Happy Holidays!

I know it has been forever since I have written, and I promise, I'll write an update on things going on in Tiptoe's life. It's been rather busy in a positive way.

But I want to take a moment and wish all of you a Happy Holiday! Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or anything else, I hope you have a wonderful holiday! I know holidays are not easy for everyone, but I hope you can rest aside your demons, treat yourself well, and simply enjoy the day.

As always, here are a few holiday photos from my crew. I'm still working on the photo of Clover with her Santa hat.

                         

                                                                       

Celebrating both a Halloween and a Birthday

Well, Halloween wasn't really that exciting. I had all of 4 trick or treaters. Last year, I had more, so I'm not sure what happened. I guess it is probably not helpful that my outdoor light by the front door does not work. One girl who came by lives catty-corner to me. As I gave her her candy, she excitedly told me how they have a new dog....again. In the two years I have been here, they have had at lest 4 dogs. The running trend is that they either realize the dog is too hyper for them, the dog gets run over by a car, or they just don't want that particular dog due to not being trained. I keep wondering what life lesson this actually teaches the little girl in the long run.

Anyway, something I've learned or rather at least gotten past is my fear of having too much candy around. In years past at Halloween, I'd make sure to pick candy I did not like. That way, I could either give it to people or throw it away. I was too afraid of my eating disorder tendencies. Just the fact of it being there used to worry me immensely. Now, however, I actually choose candy that I like and will eat. I've learned that eating a piece of candy or two is truly okay. And gasp, there are times I kind of crave it. However, I do know my limit too, meaning if my body has too much sugar in any form, I tend to get major gastrointestinal upset. And that is definitely not fun.

Though I'm posting this a bit late, this photo was passed around facebook recently, at least among the dog community. It was one of the better decorations out there.

On another note, today was also Tovah's birthday. She turned a whole 3 years old. It's really hard to believe that much time has passed. Here was my facebook status for today:

Dearest Tovah,
Today, you turn 3 years old! You came into my life on a mere run - having almost passed you. But yet, because you had such a wonderful temperament, I wound up keeping you. It was one of the best decisions I made. I could not imagine my life without you. You have turned into a wonderful and beautiful dog. Happy Birthday, Little One.
Love, your mom

More posts on Tovah's story:

Perhaps, a new addition?

A few puppy photos

Meet Tovah Aliyah!

Can't stop crying

Some things have a happy ending

Weekend pet festival

Yesterday, I went to a local Pet Festival.  This doesn't seem like anything special, except that I was horribly nervous to go.  Why you ask? Simply because I was afraid I might run into my former employer.  I had actually neglected going to a few events I heard about earlier in the summer, because I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I saw her.  And I'm still not really sure.

Before going to this event, I made sure to check the website and see if she was exhibiting there.  I did not see her listed, but still, there was a chance she was a late entry.  Entering the site, I just held my breath that I would not see her. I made a quick walk through and was soon relieved.  Even if I had seen her, it would have been an awkward situation, especially if she had a tent beside my vet like last year.

There was a fairly good attendance despite the high temperatures, though my vet and I were both worried that dogs might have heatstroke, especially because there were dogs there who were excitable and not prepared for an event like this.

I saw a few other people there I knew, as well as some former clients--the large Mastiff, now probably over 150 lbs, the now socialized and happy Goldendoodle (before he had been terribly fearful), and the smooth coated Parsons Russell Terrier who does quite a few dog sports.

I spoke to my vet a bit (she knows my situation) and saw her cute 10 month old, bubbly, smiley baby.  Though I am not a baby lover per se, I do love when they smile at you.

Overall, it was fun to get out and go.  There were a few negatives in that people simply did not watch their dogs and scuffles broke out.  Luckily, no dog got injured, and no human this year (last year a woman got bit in the face while trying to give a dog water. He startled and bit her)  I left feeling like I was glad I went.

The other thing this situation made me realize (or maybe I already knew) is that the dog community is small, and I'm bound to run into her at some point.  I'm also bound to run into other people who know her and a trainer who she hired after me due to the whole six degrees of separation phenomena.  But I can't let her presence stop me from going to an event, a seminar, or a workshop. It's like allowing her to remain in power over me, and that is just dumb, hard, but dumb.

Later, I came home and e-mailed a gal I was going to try to meet up with at the event.  Actually, I saw her several times (she owns the PRT), but she was always at a distance, and I was always talking to someone; thus, we never got a chance to officially say hi.  She immed me back on facebook and asked how my jobless situation was going. I was honest: crappy.  The last thing she said to me before we both signed off was:

"You need to get back into training. You are too talented not to be teaching people how to train their dogs."

It was such a nice compliment and meant a lot to me. So for now, I will end this post with that note of positivity.

Exhausting but fun week

I've been recovering for the last two days and trying to catch up on everything from this past week. For whatever reason, I'm having a difficult time with this, feeling lethargic and a little unmotivated frankly. Things are getting done, just not at the speed which I'd like.

With the exception of many thunderstorms, lack of sleep from Hank being worried, and likely getting my physical therapist in trouble (was supposed to have a follow up Rx for PT and never did...whoops!) , this was a splendid week! The highlight was the clicker clinic where I got a chance to work with several dog trainers from Belgium! Although the Belgian dog trainers had a specialty in bite sport work (think attack dog, aka Schutzhund and Ringsport like Mondio Ringsport, French Ring, Belgian Ring, etc.), it was cool to be able to apply some of their techniques to the scent work I am working on with Tovah.

You do not know how nervous I was actually participating in the clinic. This was Tovah's first experience in a workshop setting, and I was so worried that she would not focus at all or she wouldn't do anything I said she does. Plus, I was in front of some top notch trainers and my peers too. My confidence level is just not there yet.

However, with saying all this, Tovah and I did really well. I was quite pleased with how she did. The Belgian trainers liked Tovah and thought she did well too. One thing that the Belgian trainers did which I felt was really nice was allow me to work on something completely different from the others. They knew this ahead of time (I was specifically wanting help with Tovah's alert to cadaver odor), but still they didn't have to actually split the room for me or wait until all the bite sport work dogs were finished. They could have just said the hell with it and left you know. But they didn't. We tried once to work on Tovah's scent discrimination, but she was too distracted by the barking, whistling, tugging that was going on on the other side of the room. Bite sport work is pretty darn exciting!

Guy (Ghee), one of the Belgian trainers, just waited until the bite sport work dogs were finished. I brought Tovah back out and she did just as I had described. We worked with her and now I have a new way to try to help her with her alert. Guy said he knows this will work. He felt very confident that she would get it, and that I was clever enough to figure out how.

At the end of the day which concluded with a Thai restaurant and talking until midnight (it's very interesting t osee how European dog training is different from American), Guy gave me his business card. He said I could e-mail or ask any questions, and he would reply back. My heart just warmed with this. It is very cool that little ole me now has a dog training contact in Belgium! Plus, Guy reminded me of a big old teddy bear, and every time he said "good," it reminded me of some kind of Russian gymnastics coach or the likes of Bela Karolyi. LOL Seriously though, I think these moments get to me, because I still have not been able to let go of that "deserving" concept, or that my dog training skills are "good enough."

Anyway, I got back at 2am the next day and was exhausted! Ever since, I've just been trying to play catch up with house stuff, planting flowers, mowing, running (missed my long run this week), reading, blogging, dog training, and dum dum dum gearing up for my new career move, part-time for now at least. I promise to write about that soon. Most people would never ever think of me in this profession.

Off to bed, tomorrow's a long day.

Hope everyone has a nice Memorial Day and stays safe.

5k race results

First off, my apologies, there are no pictures. I seriously need to start putting a note on my forehead to remember my camera! By the time I did, I was on the interstate which was down to one lane. I was afraid of being late or not finding parking. I should have gone back and gotten it, because I got there in plenty of time with lots of parking still available. Oh well, next time, I will remember. Ya'll can keep me to that. ;-) I also forgot Tovah's harness, so I had to run her on her collar. :-(

I think there was a total of 700+ racers. There were a lot of dogs of various sizes, breeds, and mixes who showed up--some ran, some walked, and some just came to watch. I did see a small dog in a doggie stroller, though I don't think she ran. There were a good number of kids as well, and they had a fun run dash after the race was over.

The race itself went okay. IMO, 10 AM is too late to start a race even if it a short one, especially if you have dogs. My guess is that it 73-74 degrees which is hot for running, but on the plus side, it was not raining. The race was a little disorganized. We were all by the start line, and the announcer had a megaphone but no one could hear with all the talking. Then, suddenly I hear "on your mark, get set, go" and the gun goes off. People to the left and right of me were like "oh, we're starting now." But needless to say we were off.

Tovah was ramped to go the first 1 1/2 miles, and we were ahead in the dog/runner division. But then, Tovah was not speeding up, and I had a hard time getting her to go faster. Where was a squirrel or bird when I needed them?

I saw another dog/runner duo, and we were running side by side at one point. She was a basketball player and just running to stay in shape. Her Boxer was with her, not sure if he ran much though, and not in that warm weather for sure. Anyway, she pulled and ahead and won in the dog/runner division by 23 seconds, and we came in second.

It was a bit funny after the race, because the officials had come to me asking if I was the first dog/runner duo to finish. I could have easily lied you know, but that's not me of course. I told them it was the girl with the brindle Boxer. They eventually found her, and she got her medal.

When I looked at the results later, surprisingly, we were running a faster pace than I thought, so though there was no medal winning for us, it was still a good race. The male and female winners were booking it as were the runners running with strollers. I didn't think this was quite fair, because it was all men! In real life, how many of us actually see men running with kids in their strollers?

I met up with a girl from the running group, and we walked around the vendors and gabbed a bit. I told her my latest career or at least temporary job thoughts which she thought was cool. I will share that in the next post.

Overall, Tovah did pretty well with the other dogs. There was still a little snarking, but she wasn't the only one per se. I was proud of myself for only having one dog trainer moment. There was a guy who had his dog's harness on completely ass-backwards. It was very unsafe. I went up and told the guy nicely, it was backwards and not fitted correctly. He really did not seem to have a clue. Now, whether he will change the harness or not is anyone's guess, but at least he's aware.

So that is the race report for the OTR 5k. There are some more 5k and 10k races coming up which I may do, but still debating. I'll likely be doing a fall marathon, so am starting that training process. One thing for sure is that I've got to acclimate my body to warm temperatures. For whatever reason, it seems much tougher this time around. Like everything else, it's just about getting yourself out there, albeit safely, well hydrated, and nourished of course. :-)

ps.--In a bizarre fashion here, I was looking back over the results, and there is a name that looks strangely familiar--a girl from my college chemistry class. I'm almost positive it is her, and the age is about right. I have no way of contacting her though :-( This was a girl who used to beat me on every chemistry test (I really sucked at chemistry anyway), despite the fact I was helping her! And of course yet again, she beat me by 4 seconds. It's a friendly rivalry though.

pps--if I find any pics from the race, I'll post them.

Tomorrow--a 5k race

On a whim, I decided to register for a 5k race. There are actually a lot around here, and normally, I do not do 5k races, feeling like they are just too short of a distance. However, this one that is tomorrow caught my eye, because they are allowing dogs and giving a medal to the first runner/dog duo to cross the finish line. I did find it funny that they wrote in parentheses that the dog must run, meaning no doggie strollers. They are also giving a medal to the first person and stroller with baby in stroller to cross the finish line.

This will be Tovah's and my first official 5k race. I'm a bit worried about how many dogs might be there. Tovah is great with dogs as long as she has seen them before. It's the new/strange dogs she "shouts" out. I'm hoping they will not be very distracting for her, and she'll just run with me as always. I have every bit of confidence it is all bluff for her as she has never harmed a dog at all. Still though, I do not want to distress anyone else, or for them to say, "WTH did that girl bring the obnoxious, barking dog?" It's moments like this when I don't want to say I'm a dog trainer, but then again, dog trainers have a tendency to take problem cases (not that I constitute Tovah as one). It's called the "Dog Trainer's Trainer's Syndrome.

I'll post how it goes.

Happy Easter!

Okay, if you have been reading my blog long enough, you know I dress up the dogs on holidays. I do not go overboard with it, it's mostly just for a photo op. There were a few things I had been working on for this Easter. 1) having a group shot of all 3 dogs and the bunny and 2) teaching one of the dogs to hold a basket with eggs in it.

I must say that this was all accomplished, though not necessarily as pretty as I'd like. These photos really do need more than one person, but for the most part, they didn't turn out badly. I at least got a few good pictures. These were literally the only ones where everyone was looking at the camera. I tried placing the ears back on the dogs with Clover, but all were not very cooperative at that point--maybe 5 minutes into this. LOL

Anyway, Happy Easter all! Hope everyone has a prettier day than here--rain, humidity, and clouds. This is the forecast for the next four days.

Sad random thoughts

Every so often, I do a google search on a specific name. It is the name of the veterinarian at UMN who treated Baxter in his gene therapy trial. Truly, I am interested in this study (not a stalker by any means), and it sounds like things have taken off as there is now human recruitment beginning for a human protocol. It is exciting since gliomas are devastating in both the human and canine populations.

Besides her name, usually there are also pet owners who start blogs, write articles, etc. about their beloved animals and their journey through this study process--surgery, gene therapy, vaccine therapy. The stories are all happy, hopeful, grateful, remarkable stories of how well their dogs are doing. Then, there becomes a dichotomous feeling of both elation that the trials have been successful, but also still a tremendously sad feeling, knowing my dog didn't make it at all. And really seemed like he wasn't even given a chance as he passed away a month and 4 days after his surgery.

Sometimes, I ask myself why I even do the search if I am only left feeling sad afterwards. It's not an often occurrence, and I do think about e-mailing the veterinarian and will likely do so soon anyway. By some bizarre reason, my father keeps thinking she might have a job for me. I seriously have no idea where he gets this. Plus, she is in MN where it is ever so cold with horrible, brutal winters, and I'm in no position to move either.

Anyway, this was just some random thought today. I still need to do Baxter's video. It's on my eversogrowing list of things to do.

Spring, kids, and sweet gestures

Spring is finally arriving here--crocuses and daffodils are blooming. And with spring, all the neighbors begin to come out from winter hibernation. One neighbor, I saw with a new dog who was apparently pulling her like a freight train to the edge of my yard. She's had the dog since Nov/Dec., and it is now 5 months old--my guess a Hound/Pointer X. This was the first time I actually met the woman since I moved here. She and her husband also have a Boxer who I have met a few times since he got out of his yard to come visit my dogs.

The kids on the other side of me are out more as well. Since I've been home in the evening, I often see them out when they have finished their homework. I've never considered myself a "kid" person per se, but many people do say I do well with kids. I remember when I first looked at this house, the grandmother was here taking care of her grandchildren. One child who was 2 1/2 or so used to lead me around, showed me his room, his toys, etc. On one occasion, he even wanted me to sit and watch a dvd with him. The grandmother asked me if I had kids. I said no, only dogs. She was surprised, saying that I seemed so good with them.

Now, the kids beside me took to talking to me quickly. But the thing that I love about these particular kids are they are such nice, pleasant children to be around. They love to come out when they see me with the dogs. Whenever their friends come over, they are quick to point out all the dogs' names, that Daphne is deaf, so she can't hear you, etc. They love watching the dogs run and get the ball. They try calling the dogs--"To-bah, Hankie come here" and getting them to do tricks. The dogs are not always as responsive as I'd like, but it's mostly because they haven't had enough other people ask them things. Plus, there is a fence between us, so that makes it a little more difficult. Although yesterday, they loved the fact that they got to use the chuck-it to throw the ball for the dogs. They each took turns, giggling after each throw, and had a ball of a time. Luckily, Tovah was a little tired by then, so she brought the ball back to me better. LOL

Besides knowing all about the dogs, these kids are also social. They tell me about their days at school, facts they've learned, their likes, their dislikes, and other miscellaneous things. They even show me cheerleading cheers they've learned and ask me all kinds of questions. It's so sweet.

The other day, E., the second youngest, ran inside and got hostess cupcakes for their afternoon snacks. E. hands me one.

Me: Why don't you keep it for yourself and save it for later?
E: Still holding out the cupcake.
Me: Do you want me to have it?
E: Nods her head yes.
Me: Are you sure:
E: Nods her head.
Me: Okay, I'll take it then. Thank you.
E: You're welcome. This was said to the best I could tell. Her enunciation is still not quite there.

It was one of those moments where I thought, how could I not take this even if I am not a big Hostess cupcake eater? She is graciously offering it to me. Now, of course, her mom may have told her to give this to me. But whatever the case, it was sweet and nice of them to think about me. And I actually liked that they had a Hostess cupcake rather than just an apple or something. It's good to be healthy of course, but it's good to have balance too.

You can check out other posts about these children here, here, and here.

Visiting the beach--Rehashing the trip part 2

As I mentioned before, I am not much of a beach girl.  I like the sand, the waves, the breeze, the pretty sunsets, the various animal life, but I do not enjoy being or swimming in the ocean.  Luckily, I didn't have to do the latter, just walk along the beach.  It was a cool, breezy day, but nice overall.  We took all the dogs--my dad's and Tovah.  This was the first time for everyone. Bella and Tovah were off leash (first time for both in a public area like this), but Leroy and Daisy were on leash since they do not have good recalls, especially Leroy.

 

Bella, Leroy, and Tovah enjoyed it. 

 

 

Daisy, however, looked like this at beginning heading back towards the car.  But by the end of the hour, she was trotting nicely along Bella.

It was very bizarre, but we found all these starfish washed up on shore.  They appeared dead, though some still moved.  There were many and 

                                                      some stacked upon each other.

 

We also ran into this lovely Borzoi named Yetti.  He absolutely loved me and just kept rubbing his entire wet self on me.  The dogs had a lot of fun with him.  Here they are doing a  group smell, 

                                                     then playing.

 Tovah had the most energy of all of them as evident by this video of her playing in the water.

She also liked to visit the people.

I'll close with some of my favorite photos from this day.

Oh how I miss the sunshine already--Rehashing the trip part 1

I'm finally getting around to posting about my trip. I got in late Tuesday night and was exhausted. It did not help that for the last 3 hours of my trip, it rained. Then, poor Tovah was acting strangely in the car. I couldn't figure out if she was thirsty, hungry, or what. Well, despite having stopped to pee on the last 1 1/2 hours of our trip, she apparently had to really poop. Unfortunately, it was too late, and she made a mess on the cover of the seat. Luckily, that is washable. Tovah never has accidents, so I know she was horrified. She sat huddled in a ball the rest of the way home, not trying to touch any part of excrement. Bad mommy, bad trainer.

Yesterday, I spent the majority of the day recuperating, though I did have an evening dental appt. which did not result well for me. My bridge on the upper right part of my mouth is barely holding on and will need to be replaced (no purging in several years with one exception), I have 3 cavities, and a possible infection under the bridge. I know this has resulted from my horrible inconsistency with flossing. For whatever reason, I am terrible at remembering. I go back in a month for the rest of the cleaning and to fill in the cavities. I always wonder what dental hygienists and dentists think when they see my teeth. Are they horrified? Do they wonder how that could have happened at my fairly young age? They never ask though, it's typically me saying something, though I have not with this dentist whom I've only seen once.

Like I said before, the trip itself went really well. Sitting and driving for 32 hours in a span of 6 days was challenging. My record with long distance driving has not always fared well. It was more just getting through it and not having much memory of it. These days, I handle it much better. I have to attest recovery, more sleep, and having a gps for that. Although the gps did kep wanting me to take this one road to my friend's place in FL. My friend warned me it would do this, and if I went that way, I would get stuck in the sand! I almost did leaving her place but was able to turn myself around.

When I arrived in SC late last Thursday night, here are the dogs who welcomed me. Well, the little white one one wasn't thrilled with either Tovah or me. If you do not know what the breed dog in the first photo is, most do not. She is a Leonberger. Despite some opposition, the breed recently became recognized by the AKC this year and was eligible for Westminister. Bella's littermate and brother, Gulliver, was the one shown at Westminister. If you're wondering why some might be concerned about the AKC recognition, it is because there is a likelihood of the breed becoming more popular which places risk for bad breeding and more puppy mills.

The second photo is Leroy, a Treeing Walker Coonhound. He has a bit of a long story but originally my former co-worker found him and fostered him. Then, my step-brother adopted him which lasted only a few years, then my dad and his wife took him.

The last photo is Dasiy. She is the newest member of their family, only having lived there a year or so. She was apparently kept in a crate with a few dachshunds and bred. Her social skills are lacking and she pretty

much snarled and guarded the toys from Tovah the majority of time while we were there. Though I know what to do to help correct this problem, family is much tougher to get through to. You learn to pick your battles and hope for the best before something awful happens.

Tovah was quite wired from her long nap in the car and kept pulling out toys like these and continuously squeaking them. She pulled out ALL the toys. Daisy was not happy.

Tovah and I left for FL the next day to visit my friend. I got lost and drove around for an hour in the rain but eventually made it there. Her property is beautiful--10 acres fully fenced. On Saturday, she had an aggression workshop. I helped out where I could, listened, observed, and chimed in here and there. It was good to get to see my friend in action.

After the workshop ended, we let Tovah and her dogs go out onto the property. She has Irish Setters and Flat coated Retrievers. They all went into the pond. I wish I had gotten photos of the dogs but it was getting dark.

My friend also has goats living on her property, so the next day I took some photos of them. In this first photo, this goat was really pushy at the fence. Lovable for sure but definitely hogged all the attention. It is very evident in the second picture. My friend said that he was much like his dad and she will likely find a different home for him.

The goats were so funny. They especially loved when their dad came over with the food. They were like a bunch of puppies, baa-baa-ing their way in front of each other. They also liked do do stuff like scratch their butts and backs on the fence as well as their horns.

Then, there were the babies. Now, baby goats, much like baby lambs, are just adorable! You can't but say "Awww." There were three of them. They were a bit shy of strangers. Had I had food, they would have been right at my hand likely. If my friend had more time, she would clicker train them. Goats really excel at clicker training, so hopefully one day she will be able to.

The following day, I watched some of her classes--confirmation, obedience, and agility. She let me have the opportunity to work with Tovah in the class, and that was fun. I was really proud of how she did, especially since she has not been in a class setting for over a year in a half. As my friend said, "she did pretty damn good." It was a nice confidence booster and a good source of inspiration, especially since my friend breeds, shows, competes in obedience, and agility with all nationally ranked dogs.

I so wish my friend wasn't so far away, and that she could offer me a job there. I would absolutely love it, even if it is in FL (mountain girl here), but she is not able to. So as she says, she will have to find more opportunities to bring me down there.

I'm going to end this post here as it is getting long. The next post is about the beach and other stuff.

Oh the gifts dogs leave us

I know for many of you, it is still very much winter. Here, we've had a few cold days, but the temperatures are rising slowly. Right now, 40 and 50 degree weather sound about good, though I'd prefer 60s and 70s. I want to believe it will be an early spring. I mean after all, Punxsutawney Phil, the famous ground hog, didn't see his shadow (my guess, all the freaking snow, he couldn't have). Therefore, for what it's worth, his prediction is that spring is near.

Besides all the stuff about trees and flowers blooming, another way I predict that spring is near are the moles. Yep, you heard me right, moles. They are abundant here for whatever reason (I guess maybe similar to Boulder, CO's prairie dogs), and many people are not happy that they tear up their yards, including me. I'm not big into trying to "kill" an animal for removal, as really the best method is to trap them and then move them elsewhere.

Well, last year, I learned that Tovah is a bit of a huntress and finds these moles. At first, I was a bit shocked. I've never had a prey-driven dog, so it seemed a bit like whoa. But when I could, I'd watch her stare at the ground intently, just waiting, then she'd snake out the mole. Many of these moles were the small ones, and I soon learned, she had no intention of killing them, just "playing" with them. She'd flip them in the air, kind of toss them about. Of course, the poor moles, well, they likely died of shock, though some did make it. I removed those as best as I could. Last summer, she probably found 6-8 of them and not one had a mark or puncture on them.

This year, it looks like the mole count is going to be higher and start earlier in the season. Yes, she's already found 2--one on Thursday, the other yesterday. The one she found on Thursday, I literally saw her stare at the ground, wait, pounce, grab, and hold the mole. (I was here at this time and told her to drop it and leave it which she did) What surprised me with these moles were how large they were. I remember seeing one dead in my yard last year that was a big bigger but not by much. Check out for yourself below.

The mole she found yesterday is a bit of an embarrassing story. This cable guy showed up around 12:30pm. I was still in my jammies. Obviously, it was not my best impression here. He was apparently there to check signals. He was legit, so I let him in. I brought Hank and Tovah in from outside. Tovah dropped something black right by our feet. Yes, it was a dead mole! I was mortified! I immediately disposed of it and apologized profusely to the guy. Luckily, he wasn't too squeamish and said he'd seen it all. Still though, it was like one of those stories you hear about your child saying a curse word (ahem, yes that was me, the angel I was when I was younger) in front of someone, or running around naked or something.

The response on FB was interesting. Quite a number of people laughed over this, a few cheered her on, and one reminded me it could have been much worse--maybe a rat, a pair of underwear, a bra, or feminine hygiene products. I once had a cat who brought a baby snake into the house. This same cat killed a rat, left dead birds as presents on our front porch and in the basement, and also loved to "talk" to the birds trying to get them to come near the windows where they would meet their demise.

I don't necessarily discourage this behavior as long as Tovah releases when I ask her to and leaves it (she always has). I think this is her new fascination. For awhile there at the other place I lived at, it was dead birds. I always know w hen she has been "mole" hunting by the dirt on her nose, the holes in the yard, and her dead stares into the ground. My hope is that the moles will learn that this is just not a cool yard to be in and leave. I'm also hoping her mole fascination will not hinder her other scenting abilities of cadaver work which I'll be starting soon. I'm so psyched about that and hope she has the chops to do it. More on that later.

On a side note, apparently in Germany, moles are a protected species. Who would have thunk it?

Tovah turned 2 today!

Tovah turned 2 today! Yes, I made it Halloween day. Actually, I tried pretty hard to figure out her birth date by the age I found her. It's hard to believe she is another year older now. There are so many possibilities for her. My current interest is seeing whether she could make it as a search and rescue dog. This takes a lot of time and practice, but I think she has the potential. There's also the fun new sports of Canine Nosework and Treibball which are becoming quickly popular or maybe animal assisted therapy. Unfortunately, I will not be able to go through Delta Society since they instilled a new policy that no raw food dogs could be therapy dogs this past summer. However, I did learn of a new group called HOPE Animal-Assisted Crisis Response which seems like a wonderful organization.

I think in some ways, I feel like I missed out with Baxter in not doing more with him when he had the potential for so much. I waited--hoping to find the right people to help guide me who used the same philosophy, when I should have just done it.

I have more knowledge and contacts now and people who can help me, so I feel a little less afraid to venture out than I used to. I'll just have to see where we all end up.

For Tovah's birthday, she received a Kong Wubba which I have named Rosie the Rabbit or as my cousin says, "Wosie da Wabbit." As you can tell, she really liked it. Rosie now has one ear torn.

In case you have never read Tovah's story, she was an unexpected find. The first two weeks with me were full of happiness and heartache too. But in the end, some things do have happy endings.

Clover meets Tovah!

I thought some of you might want to see a clip of Tovah meeting Clover. They met officially last weekend, and both did great! They are truly really cute together. Clover will run up to the gate and wait. Tovah will go to the gate and offer play bows and tail wags. The second day they were together, she pawed Clover's head as if to play.

I don't know yet whether Clover will ever be a full free range bunny (not sure I can handle teeth chew marks on more wood and door frames--she seems to do this mostly when she has been introduced to something new/has more freedom), but I think she really enjoys the moments I let her hang out with Tovah. Eventually, I'll let Hank meet her, and Daphne is still just a little up in the air.

I have other posts in mind to write that are more ED-related, so hopefully, I can crank those out this weekend. In the meantime, enjoy the video.

p.s. The voice is me in the background. I still need to work on my video recording skills, but I'm sure as time goes by, I'll get better.

Animal updates

I realized that my posts have mostly focused on work and social circumstances, and that I've neglected to mention my animal crew lately. As they are an integral part of this blog, always teaching me many lessons, I thought I'd share some updates and photos.

Tovah, my youngest, has been going to work with me most days. She enjoys daycare, and we also use her for evaluating dogs as well. Though I've been lacking on her scent training, I'm hoping to be able to do this with her, as well as some possible therapy work. Unfortunately, I won't be able to use Delta Society, a premier organization for service and therapy dogs since their recent ban on raw food fed dogs which has caused quite an upheaval in the dog training world.

Tovah also had success this weekend as she took a road trip, her longest ever!  She was a champ and handled the car ride amazingly well.

Hank, my oldest, has several hot spots. I'm not sure why he decided to chew himself. The last two instances seemed to be correlated to when I was traveling. He'd be fine the time I was gone, then the very day I was coming back, he would chew a hot spot. This time, I noticed it last Thursday/Friday which was a few days before my trip to hand off G. to Cammy. Other than that, he is doing well for his 9 1/2 or so year old self.

Daphne, my Boxer, is also doing well, though she has had a few recent instances of pleasuring herself to my turntable where I keep non-perishable items. The last, a few weeks ago, was a canister of hot cocoa mix! Luckily, she only had some diarrhea, but it could have been worse. I'm not exactly sure why she has decided to do this, but it just goes to show you that even dog trainer's dogs are far from perfect. Actually, we jokingly remark that it is just like the saying " the shoemaker's children have no shoes."

Lastly, little bunny Clover just turned 5 months a few days ago! I truly keep forgetting she is so young, but she is doing well overall. Every month, I try to take her on an "outing." Last week's outing was a visit to the vet for a meet and greet. I had only expected to be there for 30 or so minutes, but I was there for 1 1/2 hours. Since there were no other animals in the lobby at the time, we let her run around the lobby and down the hallway which she found loads of fun. My vet also realized that they needed to be more "bunny" friendly since Clover helped herself to an ivy plant. She was quite proud of herself for finding this.

About midway through our visit, I noticed someone was coming in with a puppy. Eeeek! Luckily, this puppy was only about 3 months old and apparently fearful of everything. Clover did try to do a door dash which about made my heart skip, but I got her redirected. She met the puppy and vice versa. Both didn't know what to do, but it was certainly not what I'd call a traumatic experience. The hardest part was getting her back in the carrier which she truly loves. (she jumps in there multiple times a day and "nests") After about 15 minutes, I finally got her back in, and then headed back home. Overall, it was a successful visit.

Her other test was this past weekend when I had my boss, A., come over to let the animals out, including Clover. Last time, she would not come out for anyone, but this time, she came out, took treats, etc. Little by little she is getting used to new people and different environments. Bunnies, like cats, by nature do not like much change. Certainly, you can't expose them as frequently to different situations like dogs, but you can teach them incrementally to feel okay in certain situations. Clover will also be tested at the end of this week when my mother and her husband come to visit.

Lastly, like I mentioned above, I reunited Cammy and G. over the weekend. He was very happy to see her no doubt, but I think he'll miss seeing some of new found friends here too. He and Tovah became good playmates, and poor G. tried hard to get Daphne to play, but she didn't budge too much. We'll miss G. here, but I know he is glad to be home and with his person.

From L to R: Daphne, Hank, & Tovah in front of Baxter's Tree

Clover has apparently found the motherload!

This has become a favorite spot, obviously!

Rolling along and Happy 4th!

First off, I want to wish all US readers a Happy 4th of July! I hope everyone has fun and stays safe, especially as it is a prime target for underage binge drinking, accidents on the road, and your pet running away.

I myself don't have many plans but to get stuff done and possibly catch up on some of my dvds from oh say last year. That's one thing about having long hours with a job--you really feel a need to play catch up on any day off/holiday off you may have. I'm still asking myself how people keep up! And sadly, I am missing my computer time, albeit, it is good that I'm not on the computer so much. Still, I miss staying caught up on all the latest research, blog entries, feeling in the loop, etc. There truly is not enough time in the day. Okay done whining.

If you've read my blog long enough, you know holidays are just not a big thing for me, and the 4th is included. Even with fireworks, I'm no longer ooohed and ahhhed over them. There was a time when I used to love seeing the fireworks displays. Years ago, when my dad was living in Northern VA, we went to D.C. and watched fireworks set off over the Pentagon. I distinctly remember one shot of fireworks exploding in the air just as a an airplane was passing over. I thought it was an absolutely gorgeous scene.

Now, I'm just glad when they are over. Over the years, I've gone more into more of a "mommy" mode after observing how so many dogs become scared with the loud noise. As Hank's gotten older, he's become slightly more storm-scared and just doesn't handle the loud noises as well. Where we lived before, our neighbor used to practice target shooting. As soon as Hank heard that, he'd run inside. I think part of this was due to getting shot in the flank, at least this is what I was told at one point long ago. Hank doesn't go frantic with fireworks or thunderstorms but he will lie close to me. Cammy's dog, G. who is staying with me while Cammy is on her research trip, is also not a fan of them and will lie near me as well. Though I do appropriate firework safety things for the dogs, it is still not an enjoyable time for them.

Supposedly, the really big shows were last night, but I know there will be many local ones for the next several days. So hopefully, everyone will just deal with it okay.

As for other news, work is busy with upcoming classes this month, a pet event next weekend where we are speaking, and the start of seminars and workshops soon. Boarding has a tentative beginning date of September, but we'll just have to see how everything goes. I'm still hoping I can go to my annual conference in October, but that's up in the air at the moment.

Lastly, I'm still itching from whatever bit me almost a month ago. I tried calling to see a doctor as I wondered whether this might be an allergic reaction, but there are no appts. available from several weeks out until October. Part of this is due to being a new patient versus an established one. Cross your fingers I can get in somewhere, because I've tried everything from benadryl spray and oral (can only take at night since it knocks me out otherwise) to clear finger nail polish to bag balm to anti-itch creams and none are working for long. It's now gotten to the point where I have developed bruises from scratching my legs and scratched skin off my finger and hand. I've truly never been this itchy before. Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome.

Again, Happy 4th, do enjoy yourself and the holiday!

Below: Tovah, Hank, & Daphne showing their support for our troops. Clover giving her own shout out.

And the show goes on

My boss just got back yesterday. She's drained emotionally and physically. When I think about it, she's quite like me, she is able to put together things logically but has a hard time with the emotional component. She knows I'm there for her, and I often remind her that this takes time and that she is "allowed" to feel, to be sad, to grieve. Slowly, I know she'll get there, but it is always hard. Sometimes, I think I've finally gotten to a point in my life where I can somewhat dish out the advice and take it as well. That's certainly never been easy for me, but I don't know, it's weird, I want to feel and believe in what I say. Not that I haven't before, but to apply this stuff to myself as well.

Anyway, that was a bit of a tangent "I'm having a moment" thought. Despite all this stuff going on, the show will still go on. We are still going to have the open house this Sunday. I've decided that if I can and if I am secretive enough, I'm going to add a "in loving memory" slide to the end of our promo powerpoint which I made in February.

Most of me is excited about the open house to finally meet some more clients, show our facility, etc. The only thing I do not look forward to is seeing the client I mentioned in my slight meltdown post who is attending. I'm trying not to let it bother me. Who know, maybe he'll surprise me. I'll post details on how it goes.

The rest of the week has been busy running around taking care of A's dogs, a client's dogs, and my own dogs. I've also been preparing for the arrival of my new fur child, hopefully Saturday evening. I'm super excited, but it's funny, because I feel like the worried new puppy owner, hoping I do everything right. I guess humility is good sometimes.

Lastly, I've come to the conclusion my neighbor's kids are just adorable. I've talked about them here and here. The latest visit was Wednesday evening. They saw me out planting some shrubs (I got eaten by many mosquitoes!). The youngest little girl apparently really likes Tovah and calls her "Tobah." She was cute, trying to get her to sit and wanted to feed her leaves, meanwhile giggling the whole time. The other two siblings like to talk about whatever--their mom seeing a garter snake, the cottontail bunny they found, the mole holes in their yard (which I think are actually coming into my yard but I have a "moler" in Tovah), other kids they know, etc. According to their mom, last week, when they found the cottontail bunny, they waited for me to come home all day, so they could ask me what they should do with it. I guess I'm now known as the "go to" animal person.