Entering the Holiday week

Visitors to my neighbors keep showing up.  I'm seeing more activity outdoors as the cars pile up on the street.

We had a cool summer morning on Sunday.  Cool enough to make wearing a sweatshirt comfortable.  

Ember and I went on a longer than usual walk.  Other dogs and people were out and about in the cool air, too.  She got pets even in the 6 a.m. hour and touched noses on leash with another leash walking dog.  Home safe, mom's breakfast, Dog TV calming her down, and into her crate at 7:30 a.m.

Mom then went about her cleanup routine:  poo patrol on the patio, take a load of laundry out of the dryer and upstairs to sort and fold.  Shake out the muddy mat.  Shake all the dirt off the tablecloth on the dining room table and smooth it out again.  

It was time to don the sweatshirt and go sit and read a chapter on the paver patio.  Peace!

Next was fixing the duct tape threshold that Ember had worried at.  I vacuumed the bits of carpet fragment that came with the morning's destruction.

The "ignore" / "game over" campaign continues, to stop the jumping up behavior related to Mommy, specifically.  "Mommy done", "Mommy not playing".  Knock wood, it seems to be working mostly.

Four more full days of "stay off the sod".  The back yard reopens on the 4th of July.  

I got up and took Ember for a water break and "last call" at 10 p.m. Saturday night.  She didn't need / want to pee and poo at all, but she really, really wanted that water break.  She went back to bed peacefully after a bit of time out on the patio.  There were a few fireworks booms in the distance, but she didn't alarm at any of them.

Sunday morning offered a peek of moon framed by the silhouette of the neighbor's tree beside their chimney in the 5 a.m. hour.  I breathed in the cool air and felt so at peace.  Ember laid at my feet, having let the kitty escape to his own space.

The detente of the deck.  Wary but respectful.

After puppy nap #1

We went on puppy leash walk #2.  Ember met Zack, the son of Fran, a gal I went through Jenny Craig with back in the day.  He lives just three houses away from me, and Fran comes over and helps with the yard work.  Zack gave Ember pets and belly rubs, and she was in heaven.

Then we walked the other way from walk #1, a shorter walk.  When we got back home, I realized I had marked down an event on my calendar.  There are only 3 days left for several petitions to gather signatures to get on the November ballot.  Three of these issues are ones I want to see on that ballot.  There was a drive-through petition signing starting at 11 a.m.

I asked Ember if she wanted to go on a car ride, and she got all excited.  She jumped right into the back seat and let me fasten her seat belt.  She settled down to the radio playing, and I cheerily speculated that maybe, just maybe, we were outgrowing the car sickness.

We got to the petition place, and I got out of the car.  It was cool enough that leaving the windows down and asking her to wait for mommy seemed reasonable.  I signed my name on all of the documents, then got back in the car.  I felt virtuous and good.  I drove us home, and into the garage.  I debated along the way stopping to get her a pup cup but did not do so.  I debated stopping at the lake to let her out to walk but did not do so.

Pulled into the garage, got myself together, and opened the back door.  Ember was being still, and let me unclip her seat belt, and then I noticed that she was in the process of... about to heave.  Sigh.  Breakfast chunks all over the place.  Poor little thing.  She didn't want to get out of the car, but when I told her "You're loose, jump down"... she did, stepping in the spilled tummy contents that made it to the garage floor.

On the way back into the house, she found the set aside child's toy, and picked it up to teethe on!  

I let her do so.  Poor baby!  Not too long after, she polished off every bite remaining in her food puzzle.  She also accepted three bites of my banana.  And she settled down into her crate for puppy nap #2.

Showing off my changing dental armaments, as I teethe!

I probably let her out of the crate "too soon".  She continued to nap for a while outside the crate, but the deal with outside the crate is that she can be distracted into wakefulness when she really needs more rest.

We went on a third leash walk, but I didn't turn on RunKeeper, so those who are tracking me there didn't "see" that walk.

After walk #3, Ember started tearing up the new duct tape.  I gave her the "leave it" extra high value treats to do so.  But she went right back at it.  I distracted her with fetch games.  But it seemed to me she was already hungry, so I fed her early.  

We watched a little dog trainer video on the couch in the family room, but when I got up to start cooking my supper, Ember started going after my feet and shoes and my pants legs.  I "fled" to my corner and stopped playing, but with cooking already started, I got her into her crate to start the evening puppy nap session before last call early, too.  By the time I finished my supper, she was snoring in the crate.

At this point, I'm about an hour ahead of the clock.  Sigh.  I'm thinking today's puppy handling mistake was not accounting for "coming off" of the high of Saturday with the big run with Carl.  I should have insisted on 3-hour crate naps, not 2-hour ones.  I don't know if adding more excitement (i.e. a stop for a pup cup or for an extra out of the car experience) would have helped, if in fact I'm right about tired, overexcited puppy.

Time to take a breath, and survive the evening/night.

Life is good.  Spark on!

Sometimes the silence is wonderful

 

Ember was in the midst of her morning crate time when this photo was snapped out on my paver patio.  She went in at about 7:30 a.m., having had her first bathroom break, her breakfast, and her earliest walk of this Saturday.  I cooked and ate my own breakfast, and she was a good girl while I did, puppy-napping on the kitchen floor.

I put her in for this normal routine, did my poo patrol, and let The Prisoner back inside to his area of the house.  I then headed to the grocery store to pick up some needed items.  I loaded a few bottles of water into the car against the dog park trip later in the day.

As you can see in the photo, I was home again still relatively early in the day. The sun was not yet threatening to round the corner of the paver patio.  I was sitting and reading for a while, then I puttered with weeding for a bit.  

Six days of "stay off the sod" left!  But who's counting?

Play date at the dog park

As soon as I mentioned a ride in the car, Ember was very much "down" for this adventure.  This gives me hope for the future of car rides.  We played a little "by the trainer's rules" fetch while we waited for time to leave.

It was a beautiful day, and it wasn't "too hot" yet, but it was warm enough to make us take the shady trail for the two dark-coated canines.  Ember showed off her retriever instincts by taking immediately to the water (yes, that's her in the photo).  At one point she fell over the bank into the stream and surprised herself (but don't worry, did not hurt herself).  The stream bank was quite steep where she fell, but Lacey managed to coach her back to a place where the it was shallower.  Ember dog-paddled like the best of them, and had a great time.

Carl also had a great time, and was a good foster-doggie-daddy, finding a ball, and showing Ember how to drop it in the stream to go swim after it.

The mythical son "rode herd" on the two frolicking dogs; his wife took videos that made us all smile, and I just grabbed a couple of still shots, but mostly kept an eye out for when she would drop a poo and I would need to clean up.

We were at the park for about an hour when it became clear that Ember was finally running out of steam.  She came to me for her freeze-dried chicken heart treats.  I clipped on her leash. Carl wanted in on the treats, too, thus he was also put back on leash and everybody headed home to baths and long naps.

I let Ember nap before her bath.  When she came out of her "den" about 3 p.m. it was time to test the theory that the "new" shower would or would not work to wash the dog.  Clearly, I need more practice, as every square inch of that bathroom was drenched, and I'm sure the dog was not thoroughly rinsed... but at least she doesn't smell like the creek anymore.

Interesting note:  Ember did manage to make me bleed again, and some of my blood ended up on the wall.  After I was bandaged up, Ember trotted up the stairs and looked at me, and looked at the blood smears, bringing my need to clean it up to attention!  Good girl, Ember, and we got the job done before it became a permanent stain!

Then my "little one" wanted to go out for a leash walk and was rewarded with attention from other humans.  She loves that!  The same young men who fawned over her last week were out in their driveway.  Belly rubs and ear scratches and lots of "pretty dog" compliments.  Then the family that used to mow my grass was out in their driveway with their 4th of July company, and we stopped to chat.  Ember got more compliments for her behavior while the humans talked about the yard improvements going on over at my house.  The neighbors all seem quite pleased that I've done this. I'm sure it helps their own homes' values.

Miss Emmy is now bedded down until "last call".  I would say that both Ember and her Mommy have had a good day, here in Emberville!

Life is Good!  Spark on!

Weekend and Holiday are coming on quickly

Some non-dog stuff

The Prisoner got his pest control medication on Thursday.  He pretty much lets me do anything I need to do to take care of him.  I no longer need to de-burr him, as the weeds that produced the burrs have been taken out by the home improvement projects.  

My garage door keypad wasn't working on Wednesday afternoon when Alicia was here.  Turns out it wasn't the battery.  I changed those but it did not fix the problem.  I was proud of myself for re-setting the programming, using a broom handle to hit the buttons in the overhead door opener as directed by the instructions on the keypad's lid.  It works again.  Guess all those years in IT and as a curious person who reads directions does pay off.

I sat out on my paver patio for ten minutes Thursday morning, reading.  Alicia has lent me another book, "Nothing to Fear" by one of our favorite TikTok creators, Julie McFadden ("Hospice Nurse Julie").  

It's a very calming read.  Our mother underwent hospice care in her final week of life, back in 1996.  She knew she was dying, didn't much care about the specific disease, but wanted pain managed during her passage.  That was our introduction to the wonderful work these people do.  Mom was not afraid to talk about end of life, and the conundrum of having a church that believed that "sin, disease and death are not real".  And yet, everyone exits.  Hadn't seen an ascension yet.

I got the estimate for the fix on the puddle forming on my sidewalk, and it's not cheap.  But unlike some other parts of my yard projects, this one rises above a "want" to a "need".  This cannot be allowed to continue this way.  So I signed off on it.  Sigh.  More disruption in the future, and it would not bother me if it was a couple of months off, to be honest.  I have one more week of the "three times a day" watering to do, and that's when it is at its worst.  And of course if Ember gets into it and makes a muddy mess.  But this was supposed to be the non-dog section of the blog!

Weather

Friday morning the rain woke me, and I crept downstairs to turn off the automatic sprinkler system before the 4 a.m. scheduled time.  If it's been falling from the sky for several hours, no need to overdo.  I turned it back on automatic about 8 a.m., as it didn't look like it would rain more for a while.  Surprise... about 2 p.m., we got another shower.

It was windy for our pre-6 a.m. walkies, which of complicates things.  Wind carries scent, and makes objects like flags and tree branches move.  It causes some chimes to tinkle, too.  Things that can both attract or spook puppies.  Ember did pretty well this morning.  I think it was our longest distance leash walk, yet.  She picked up a branch to carry, and that kept us moving for I think about 4 blocks.  When she's carrying something, it minimizes other distractions.

Ember is claiming and digging in the new sand.  It's not terribly deep before you hit black dirt, by the way.  It took both the freeze dried chicken hearts and the promise of cheese in the house to blast her out of this particular "new" attraction.

A hot, muggy day, even if 13 degrees cooler than the hottest day of the week, calls for "iced water, please".  And for ice cubes melting on the deck. Ember came inside after that to watch mommy cook eggs and potatoes.  She got a little of the potato, unseasoned, mashed up in her new puzzle dish.

Kibble and mash, anyone?

I haven't made up the rest of the ingredients yet, but I have boiled potatoes and hard boiled eggs ready if I want to do a small batch of potato salad as a festive treat for myself.

Life is good.  Spark on!

Lovable teething puppy

 

What a difference a day makes!  Mommy preparing for it helps immensely!

Thursday morning started much like many others.  Let the cat in and fed him.  Got the dog up for pee, poo, and breakfast.  I wonder if the fact that I did not put her in the harness when first out made the difference, but she did not go after me like she did the day before.  Perhaps she's just feeling better in the teeth?

We were out for first walk at 5:53 a.m.  On this walk, my luck with avoiding the squirrel tail ran out.  I thought when it "disappeared" from the spot I expected it to be in that someone had collected it and put it in the trash.

Not so!  It had just migrated to the other side of the sidewalk.  Ember was clearly following a scent of some sort going back and forth and up and down the sidewalk, and found it!  Not only did she find it, she started chewing on it, and honest to gosh, I believe she swallowed it.

Oh, well.  Extra fiber and adventures in figuring out "what's that in the poop?"  

But back to preparations:  last night after she was tucked in, I went out and discarded all the fragments of cycle pad that she had chewed off, and strategically placed the "giant teething toy" a.k.a. a 20 year old indestructible garbage can along the fence.

This made for fine large muscle exercise as well as teething.  

I got an email from the landscaper that he was sending someone out to fill the sandbox Thursday, so I waved off the personal training session, since when the landscapers come, it's usually around the same time as the session.  I did not want to miss them, because the "little leftover bits" are usually the ones I'm most particular about.

They were tasked with filling the sandbox, "stabilizing" the steps from the patio to the yard (there's a wobbly one there), and fixing the splintered gate post.

Graham informed me that there is another bit I didn't have on my list:  they need to extend one of the downspouts out front so it goes beyond the retaining wall into the yard, not into the river rock bed.

I also went through the exercise of thinking about Ember's reluctance to eat her regular meals, and started using the new puzzle feeder strategically as well.  I placed a few treats among the regular kibble, so that when she searches for the treats, she realizes this other stuff isn't so bad, either, and it fills the belly.

I now have a nice, filled sandbox.  The one step is still wobbly, and the men left to get the downspouts (one for me, one for another client), saying they will be back to finish.  I'll be on the lookout.for their return, to see if they know that step is still wobbly!

Ember was very happy that they came, because it meant extra attention to her.  

We also made some progress on the fetch/wait games the dog trainer gave me to work with her on.  I was so proud when without leash attached, she did the "wait" for the tennis ball as cued.  Then "oops", this only worked when I rolled it in the same direction/room we'd trained with before.  Dogs do not always generalize their training to other locations / environments.

A little later, we did the game with her Holey Roller out on the deck and the patio a little later, and it only took two "wait" with foot on leash for her to generalize it for that toy.

She hadn't seen the Holey Roller in a while, as it was one of the toys that got her SO excited the teeth came out, and Mommy had put it away in self-preservation mode.  But in a brainwave, Mommy wanted to toss the holey roller into the trash can, to simulate an agility tunnel, and see what she would do.  She did great, by the way.

Speaking of agility, next week the dog trainers are taking July 3rd (Wednesday) off, and I didn't want her to miss a week of training, so we are going to celebrate the holiday week by having her do a "Puppy Agility" class on Tuesday evening, and the "Puppy Plus" class will come along just fine on the 10th.

So life is good in Emberville this fine Thursday. It is not as hot as it was early in the week, and it looks as though we might get a little rain.  We heard some fireworks about 10 p.m. last night, but Ember was in her crate for the night already at that point, and unphased.

Spark on, my friends! 

An attempt to return to something resembling "normal"

 

On Tuesday, I had my first session with the personal trainer (for me, not for Ember) since late May.  

Tuesday morning, I wore a different pair of shoes.  The soles had started to come away from the uppers on the pair I had most recently used as my "regular" dog-walking shoes, so I put on a different pair.

Well!  Ember decided that she needed to treat these new shoes the way she has every "change".  Nibble, untie, etc.  I distracted her, pointing out that Mommy needs her feet to move.

Treats.  Sigh.  

Anyway, the little puppy who isn't so little any more got a bit mouthy.  I extracted my right wrist from her mouth, reminding her that this is my treat hand, and if she wants to be fed, Mommy needs her hands, too!

Of course she was hungry.  But she wasn't showing much interest in her normal food.  We had at least an hour before it would be socially acceptable to take her walking in the neighborhood, and of course the backyard is still off limits for 10 more days.  I explained that to the puppy, also, that we had to wait for the sun.  She decided at this point that kibble wasn't as bad as all that.

I'm still working on the "mommy doesn't play that kind of game" theory, and I may be imagining it but Tuesday morning it seemed to give me a glimmer of hope that progress is being made.  Yes, she made mommy bleed again, but she calmed and sat to get my attention (and a treat).

Finally, the sun caught up with us, and at 5:50 a.m. we were out in the lovely dawn (photo at top) and got a slow start while she chewed on the last remaining fragment of that blasted McDonald's plastic cup and a half block later while she watched with fascination an ant colony on the sidewalk and into the grass.

When we got home, she was a little hungrier for her kibble and we got enough in her that Mommy's not worried she's going to starve.  

So, lather, rinse, repeat.  Each day has its own challenges.  

Wednesday morning, she came out of the crate as "teething puppy".  She started tearing up the protective mat I used to put my bicycle trainer on.  She found the door to my bedroom not latched, and pushed it open.  I was alert enough to notice at the moment, and went up to catch her in the closet, pulling a package of TP out.  All rolls saved, thanks to the "highest value" recall treat in my pouch:  freeze-dried chicken hearts, chopped up in advance.

Before our second walk, she got her paws up on the buffet and shredded something (not quite sure what it was, card from the mail that I saved for some reason?)  She got a tea candle after our second walk, and chewed it to oblivion.  I mean, this is what she does.

BUT it was Wednesday, and the beauty of Wednesday is Puppy Class at 11 a.m.  She did well, in fact, and I let her stay for part of puppy play time.  I pulled her out just in time:  she pooped next to the car, in the parking lot!  Home, she's in a puddle of puppy in the kitchen, resting.

Looking forward to Alicia's visit this afternoon, as that will further enrich Ember's life, and hopefully that leads to a better behaved puppy through the evening hours!

Thursday is another trainer day for me.  The attempt to establish "normal" again goes on!  Saturday my son has proposed a meet-up at a local dog run.  Give us extra hands for Ember's recall, and a mentor dog in Carl, because she'll follow him when my son calls Carl back.  Anyway, that's plan A.

Life is good.  Spark on.  

No longer calling Ember a "demon puppy"

Demon?  Or just toddler? 

On the advice of Susan Garrett (championship agility dog trainer), the language that I use in referring to my dog can have an impact on how we related to one another.  I've consciously decided to no longer refer to her as a "demon puppy", even when she's not doing what I'd like her to do.

This is a smart puppy.  She learns even when one does not intend to teach her.  Sometimes I need to turn myself on my head to determine what it was I did that led her to a conclusion.  But there is puppy logic behind whatever that conclusion may be.

Monday morning when she was all over me with her mouth, including teeth, she wasn't being "demon puppy".  I eventually concluded that she was "hungry puppy" who hadn't been eating her regular food.  She was "bored puppy" who is no longer intrigued by her food puzzles and unwilling to put the effort into eating from them.

I have pitched the first snuffle mat, because she had torn it up.  She doesn't eat out of her regular bowl. She picks it up and scatters the kibble all over the floor but doesn't eat it.

I had given her so many of the "higher value" treats over the course of the prior 4-walk day that she was not satisfied with the kibble.  Kind of like feeding a kid chips all day and then expecting them to be happy with oatmeal the next morning.

Add "what has she learned from the various things I've done in training her"?  She knows that when mom turns her back to "ignore" and Ember escalates by jumping up and nipping at mom, mom will scatter treats all over the place.  Recently, I took to ceasing that behavior (on my part) and scattering her regular kibble instead.  She jumps and mouths me some more.

She's also "frustrated puppy" when mom won't let her dig in other people's yards, etc. (You might call that willful puppy, or "being a brat.")  She could be thirsty puppy if she got too distracted by the cat or a bug, or something and failed to drink when she had water right there.  Or tired puppy who just doesn't know she needs a nap!

Bottom line, as when a human baby cries, or when a human toddler throws a fit, a puppy acting up may just be her way of trying to get her needs (or wants) met.  It's up to the hu-mom to figure out which is which, and what's safe for her.

Monday report

Monday it was just too blasted HOT outside, so some of our normal activities were curtailed.  We did a nice long "parallel nap" in the heat of the afternoon.  Siestas were invented for a reason, people!

New giant plaything donated by mom.  I had been weeding and using this as the can, putting it under the deck, but its presence attracted attention from the little one.  During her next nap/time-out, I emptied it and left it rolling around for her to chew, push, balance on, etc.

She plays for a little, then we go back inside to collapse on the cool kitchen/dining room tile.  Cooling breaks, short outdoor play periods.

We did go for a "poo walk" at 1:18 p.m. in the heat of the day and I almost cheered when she dropped her plop in our own yard.  By 2 p.m. we had hit the triple digits.  It eventually topped out officially at 102℉ out there!

One last outing and Ember is tucked in Monday evening.  The pool, that we got out to relieve the heat has been drained and returned to the garage.  The garbage can she used as a teething tool has been put "out of sight" for overnight, too.  We survived!

Life is good.  Spark on!

Summertime

On Saturday, memories were triggered when the tinkly music of this vehicle started entering my little neighborhood.  I had just had a popsicle, as it was quite warm out.  I was not tempted but I did wonder about prices.  Back when I was a kid, a dime was considered expensive for a frozen treat.

Sunday morning's "long walk" started early, at 5:52 a.m.  I thought, "this early, there won't be as much traffic on the busy streets".  The plan was to take her to within a house of the busy street, put her in a sit, and watch the traffic go by, treating all the time, to desensitize.

As is often the case with puppies, things did not go quite according to plan.  There were sprinkler's (one of her nemeses) running in the last yard before the busy street.  We got as far as the "sit" cue, and a couple of treats before a vehicle passing by on the busy street at speed made her jump... and she jumped right into the spray of the sprinklers, which further spooked her.  The remainder of the walk was spent getting her from jumping up on me to a calm "sit", and tossing treats in the direction I wanted her to move.  When we got back to our "normal" block that we go around, things started to get better, but she was still fairly jumpy the rest of the way home.  Sigh.  As with weight management, even when things don't go to plan, they usually go better if one has a plan, than if one doesn't bother with it.

Home safe, no new wounds.  Full of treats, calming "Dog TV" music on the TV.  Sleepy puppy napping on the floor.

Walk #2 began at 8:04 a.m., just a couple of hours later.  Lots more activity during this walk, in terms of other people and other animals out and about.  A nice lady interrupted her own walk to say hi.  A pair of adult/puppy dogs walked by, and Ember thought it would be a good idea to follow them.  We did so for a while, before the next distraction.

Pulling up some carpet nails earned her the next "time out". While she was napping, I deconstructed the X-pen and tested out how it would fit into my car's hatch.  I have determined this is a two-person job when it comes to "real" deployment.  Someone needs to control the furry beast while all the human loading / unloading and construction / deconstruction take place.  More hands the better.

After that particular time-out, I attempted to do the trainer "play" exercises, i.e. a little tug, letting the puppy win, and the fetch with a "hold" enforced by stepping on the leash until the little one quits lunging for the toy.  The actual play was fine, but it triggered the "let's go for it" jumping up and mouthing mom's hands and forearms after mom considered the session over and done with.

Back into time out.  At noonish I got her out and we fixed lunch salad for me, and a few treats for her.  She got two slices of cucumber, quartered, a grape tomato, one mushroom slice, and about 1/8 of a cup of cottage cheese.  Then she had some nonfat Greek yogurt on her licki-mat.

I interrupted eating my own salad to take her out, as she was asking.  She pooped but only peed a little bit.  I know her tank is bigger than that.  Back inside eating my own salad, I discovered a puddle would explain why her piddle was so small outside.  

I would have let her stay napping outside the crate had she not decided she needed to steal the cleaning paper towels.  So... she was back in again.

The day proceeded this way.  She got hold of a telephone directory from the shelf I'd been meaning to clear since she shredded my One Year Bible (was that Friday?)  Didn't get it cleared in time.  She made a HUGE mess.

So... back in the den while mom not only cleaned up the destroyed phone book but cleared the entire bookcase.  I also put away the pebble jar calendar.  It would have been just a matter of time before she got to it.

By then it was suppertime, but she never really finished her breakfast.  She was stuffed full of treats from the walks (and the panic on the walks).  And she had several dollops of whipped cream associated with bribing her into the crate over and over again.

Is it any wonder with that kind of diet that her final two poops were soupy?  I dosed her with Kaopectate, to help her get through the night, I hope.  I went back down to put in my eye drops.  That's when she gets "last call".  Nothing.  Went out, panted on the patio, no pee or poo at all.  Looks like I'll be up at midnight to give her another chance.

The cat stayed in for the night.  He stayed out all day in the heat, being pursued at times by the dog on her leash.

Monday morning picks up where Sunday left off

Puppy with more energy than she knows what to do with, not interested in "regular" food, etc.  Mommy's in for a full day, with the temperature predicted to top the century mark, Fahrenheit.

Sunday afternoon, Ember dug in the puddle's mud, and tore up a phone book.  

Monday morning, she started working on the duct tape on the threshold to the master bedroom, and discovered the door wasn't properly latched.  She found a great prize in the closet (also door not closed!)  

Mommy rescued this much.  It could have been much worse.

We went on our morning walk after I got about a cup of her breakfast into her by various means.  Distractions on the walk, of course.  Why is it that people throw things out of their cars as they drive down the street?

She picked this discarded McDonald's plastic cup up on Sunday morning walk #1.

S

Same cup was there Monday morning, although already mostly destroyed before I got her past it Sunday!

Monday morning first puppy nap started about 7:30 a.m.  Mommy went on poo patrol, weeded some, and came back inside to clean up this morning's TP episode.  The TP made me wonder if she's in puppy adolescence just yet... remember your high school days?

Regardless, Life is Good!  Spark on!

X-Pen

 I finally set it up, as a test run.

It's like pitching a tent.  I have set it up in a part of the back yard, on the part that is NOT new sod.  It took me a bit, but I was able to set it up by myself.

I expect I won't go out to Sunday morning's lake gather. It's a 27-minute drive, per Google, for this weekend's planned spot.  Ember might actually be able to handle that, if she's not too full, and is tired enough to just chill out. 

However, at this point, I would want to take the X-Pen along as a place for her to be while the people are doing their thing.  It's new.  She hasn't even tried it out yet.  I haven't even taken it down and measured it for if it would fit in the hatch of the car.  I think we have a few more steps of prep work before taking this tool to a park!

I have left the X-pen in the backyard overnight and plan to introduce Ember to it after our morning walk.  The grass will be wet, it will be cool, etc.

On Saturday, I did the "ice on the deck" thing again after I'd set up the X-pen.  Have to have a way to keep Ember interested and cool enough to focus on the task at hand (pee and poo).  After that was taken care of Ember was content to nap on the cool tile floor for a while.

The peanut butter flavored "teething ring" treat was not in favor for about a week.  Saturday she was OK with it.  How frequently a treat is offered is part of its value.  Which is why things like "tripe", "chicken livers", "venison", etc. become the highest valued rewards in training treats.

Currently, the favored lure for willingly / joyfully entering her crate is whipped cream.  I just squirt about a tablespoon onto her Kong or Pupsickle, that's filled with its regular stuff, put it in the back of the crate, and in she goes!

Whew! Ember demanded a 4th walk Saturday, telling me, effectively, she did not care how hot it was outside, she needed to get out, already!  We walked at 6 a.m., 9:09 a.m., 1:51 p.m., and 5:01 p.m.  I have to be careful to keep these short, because whether she thinks ahead to the availability of fresh, clean water or not, her Mommy does!

The memory card for the camera had arrived by the time we headed out for that 5:01 p.m. walk, so there was a game of "search" the treats on the front porch while mommy saved it from Ember's curiosity!  After the walk, and after Ember went into her "mommy's suppertime" crate time, Mommy looked up the installation instructions for the memory card for that camera, and went downstairs to complete that task!  Yay!  I now have access (should I ever need it) to recordings from both front and back cameras.

Other Saturday Ember activities:  

• grooming the cat until the cat would not take it anymore!
• Playing fetch in the house with mommy
• Turning up our nose at the food puzzle games
• Accepting kibble fed by hand by her mommy, as though she was a little puppy.  Sometimes I think she just wants the comfort of still being "the baby".
• And of course, puppy naps.  They are so important to healthy growth.

Life is Good.  Spark on!

The flexible and creative games we play with our canines

 

I came up with the magic bowl game because Ember stole a broom and dustpan out of my supply spot.

The magic bowl game in action.  It doesn't have to be flat on the ground to be a "magic" bowl.  If it's in any way able to hold a few kibbles, the magic can happen.

But when it's upside down, the bowl has lost its magic, and no more kibble falls into it.

When she's distracted by something else, I put the magic bowl atop the refrigerator, until the next time it's needed.

Also, who needs a formal "tug toy" when you have the dog towels?  These came into play Friday morning when Ember started chewing on the Muddy Mat by the back door.  I swapped her for a towel, made it enticing by playing a little bit of tug, then letting her win.

I found another fragment of baby tooth in the mat by the front door this morning, too.  

Permission to geek out on dog training

Last night as I was getting ready for bed I flipped on a YouTube by Susan Garrett, a Canadian dog trainer with champion agility dogs as her specialty.  In it she said if there was ONE thing you could do to make your training more effective, would you do it?  Well, what would that one thing be, Susan?  My ears perked up when she said, "Most people don't want to do it", and then revealed the big secret:  RECORD KEEPING.

If you want to make much more progress, you must track what's happening, when, the context, etc.  This will help you analyze what might be triggering your dog, and give you a much greater chance of being able to overcome whatever the problem might be.  "Aha!" my geek brain chirps in, "Permission to geek out."

Today I started "Ember's Training Log".  Beware, world, the Geek has been awakened.

Ember can now reach up over the lip of the kitchen sink and look down into it.  Yikes!  And she can reach (easily) the third shelf of the bookcase.  I had cleared the bottom two shelves, but today while my attention was on something other than my puppy... Ember declared herself an atheist.  She pulled a "One Year Bible" off the shelf and began ripping pages out of it.

Oh, well, I wanted a different Bible, anyway.  Of course in the process of "being naughty" (and don't think she doesn't know this is naughty)... she also peed on my carpet (see why I was glad I didn't replace it yet?)

Into the crate she went while I cleaned up both kinds of mess.  Sigh.  She stayed in for a while, and I did other things.

But eventually you have to get her out again.  I took her on a car ride to go pick up a prescription of mine.  When we came home, she spotted a discarded child's toy that someone had left in my yard.  I had moved it into the garage, thinking to donate it somewhere.  Well, Ember was all over that rollable toy.

She dragged it into the living room and treated it like a teething toy.  And as long as one is being naughty... I enticed her away from it with some treat or other, and as she was moving toward the dining room, she just squatted and started to pee!

Dang, girl!  I thought we were past this stage!  I can just imagine her doggy little brain thinking "In for a penny, in for a pound".

Back into the crate, little one!  I left her napping there for an hour or so.

Then I got her up and decided to do "science experiments for puppies" on the back deck.  My goal was to keep her outside until we did BOTH kinds of business!  Enough of this cleaning up after!

I grabbed the box of ice cubes from the freezer, and started putting them in the water bowl on the deck, and for good measure just scattered several of them on the deck floor.

About 1/3 of the deck was shaded at this point in the day, and having the ice there did make a difference.  We did stay out long enough for the stated goal to be realized.

Then we came back inside and played the trainer's version of "fetch" / "wait" / "OK, go get it".  At least as well as Mommy's coordination and Ember's energy level could pull it off.

By 3 p.m. she was tired again and napping on the cool tile floor.  Yes!

Joining the "smart house" world

Pretty much since hanging out with my brother's daughter in 2019 when he passed, I have been acutely aware that I'm behind the times.  Seeing how LeanJean6 (from Spark) / Lakeside Lady (here on Blogger) has all her place wired by her son so her children can monitor how she and her Himself are faring, no matter where said son (the pilot) might have flown, I've wondered about putting something similar here.

I mean, I don't even have a peephole in my front door, and would have to go to the Bay Window to see who's on the porch.  So when the motion sensor light fixture on the back deck failed on me, Bruce the electrician helped me choose a fixture to replace it.

Bruce did not come today to install it, a different Josh came (different from the one that did the tub/shower conversion).  The advantage of getting a different guy to come do the install?  I had the benefit of his assessment of whether he could install the doorbell (with camera) on the front door, too.

So now, I'm wired.  Or my house is.  It wasn't nearly as expensive as I feared it might be.  I was able to "share" my camera views with my son and daughter in law... we shall see how that works.  They have to download the app to access them.

Here I am, accessing the app while standing on the back deck!  I had to order a memory card for this particular camera, but the app lets me "take a photo", and that's how this image was captured.

Side note:  One thing the security cameras are pointing out to me is how often I'm bending over/looking down.  Of course there is the lure of a puppy to pay attention to and I am looking down at her, but the posture was a "have to watch that" moment for me.

Life continues to be good, even when the puppy takes it into her little brain to be naughty.  Spark on!

In case you were wondering why Chewy boxes are so apparently flimsy

 

Ember, in demon-puppy mode:  Good stuff came in this box, I can smell it!

Mom, choosing my battles: The contents have been put away, have at it, destructo-pup!

The was on our porch step Thursday mid-morning, already looking a bit beat up, as we were leaving for a walk.  Took a bit of persuasion to get the box inside the door as we left.  When we got home, it was full on "attack the box" mode.

She tore enough of it open to grab one item out.  Turned out to be a bag of 3 tennis balls, but it was in a plastic bag.  I let her worry at that while I rescued the rest of the contents, which included training treats, a replacement leash, and a pair of "over the headrest" doggy seat belts for use in the car.

Then I dropped treats to distract her while I retrieved and unwrapped the tennis balls.  When she swiped the empty box off the counter, I decided to let her destroy it.  Face it, a professional dog trainer I am not.  Working out emotions is something both humans and canines need to do.

Once the box was pretty much shredded, Ember collapsed on the floor.  She's been exercised!  Long walk followed by the battle of the box.

Private Training Session:  what did we learn?

The goal I stated was that I wanted to learn how to safely play with my puppy, who is growing so fast and is total muscle!  So, the trainer took her in hand, left her on leash and got her to act the way she does at home when I try to play with her.  

So, we now have a script to follow:  calm puppy.  Get out treats, sit, treat, toss toy, "wait" (while stepping on leash so she can't get the toy), when she ceases to lunge for the toy but is calm, "OK" to release her to "go get it".  Lather, rinse, repeat this game.  It's a mind game for her, not just body exercise.

Try with different toys.

Then there is the tug toy, tug for a short while, then let the puppy win and play on her own with it... totally OK.

Scatter of treats to get the toy back is OK.

Bought tools:  a 16 foot long line to work on the fetch games, as well as later for recall.  Three different "highest value" treats - venison, wild boar, and chicken livers.  To be used ONLY on the fetch games and recall exercises.

OK then!  Ready for the next cycle of puppy training!

Also, tips on length of time in crate.  She should be able to handle 3 daytime hours in the crate, while I do human things, including shopping, trainer workout, etc.

So much about these private training sessions is reinforcement and encouragement for ME, as a hu-mom.

Once home, total wipeout of the puppy... she slept on the kitchen/dining room floor.  Got up to take a leash walk in the 89 degree F heat, then had her supper.

I told you she was teething:  first baby tooth fragment found in the Chewy Box debris!

Life is good.  Spark on to a wonderful Friday!

The Prisoner's vacation is over

This was actually a pretty sweet little "grooming" of the Prisoner as administered by Ember.  "My favorite interactive plaything is back, now I'm home," she seemed to say.  The mouthing was gentle, and only at one point later did the kitty even turn his head and give Ember "a look".  Then I told Ember to "let the kitty get away", and with a little leash pressure, she did.

Ember wasn't hungry for her supper, but then she'd had treats on two walks, plus three chewy kinds of treats, a whipped cream kong bribe, etc.  No wonder "kibble" isn't terribly exciting.

After the "pack walk" we went on with Aunt Alicia, Alicia went off to her own pack (including Benji) and Ember napped in her den for a couple of hours.  I got her out at 6 p.m. and she then consented to nibble on the kibble, but she still didn't eat the whole portion.  I then put her back to bed only to go down to give her a potty break before 11 p.m.  I was willing to bet she'll be plenty hungry for breakfast.

This turned out not to be the case.  I think being boarded taught her a couple of things.  One was timing of the meals.  I think they feed at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.  That means that I've been feeding her earlier than the times they have set.  Yesterday afternoon, she wasn't ready.  And this morning, she wasn't ready, either.

Ember wanted to go out for her walk at about 5:30 a.m.  I told her we have to wait for the sun to come up.  We have to wait until at least 6 a.m.  I do like going between 6 and 6:30 in the morning, because it's just the garbage men, us, and the occasional person who works early enough they are leaving their house in that time frame.  She gets lots of chances to sniff, she is not distracted when I cue her to "leave it" or "leave the human things alone".

We had one incident of teeth before the walk this morning, based on Mommy not being dextrous enough with the harness snap.  Sigh.  But we got calmed down, and after a ten-minute timeout, we got out for the walk.

Thursday morning, based on the Wednesday afternoon experience of her shredding a styrofoam cup that someone had tossed out of a car window (people!  Geesh!), I took her across the street.  Unfortunately, on the other side of the street, she found a Monster (the drink) aluminum can in the bushes, and got it into her mouth before I could pull her away and cue "leave it".  

Let us be brutally honest:  I don't have good enough treats in my goodie bag to make her drop that big a prize in her value hierarchy.

She immediately looked for the fastest route home, wanting to return with her prize.  I humored her, but had to enforce the "If you pull, Mommy has to stop" rule multiple times before she decided to follow Mommy's pace the rest of the way home.  Even so, in the house, it took about 3/4 of an ounce of cheese to retrieve the can from her.

I cooked my own breakfast, hand-feeding her enough kibble to fill her belly.  She'd had so many treats she wasn't going after the puzzle dish at all, but she happily took kibble "breakfast" from mommy's hand, even doing her "stations of the sit" cues for it.  Then she collapsed in a heap on the kitchen floor and I put on her Dog TV gentle music, and we have a puppy nap!

The hardest time to entice her into the crate is for the morning nap.  But once she's there, she settles down.  I left for the grocery store and she was snoring when I got back.  So I did some human stuff, quietly, including typing this up.  And now I hear her stirring, so I'll wrap it up!

Something she learned at boarding:

• Sometimes one doesn't have to "work" for meals, they just come in a bowl!

Life is good!  Keep on Sparking!