough "therapy" (aka snuggling with me on the couch) and were chomping at the bit.

Thank you to Laura for the info on Charlie's ears. Ironically, Lola's ears have pretty much healed (almost...after of course, I bought 2 economy size packs of gauze!). My friend Annette suggested cutting off the sleeve of an old t-shirt to wrap around her head & I thought that was just genius. We may try one or both solutions should we need them. The more Boxer people I talk to, the more common I'm finding this problem is. I've hear horror stories of kitchen walls splattered with blood!

Pappy's fella had a question on Lola's training progress and if I understand correctly, he wanted to know if she settled down once the dog had past. The answer to this is yes, but what I'm trying to accomplish with Lola is for her not to woof at all. The ultimate scenario would be for her to see a dog & look at me for direction. HA!!!...yeah right, you say. Well, it takes time but it's definately possible. Penny was very reactive to other dogs & I've gotten her to the point where 85% of the time she can see another dog & when I tell her "Leave it", she looks to me & ignores the other dog. Ideally I wouldn't have to tell her anything, but I'm OK with where things stand now. Lola is most likely going to take a while to get to that point b/c I haven't done as good a job with her as I thought. We're basically starting over & I've got a lot of work to do.

Another trio of dogs has tagged us for our 2007 New Year's Resolutions. Well, I've already listed out my goals for '07 (kind of a resolution), but I'm going to list out some resolutions for each dog (kind of a little twist on the game!)

Sherman - lose 2 more lbs (hey, I was down 2 in '06!)...be nicer to the girls (& maybe even share my toys with Lola)...get serious about my hunting.

Penny - stop thinking I'm fat & gain 5 lbs...make Mom's life easier & have nice leash manners 100% of the time...do more fun training stuff & maybe give Rally a try.

Lola - no more Woofing at other dogs...become a Canine Good Citizen...get out of my stupid crate while Mom & Dad are at work.

We're only going to tag Splash, b/c that's the first blog Mom ever read & she thinks he's funny.

Training progress:

Nada - back to work tomorrow!

After a long day at Camp Bow Wow, Lola is pooped. What a better place to rest than on her best friend Penny!!

Sherman, who only snuggles with Mom, prefers to crash in the bolster bed. Looks pretty comfy if you ask me!

Laura, Charlie's mom, saw Lola's ear issues & quickly jumped in to offer a solution (Thank you again, Laura!). Not having any gauze, I tried Vet Wrap.

Mmmm 'kay...that worked for about 10 minutes (long enough for me to take pics hee hee!!) and then she rolled it back onto her neck & it was really tight & I started to freak & think she'd turn blue. So we took it off. And she immediately shook her head as hard as she could & broke the ear open again! AAAaaahhhhh!

Yes, Lola looks like a little old lady in a babushka!

Can you just see her plotting my death in her head????

And just to show how pissed she was about the whole "wrapping the head up in hot pink Vet Wrap" thing...she stole the roll off the coffee table and attempted to chew it up to prevent further embarrassment.

Little does she know that I have add'l rolls in blue & red...mmmwwhhhaaaaa!!!!

OK now Laura...couple of questions. Were Charlie's ear flipped back or flattened to his head? Cause he doesn't look like Lola did. And how long did you keep the gauze on? All the time? Or did he get time off to let his ears breathe? How many days till he was healed?

(This is sweet, sweet Charlie everyone! I stole his pic from Laura's Blog!)

He doesn't look much happier than Lola did, huh? But, I'm gonna pick up some gauze tomorrow (probably breathes better too).

Training progress (01/04/07):

Penny - I love this dog. I really, really, really love this dog. Two days into our new LLW protocol & she is damn near perfect. Started with lots of direction changes to get her focus on me. Didn't take long. Stopped on the side streets & did stays, recalls & heeling. Ran/jogged for the last 1/2 block. Penny loved it!! I'm trying very hard to keep things super duper fun for her (I have a tendancy to be too serious w/ PW) and there is a noticable difference.

Lola - Didn't start out too well. The second we walked outside...jingle, jingle...here comes another dog. Wooffffff!!!! Back in the house. Reinforced her for being calm & went on the porch. She was a little stressed, but managed to do sits, downs & touch and we left once she was calm. She saw a big trash can (it was dark outside) and woofed but I took her over to inspect it & once she sniffed she looked at me "So, what's the big deal??" Took her a while to focus on me (used direction changes & circles) but got great eye contact & heeling about 2 minutes in. She started to stress at the end of the street (there is another Boxer around the bend that always Woofs at her) so we just stayed on our street & worked both sides. Finished on the porch with lots of eye contact, downs & stays.

I added some additional Goals for 2007 to my list and one of them is to include our training progress in my blog entries (yinz guys can just skip over that stuff...it's more of a record for me). So that's gonna be at the bottom of my posts. Or it will be all I post...depending on what's going on.

Now for the fun stuff!

Scott & I (finally) moved the ottoman from the dining room to our bedroom. It was taking up way too much room & blocking our beautiful new sofa table. The Dogs have always loved hanging out on ottoman so I figured they'd enjoy it upstairs too. I threw one of the dog beds on it to get it out of the way (we're running out of room for all this stuf!)

Guess who made herself comfy?

"And it's even better if you throw my blanky on it!"

Training progress (1/3/07):

Penny - LLW was decent...immediately changed directions if the leash was taut. Had to do that a handful of times. Concentrated on really reinforcing her voluntarily checking in. Did lots of fun heeling stuff (zig zagging, running, changing directions...basically making an ass out of myself in front of my neighbors). Practiced some stays on the front porch (LOTS of distractions). Pushed her too long and then backed up and did some shorter sit & down stays. Much better. Taught her a new trick, Whack! (in a down, she slams her paw on the ground...think "whack a mole")...didn't add a cue yet.

(I spent the part of my day off watching Pam Dennison's Camp R.E.W.A.R.D DVD & found my faith again. It was a good kick in the butt & reminded me of what I need to be doing with Lola.)

Lola - I gave her a big kiss & told her I did not hate her, did not want to leave her in the woods & was not sorry we ever got her (all things I said on Tuesday on the way home...mean Mommy :o(. ) I love her & we'll work together to fix her problem. So off we went. Worked on her being calm on the front porch before the walk (she starts to stress the second we're out the front door)...did very well. Asked her for a couple behaviors before we went (sit & touch). Heeled down both steps beautifully. Worked a TON on attention & her automatically checking in with me. She was stellar! Changed directions if she lost focus (only happened 3 times). Did lots of back up recalls (Recently Lola thinks Come means stare at me then run away). Had a party any time we heard a dog bark (me clapping and saying Yeahhhh and feeding her). Saw another dog by the Vets...she looked at it, looked at me (another party) and we turned around. She did not bark ONCE!!! Finished with some more behaviors on the porch (down, touch, stay, come). We're going to be doing a lot of work in the front yard from now on.

It was a very good night!

Poor Lola has shredded her ear. And we can't get it to heal. When she wakes up in her crate, the first thing she does is a full body shake. This slams the tips of her ears against the bars and while she initially broke both of them open, the right one has healed. The left one is a mess. I've been using a liquid bandage but that's done nothing.









The final step is a Elizabethan (Cone Head) collar which she will hate!!!! I pick it up tonight.

"You are not serious about that, are you?"

I took today off of work & decided to start my new year out right. Yesterday didn't count. Scott & I watched a Marathon of Rescue Me (12 straight hours lounging on the couch being lazy with the pups).

I put away all of the Xmas decorations, cleaned the kitchen, did about 18 loads of laundry and then took Lola to the park. S&P went on a neighborhood jaunt w/ Scott.

I feel like I'm living my life with Penny over again w/ Lola. It's like someone up there is saying "Well, you did such a good job w/ Pen...only you can handle the little white one". It's the same time frame, the same issues, the same frustration & stress. Our hike was not fun...actually it sucked. It's all my fault & I know it & that makes me feel worse. She stressed the whole time & I should've listened to my gut & left the park as soon as we got there. But I didn't & wanted to kill her by the time we left. I'm pushing her past what she can handle & I need to step back & start from the beginning. We're making a lot of progress on our neighborhood walks but this was a whole new situation.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We had a great 2006 & hope to have an even better 2007! Wishing health & happiness to all of our friends & canine companions!

My personal goals for 2007 (for me & the Dogs):

*Lose 10 lbs (don't I have this goal at the beginning of every year???)

*Exercise more - I hope to start running w/ Lola & Penny & hiking more with all 3.

*Spend more QT with the pups. I've been pretty busy this past couple of months & have really gotten away from our training & fun stuff.

*Post more training progress in our Blog (in addition to fun pictures & goofy stuff!!)

*Finally start using the dehydrator I got for Xmas 2 years ago & make lots of good healthy treats for the dogs (Hare-Today is always a great back-up!!)

*Get Lola's CGC by year-end (she's no where near ready for therapy work but will be great at it one day!)

*Stop spending so much $$ on Dog stuff...I think I'm pretty stocked on Dog Books & DVDs (well...a few more here & there won't hurt) & the dogs have as more toys than ONE dog could possibly need (not to mention beds, collars, leashes, harnesses, coats, treats, etc).

*Have one date a week with Scotty (he's rolling his eyes reading this...OK, I'll settle for once a month?)

Well, another Xmas has come & gone. I somehow managed to lose my digital camera (those who know me are not surprised by this) and didn't take one single picture of the festivities That's OK...I want a new camera anyway. One with a Zoom & can film videos with sound. (Blogger buddies...feel free to give me some suggestions!). That's what After Xmas sales are for!

The Dogs had a great Xmas...lots of presents and they're ready to get back to a normal life. All this hub bub stresses them out.

But here a couple of pics from Xmas past...

Lola opening her very first presents



Sherman hoarding his stash...


Penny begging me to get these stupid antlers off her head!...

Exactly one year ago today our lives changed. Little Lola came home. She was such a teeny little thing, I nicknamed her Sprout.

She sure has grown up to be a beauty.

Happy Gotcha Day, Sprout!

So I'm wondering why I spend all of this $$ on cutesy fun Xmas toys (Oooo, and I got some good ones. Stay tuned for pics!) when a plain old ice cube tray will do! Hmmm....anyone in Bloggerland wanna answer that one???

"I love ice cubes...but the plastic trays are way better! Cool! (no punn intended)."


"Ahhhhh, this feels good! Screw the actual ice cubes. The tray is way less messy!"

"Wait a minute...so Dad, you're telling me I'm not supposed to chew on this? Are you kidding me?"

"Mom, I swear...Dad said it was Cool to chew the Ice Cube tray. Do I get points for my Froggie pose?

I must be doing something right with these dogs.

I settled all the dogs in with some marrow bones. Sherman is tethered when I can't watch him 100% because he's a resource guarder and will also take whatever he wants from the girls.

Everyone has to "chew" on their towel. Sherman is really good about staying on his towel and when I say "get on your towel!" if he's inching toward the outside, he gives a Grrrump! And moves his butt onto the towel. Lola likes to drag her bone all over the place & it makes me nuts. Marrow bones are gross! So tonight she takes her bone into the bedroom and starts chewing on the rug. I say "Lola, go get on your towel" and turn to get a kleenex to pick the icky thing up & direct her where I want her to be. When I turn around, she is carrying her bone back to her towel! No way!

I tested her again when the bone was about 1/2 inch away from the edge of the towel. Again, when I asked, she picked up the bone & moved it to the center of the towel. What a good girl!

"Marrow bones are yummy!!"