Discrimination

scenting I mean, not agility. :)

We have started a scenthurdle team in my town, and it is going pretty great. We have a good bunch of dogs, and everyone is learning at a good pace.

Wicca is trained already, and is very good. Pixel is just learning. She has a good nose, but is in such a hurry to get back for the cookie that she is a snatch and grabber- grabbing the most convenient one regardless if it is hers. :)

I am going to spend some time this weekend working on teaching her to think with her nose, instead of her stomach....

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And because I can't have two posts in a row without a photo here is one from a long while ago! I hope to have some time this weekend to take some new ones!

In the dark...

I have the worst luck ever with electronics. A little over a month ago I got an iPhone. Not a 4G mind you, but an iPhone none the less. My blackberry died and the iPhone was what I was looking for.

I love my new phone. It's shiny, fast, and very fun. And then yesterday everything went dark. Literally. For some reason I have no backlight. Which means that I can't see the freakin' screen. I called Apple and they suggested I restore it to factory settings in case it was a software issue. I just finished that, and it's not. It's still dark.

And I've somehow deleted a whole bunch of shit off my phone...which will all need to be put back in manually.

So now I will need to call again and see what the next step is. Stupid technology anyway....

Sisterly Love

Paw it Forward

During my move I got a parcel in the mail and totally forgot about it until the other day. :) Which would have been okay, but the dogs helped themselves to the treats and goodies before I could photograph them....

Amy, from Raglan Cardigans sent along two bags of biscuits, and some really yummy chewies. (which were eaten I assume in all one sitting...) She also sent along this fabulous little toy- which Wicca has claimed as hers and refuses to put down.



Thanks Amy!!!

Anyway, as part of the game, the first two people who answer and say they want to join in, I will also send on a package to each!

UPDATE: email me if you are one of the first two- manymuddypaws @ yahoo.com (no spaces)

Accidental Training

I often tell my students to be careful and clear about what they are rewarding their dogs for. Last night I realized that I have inadvertently taught pixel that "front" is an action only cue.

I teach front initially by walking backwards and clicking the dog when they are in the right position. And then I add the sit, but often I start off by moving backwards. Last night I simply asked her to front and I got a whole bunch 'o behaviours- but none of them front. :)

It seems that Miss Pixel doesn't actually understand my verbal cue very well, but is instead on relying on my body cues as to what she is supposed to do. After a few repetitions of no movement from me and heavy reward for her moving towards me on the "front" cue she started to clue into what I wanted. It will take a bit of time to get this I am sure.

On an Obedience note I SO enjoyed working my own dogs in a class setting last night. I started a "drop in" obedience hour once a week. I am not instructing, and people can do their own thing, and I get to work my own dogs. It was pretty fun!

Crawford

I am such a sucker for Corgis. I can't even resist. But seriously who could?

Crawford is a rescue- his family loved him a lot, but the new baby has severe allergies. Crawford was spending most of his time ou tside or downstairs and was pretty miserable. So he is looking for a new home.

I seriously love him already- he is very much a gentleman and has way better manners than my dogs. :) He doesn't jump on furniture unless invited, listens all the time, doesn't get into the garbage and is just a good boy! (i told vito that he should take some lessons)

Crawford is six years old and is in pretty good shape. He is a little chunky, but I've already got him on a diet. He is active and loves to play. He gets the crazy zoomies around the yard, and loves to play with Wicca. They wrestle and chase, and are just very cute together. He doesn't much like the cat, but leaves him alone when I tell him to.

Of course I am fostering him myself- because I couldn't resist- and I will be extra picky about who he goes to. He deserves a perfect home. I am willing to ship him to the right home. :)

You can see more pics on the windy city blog- http://windycityrescue.blogspot.com

Settled

The dogs have taken the move amazingly well. Boone especially has surprised me. After just a few days they act like we've always been at the new place. Even Bruce (the cat) has adjusted really quickly to the new house. He is actually coming out more, and seems much more relaxed now than he did before. When I got home from work yesterday he was curled up on my bed- and you could see that there was a dog up there with him at one point.



We've explored the neighborhood, although there is still one more park to check out. I am pretty excited that there are two big parks within walking distance. The dogs will certainly enjoy it!

The house itself is still not completely unpacked. I hope to finish this week and get rid of the boxes and stuff just laying around. The yard also needs a bit of work- still haven't built the run. Was hoping to do that already, but there are only so many hours in the day. The dogs are enjoying the freedom of the huge yard though so they aren't complaining. :)

I will take photos in the next few days so you can see what a difference a few coats of paint will make!

We're in.

Well. The dogs and I are moved. It's pretty wonderful I must say. Everything looks so good. The dogs LOVE it- the house, the yard, everything.

There is still a fair bit to be done. I still have random boxes here and there. Curtains still need to be hung, and the bathroom is one giant box- but we're in. And more importantly we're out of the old place.

I am going to the old place today and tomorrow to clean and then will be done. I am so excited. It's such a relief, and it's actually quite unexplainable.

and we've met a few of the neighbors...
our neighbor is a cat lover and has about 10 or 12 of these little guys running around. The dogs have already started to teach them to stay out of the yard...

I thought I'd be too busy....

To be sad about missing nationals this weekend.

It turns out that even though I am busy and exhausted from all the painting, cleaning and moving, I am STILL thinking about it.

Sigh.

I was doing okay until I saw some facebook comments and photos. It is hard not to want to be there.

Next year WIcca and I will have our shit together. Because this seriously sucks. (and if not wicca I am sure perfect pixel will be ready.....)

Almost Moving Day

Tomorrow is the day. I am so excited. Most of the hard work is done now- so that's a relief!

Will take photos and post on Sunday! :)

Oh, and as a side note the Lethbridge people are doing awesome at Nationals so far- some clean runs for Steeplechase and K made it through the pre-qualifier with only four runs. Wooohoo!

Rally Video

Why did the Chicken Cross the road?

I got this in an email today and thought it was too funny not to share. Normally I don't even read the forwarded jokes but this totally made me laugh out loud. Sorry if it offends anyone.
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WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD?
(Dog Trainer Version)
Author: Unknown

Pavlov: we fed the chicken on the opposite side of the road each day at 4p.m. until the chicken’s autonomic system actually began causing the chicken to cross the road at 4 p.m. without even questioning the “why.”

B.F. Skinner: on prior occasions when the chicken voluntarily crossed the road, this behavior was followed immediately by a reinforcing consequence.

Cesar Milan: I bullied, chased, poked, and intimidated the chicken until it raced across the road, because I am a strong leader.

Barbara Woodhouse: You just say, “Walkies” with the right accent and place a crumpet on the other side of the road.

Karen Pryor: by associating R+ with road crossing and P+ withstanding still, with a VR schedule, and offering a reward in keeping with the Premack principle, we increased the intensity and frequency of the road crossing behavior.

Bill Koehler: a few well-timed pops on the choke chain and the chicken was cheerfully to crossing the road.

Nicholas Dodman: I gave the chicken fluoxetine, sertraline, paroxetine, carbamazepine, and azapirone and then it was happy to cross the road.

Patti Ruzzo: I crossed the road, pausing every step to spit a treat out of my mouth like a human pez dispenser and the chicken followed along catching the treats.

Electric Collar Advocate: whenever the chicken does not cross the road I give it an electric shock. But do not worry, the shock is no more than you would feel if you walked on a carpet wearing socks and it does not bother the chicken at all. The feathers standing up and the smell of burning flesh mean nothing. In fact, they are happier having nice clear communication than they would be otherwise.

Yuppie: chickens are just like little people in feather jackets, and if you love them and give them diamonds and feel sorry for them all the time, they will be happy to cross the road for you.

Paris Hilton: Because I put it in a Gucci bag and carried it.

Shelter director: Any chickens that do not cross the road will be euthanized for their own good, and the others we will ‘adopt’ out tomorrow for only $200 each. Please send us money so we can keep doing more of this important work!

HSUS member: I do not know anything about animals, I have never been around animals and am not really fond of animals, but we passed a law mandating that chickens be kept without cages because animals belong only in the wild and cannot be happy coexisting with man, so now they are walking wherever they want.

PETA member: chickens have the right to live in world without roads. Any chicken that lives within a hundred miles of a road is suffering an inhumane existence and might eventually be hit by a car so we should kill it today to ensure that it does not die tomorrow.

Before....

I spent most of the day Sunday cleaning the new place, and all day Monday painting. Thanks so much to my friends who were able to come and help- it made it much easier to share all the work!

The house is very cute, but the color choices were really, really bad. Like worse than anything i've ever seen. When I first went to look at the house it was difficult to look past the paint color but I did and am very glad for that!

The whole house was blue- different shades of course.

The kitchen and porch were aqua teal color,


the living room was white with a weird purple/navy wall and trim,



the front bedroom was white (Stained yellow) with bright blue trim,

and the back bedroom was baby blue...


the worst was the bathroom. Three walls were bright blue. Like so bright you couldn't look directly at it....


But after a full day of painting it really looks amazing- there is still another few hours of painting to do but the most of the work is done. Once it is all done I'll take some photos to post. You won't believe the difference!

Oh, and I had to take a picture of two of my favorite things...

My own thermostat (I've not had control of my own heat for the past four and a 1/2 years)


and the yard. It is huge, and will be very beautiful when I am done with it. I'm ordering gravel for the dog run on Tuesday. The dog run will go on the left in the photo- where all the dirt is right now. It will be really nice to be able to just let them out and not worry. And still have a nice grassed yard to train in.


Stay tuned for more photos over the next few days!

AKC Show

I travelled with Jolene (One Collie) to Spruce Meadows in Calgary for one day of Rally. The dogs were great, and I was very impressed with them.

Wicca earned a 94 in Excellent and a 99 in Advance- her first RAE Leg (i think she needs ten)
Pixel earned her first Advanced leg with a 98.
And Boone earned the last leg he needed for his Advanced title. It wasn't pretty and he had a melt down but after I took a second to calm and pet him he was able to refocus. It was a very loud, and very busy environment and he was pretty overwhelmed.

It was a great day though- bought a cool Cardigan shirt, and had a good time with dog friends.

Congrats to Jolene and Kort for earning the last two legs needed for his Rally Novice title, and Congrats to Lisa and her little dog Zack for earning his Novice title too!!!!!

Rally....oh

I entered the dogs in a rally trial on Saturday and have been practicing a few minutes everyday. Last night was the "grad" for my rally class. My friend Kim came and was a guest judge and set up two courses.

Apparently Boone needs more work. Lol. He was not very good and I bet that Saturday will be interesting. He is one of those dogs that just space out when they are overwhelmed or over stimulated. He did pretty good for the first few signs and them went into zombie mode and he really struggled. Poor dude. If the course is beyond what I think he can handle I will pull him.

The girls were great. Pixels heeling is so wonderful. I could seriously watch her heel all day. She is very smooth and fluid and oh so pretty. She was a tad distracted by some stuff on the floor but was able to refocus. This will be her first time in advanced but I am not worried at all. The actual stations were pretty great- fast sits, and lots of confidence.

Wicca was great, although I will have to watch for anticipation on her finishes. We are going to try for her first RAE leg so will do one advanced and one excellence course. Should be interesting!

Jo and I are heading up super duper early Saturday morning- it's gonna be a long day! But it will be very fun- the show is being held at Spruce Meadows and is the biggest outdoor CKC show in Canada. There are a million rings, and LOTS of shopping. :)

On a totally unrelated note my friend michelle took this photo on our hike last weekend. Boone is my little shadow- not often straying very far- apparently even when there is a whole mountain to explore. :)

A Short Video

My dogs don't get a lot of toys to just play with- so when I gave the foster puppy the pink snake to play with the other day Boone was more than thrilled and immediately stole it from her. He is so funny. I adore him. How can you not laugh at a dog that makes noises like that?

Flower Girl

Stop to smell the flowers, originally uploaded by manymuddypaws.

Mountain Dogs

I brought Pixel and Boone along on a hike today- we had a great time. My friend Michelle lives in the crowsnest pass and knows all the great hiking spots. She invited my friend Maureen and I out to a hike near Turtle Mountain. It was wonderful! I took lots of photos, and it was nice to just be out with the dogs and good friends. I really need to do it more often.

It was very hot, so when we came across these giant mud puddles the dogs took full advantage...
The mud puddles were great fun for the dogs- Davin the aussie took his love for puddles a bit far and had a little lay down... :)




The Scenery- its so incredibly beautiful there. The mountain in most of the photos is Turtle Mountain- also known as Frank Slide. In the early 1900's there was a major rock slide. Even now it covers miles and miles of ground. I used to live in the Pass so it's not such a big deal- but to people who have never seen all the rocks it is pretty astonishing. We didn't run into any wildlife although we did find pretty fresh bear poop.








The friends-
Maureen with Esmae and Massey

Pixel waiting for Michelle :)


The River- after the mud bath we thought we'd better give everyone a quick rinse. :)





I really thought this weed looked cool so had to take a photo...


The two dogs and I had a great time- it was great to see Boone so relaxed, and I know Pixel had a great time aswell. Thanks Maureen and Michelle!

2 Years Old

Happy Birthday to the Cutest Pixel ever! :)
I can not believe that she is two years old already.



Not a great photo (taken with my phone) but a happy Pixel with her new Birthday Penguin.

Mature

October 2009


July 2010


I was playing around with Pixel on the logs at the agility field and she stopped to look at the horses across the road. This dog is so pretty, I just adore her. She is very, very different physically than Wicca. Pixel is light and wiry almost. Whereas Wicca is thick and sturdy. I haven't had Pixel weighed in a bit but I'd say she is under 25lbs. She is about 11.5 inches tall. She is pretty thin right now-I can feel every rib and her hip bones stick out just a tad. She is all muscle and toughness (appearance wise anyways.... ;p) She is also shedding- again. I swear everytime she grows enough coat to look like a fluff it starts falling out again. Her poor tail is starting to look a little wispy!

Anyway, I think she is uber cute, and just wanted to post the comparison from 9 months ago. It's quite the difference! She has filled out some, and just looks more adult like these days. And if possible she is even cuter than before. :)