Manipulating the environment

Did I mention that trying to "manipulate the environment" so that Ember doesn't rehearse undesirable behaviors has caused me to try to be better at cleaning up around the kitchen?

In the time of the diarrhea nights, I discovered the ants having a party over by the toaster, where I had left a knife that I had used to spread peanut butter on Ember's bedtime treat.

Yikes!  Out came the RAID.  And then of course the Clorox wipes.  Poisons, I know... maybe that will keep Ember from being attracted, too, but my concern for her not going after those counters knowing that I've dosed them with ant-killer also rises.

Between that, and her ability to reach farther, her persistent in going after environmental reinforcement and... the ants... yep, putting more stuff away, tossing more stuff out, and wiping down with disinfectant wipes more frequently.

The ants stayed away for a day or so, then showed up on the counter the other side of the stove, and it got a similar treatment.  The spice jars, salt and pepper shakers, etc. all got moved into cupboards.  The mini step-on can replaced a plastic cup that had been used as my "coffee bar" disposal for sweetener packet wrappers, etc.

A couple of unused tubs of coffee got straight out pitched (been five years since I used the coffee in those tubs).  The three bags I still sometimes use went into a cupboard.  Even the replacement TV remote now lives alternatively in a drawer or a cupboard, depending on where I'm putzing in the house.

I have never been a good housekeeper.  But for the safety of a puppy... I'm trying harder!

And I have put a third X-Pen on order to protect the A/C and its pipes and wires!

The appliance repair guy called and asked if he could come early.  He had a cancellation.  I said "sure" and scrambled to contain Ember.  He diagnosed the issue as a crack/break in the bottom spray arm.  Part still available but they have to ship it from a non-local warehouse.

As soon as they get the part in, he can fit me in for the fix which should not take long.  Total cost is estimated at about a quarter of what a new machine would be.  I approved the fix, he went on his way, and Ember got her leash walk.  

I shall be washing dishes by hand until the repair is made. It is a significant leak.

Speaking of leaks, Nate, the irrigation guy from Woody's, made it over to check the puddle from yesterday's post.  Sure enough, it's the main line.  Ember likely broke a seal with her adventures on Wednesday.  It could be it had been leaking the entire time, and her attentions merely surfaced the problem.  If true, that would help to explain my last gargantuan water bill.

He will put me on the schedule for early next week to carve up enough of the patio to find the leak.

Never rains but it pours, eh, fellow homeowners?

When Ember went down for puppy nap #2, I went out to do the grocery shopping and got my flu shot while I was at it.  Two weeks down the road, I'll try to get Prevnar 20 on board, and two weeks beyond that, the most recent Covid version.

She's still obsessed with both of the no-no's outside the house.  Must warn the kids before they take her on Sunday.  Carl got in trouble at a similar puppy stage for chewing up the internet cable at his house.

After her supper and I got Ember tucked in, I went out and again addressed the long cable.

Yesterday:  

Today, I removed the loopy long cable TV cable.  Or rather, I moved it.  It was too attractive a nuisance for the dog.  

It no longer stretches essentially the length of the house but is temporarily tucked into the window of the "playhouse".  I need to get some longer staples for the staple gun to secure it on its pathway.

Life is good.  Keep Sparking!

Meanwhile, across town

The kids had a new respite foster visit over the weekend.  This was a different six-year-old boy from the last respite visit. It was a shorter weekend; in that two birth family visits had been scheduled for the boy. 

From the photos (that I cannot share), it looks like a fine time was had by all.  By Sunday, the youngster had started to call my son "Dad".

In the hours and couple of days after the visit, son and DIL were approached about their willingness to take this child for a longer time.  Since this would involve separating siblings into separate placements, there are some foster system hoops to be jumped through before the whole plan can be approved, but they have been approved to provide respite for the week of Sunday the 22nd to Friday morning the 27th.

On Sunday the 22nd, we have plans to do a "dog swap", from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  We'll meet at a dog-park, let them play together, then I'll bring grand-dog Carl home with me, and Ember will go home with my son and daughter in law.

Their foster respite child will be arriving around 3:30 p.m.  I will deliver Carl back to them at their house, meet the foster kiddo, and collect Ember.  That's the current plan, anyway.  Then they will have their week as parents to a school child during his school week.

At the end of that week, on Friday morning, I will take on Carl and have a two-dog household for three days while "the kids" and DIL's parents go to a family wedding a state away.  Wish me luck, everyone!

Wednesday's happenings

It was dental appointment day for me on Wednesday.  Pronounced as stable.  Heard about dentist's husband's upcoming run of the New York City Marathon.  I have been living vicariously on her reports of his running for five years now.  

I also learned that my periodontist will be retiring and closing up shop next March.  I have an appointment with her in February, so I'll have my last visit with her then.  The general plan is to transition to just the general dentist (the one with the marathon running hubby) but keep the 5-month cleaning rotation.

Ember has recovered from the runny poos and was full of herself today.  She attacked behind the A/C, stripping off some of the early repairs I paid for in her youngest puppy days.  I had been blocking the access with garbage cans for a while, then she seemed to be ignoring it as "white noise" for a while, and suddenly, the past couple of days... it's back on her radar.

The second thing she went after was a conduit that held cable

and telephone wires going up the side of the house!  Both photos show after repairs were attempted by the homeowner, with assistance from my sister.  Sometimes the blessing is in the timing.  I had Alicia here, managed to get Ember into her crate, and the two women went out and assessed the damage and did what we could.  I believe those cables (the box says "telco access only") are now unused.  I don't have cable, but the wire is still there.  I don't have a house phone, but the wires are still there.

The third "something always happening" looks like I have a leak, possibly related to the underground sprinklers that I just had "fixed" this year.  That puddle seems to be getting bigger, and not just at the times the sprinklers actually run.  It has grown since my sister's visit that ended before 5 p.m.  Photo taken in the 7:30 p.m. time frame.  

I'm not even sure who to call.  I have the appliance repair guy arriving Thursday between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.  Perhaps their technician will identify whether I need to also call a plumber, as well as whether the dishwasher needs to be replaced.  Just when I was financially recovering from all the "upgrades".  Sigh.  I might also need to call the landscape guys who did the sprinkler system repairs.

Whatever the details, the saga of home ownership continues.  And the saga of pet ownership, too.

Ember got a nice little leash walk after I got home from the dentist.  She was so good for it!  Yes, we stopped and let her chew on a fallen branch for a while, long enough for her to get bored with it and be ready to move on.  I truly love the lazy walks, where I don't feel the need to rush her along.  I get to find out what interests her.

Here she is with her favorite tug toy, the hose.  She knows the hose has to stay outside while the puppy may come inside the house.  But every morning when we go out, she picks up that end of the hose and proudly pulls it to wherever she's going.

Life is good.  Keep on Sparking!

Will it be a good week?

 Monday the 16th

My home-made tug, straps, shoestrings, and drapery ties.  She likes it, and this one she seems to understand which end is the puppy end and which end is the human end.  Short games of tug.

Sleep was short changed Sunday night into Monday, as I was determined to avoid another crate accident.  I had a 9 a.m. eye appointment and don't want anything to interfere.

This photo was taken about 20 minutes to sunrise.

We made it through the night with outside trips at 7:30, midnight, 2 and 4 a.m.  Mom slept on the couch from midnight on, fully dressed, and went upstairs to do the daily meds before the 4 a.m. outing, then laid her head on the table for about an hour after that outing, while the puppy was on door watch.

We did a little training on the subject of "hot zones", introducing the dog beds, with mixed results.  This session was conducted in the family room, which has been gated off for a couple of weeks, ever since the leather couch problems (bitter spray does not work for this dog).

Mostly, she wanted to chew on something. 

Mom's military style "cover" got donated to the cause to avoid her chewing on the crate mat I wanted to become a hot zone.

The raised dog bed got better results, but she's still got that hat.

In the end, she decided she really did want to chew on that mat and did so, while remaining on the raised bed.

We ended the training session when Ember started to get bored and headed for the couch to continue her destructive ways with it.

Monday morning's eye appointment went well.  Prescription has not changed much, but the cataract in the left eye has continued to grow.  I can feel the deterioration. Dr. J. said the question about the cataract is how much it bothers me.  I said I think this one is going to bother me more than the first one, because I know what the deterioration process was like with that first eye (the right eye).  

He made the referral appointment to Dr. S. for cataract evaluation, on the 26th. 

Tuesday the 17th

Trainer day for me, last one for a couple of weeks.  There's only been one a week for a few weeks, as the high school track meets (he coaches at a local parochial school) were scheduled for Thursday mornings due to heat in the afternoons.  They switch to Tuesday mornings in a couple of weeks, but in the meantime, I have that Thursday appointment with Dr. S.

I finally remembered to go pick up Ember's flea-tick-heartworm dose at the vet's office, on the way home from the trainer.  

Wednesday will be a dental appointment day for me.  Thursday, I have the appliance repair guy coming to see if my leaking dishwasher is salvageable, or if I need to just give it up and replace the 25-year-old machine.

Meanwhile, Ember is getting better with the poo situation.  Monday into Tuesday I gave her "last call" at about 8 p.m., then went down about 11:30 p.m., too, but I went back upstairs and slept in my own bed until 4, skipping the "in between" 2 a.m. check.  Poo on Tuesday morning was still soft but not soupy. This continued in that vein during the day.  I just gave her last call at about 8 again and will check on her in the midnight hour again tonight, just because.

Life is good!  Spark on.

Next level puppy proofing

The rest of Saturday

We had a very nice leash walk with mostly with stellar leash manners.  The final three blocks to home, not so much.  She wanted to dig in someone else's yard.  I ended up practically dragging her away from that distraction, then tossing "search" treats ahead of her the rest of the way to our house.

Shortly after we arrived home, the mail delivery brought this little gem.  I ordered it yesterday, after Ember had been attacking my plastic trash bins:  a metal, step-on kitchen trash bin.  My hope is that Ember will not be able to breach this one.  

She was in her X-Pen, saw me unbox it and decided it was fair game.  I put it away until she went down for the next puppy nap, brought it out again, judged that it's got a heavy low center of gravity, so despite her ability to scratch it, Ember was unable to knock it over or steal from it.  It may not be bear-proof, but I'm hoping it will remain "Ember-proof".

We had another "incident" with the pink running shoes.  

We did get some outdoor exercise chasing tug toys that mom tossed for her.  Saturday she was not much interested in chasing her various balls, mainly the tug toys.

The poops continued to be soupy during the day, so I dosed her with Kaopectate at supper time, hoping that this would get us through the night.  She got a "last call" about 7:20 p.m., and peed but did not poo.  Her last poo was around 3:30 p.m.

Sunday morning 

I got up in the midnight hour to take her out again.  Again, pee but no poo.  I fell into a deep sleep and woke a bit after 5 a.m. to "that smell".  Dressed quickly, came downstairs, and the fun began.  

Poor Little One had tried so hard to get out of the crate that she rubbed her nose raw.  She ran out, but the poo was on her paws (thus onto the carpet on the way out), on her tail (so smeared on the sides of the crate), and it proceeded to spread onto walls of the house when she came back in while I was cleaning the crate.

I ended up having to take the crate completely apart and clean the parts separately, before putting it back together.  Puppy Nap #1 was deferred and foreshortened by the cleanup process.  During puppy nap #1, I cleaned and vacuumed the carpet inside the X-Pen where her paws had spread the "icky-poo".  

After puppy nap #1, part of our adventures included a bath for Ember.  When she went down for puppy nap #2, I went grocery shopping.  Poor little one, she tried her best.  Poor mommy, she tried her best, too.  

Here's hoping the rest of Sunday is more "normal"... and that her poo schedule gets straightened out, 'cause I've got a busy week ahead!

Life is good!  Keep Sparking!

Orion rising

I started writing this Thursday morning, and the photos of the sky are from then.  But I decided I wanted to just do the Spark People reunion blog on Thursday, so you're seeing this one a little delayed.

The brightness of your background may well wash out the constellation in the photo, but trust me, it's Orion.  I have a long history with Orion.  Orion rising marks the changing of the seasons.

Orion rising would fill the car windows to the South as Dad drove us home from Grandma's house.  There would be singing in the car as we got sleepy and nodded off.
Where I live now in Emberville, Orion rises pre-sunrise in September.  Old friends in the sky 

As the sky lightens, the stars fade. Then it slowly gets light enough to play fetch, and to go on poo patrol. 

Among the adventures of Ember on Thursday morning was a session of zoomies, during which she tipped over the base of a birdbath that had been sitting in that spot ever since she arrived at my house in March.

Perspective:  On Friday morning, Ember disturbed a spider web and was then fascinated by the moving arachnid scrambling to get to safety.  It looks like a giant, but the house gable you see behind it is a good 70 feet away.  The spider is much closer.  I swear I have taken this same kind of spider photo before!

On Friday evening, during last call, Mom was the one to walk right into that spider's web.  Ember dropped into her signature "observing" sit, nose pointed at the spider.  I believed she dispatched it, but I was kind of busy trying to get the web off my hair!

Saturday morning, same drill... Mom walked right into the spider web.  Guess Ember didn't dispatch the spider after all.

Friday was a calm day in Emberville as Mommy tried to figure out a way forward with the Crate Games.  She ended the day feeling we had made some progress, after three short training sessions centered around building value for Carl's red blanket as a "hot zone", then shifting the blanket into the crate.

Saturday morning, we had another session with the crate games, and Ember got a little frustrated with it.  Patience, go back to building value for the red blanket.  Tried to end the session with a success, four paws on the red blanket outside of the crate.

Watching her think while we do this is fascinating.  She does offer behaviors, as most dogs will when they don't know what you are asking for with your "cues".  In this case, there are no cues at first.  There is "search", and there is the hot zone, where when they put all four paws on the zone, they get a click and a reward.  There is no cue in such initial "shaping", just the behavior/reward.

Behaviors Ember offered that were not the desired one all offered when I had put the blanket entirely in the crate, or when there wasn't enough of it outside the crate to fit her four paws on, in order.  She tried sitting where the blanket used to be.  Clever.  She tried laying down, which generally earns her treats "just because" mommy likes a calm dog.  Also clever.  Finally, in frustration that these did not work, she nosed and nipped at the crate itself.

Saturday morning started early with the unpleasant scent of a crate accident.  I apologized to Ember for not being there to let her out in time.  Some readers may remember we had some puppy diarrhea, early on.  This was a different experience.  Ember knew the drill.  She headed outside while I cleaned the crate.  A "feature" of this particular dog is that she doesn't vocalize when she needs to go out.

I rediscovered that when I sneeze, it evokes a toothy response from Ember.  First sneeze, she gives heads up attention.  Second sneeze, jumping and teeth. 

We worked through it, got both of us calmed down, and three new bandaids on Mom.  Apologized to each other, long calming strokes to the puppy, careful licks to mommy.  Calm voice explanation to puppy that it was just mommy sneezing, no need to be scared.

But our three-day streak of no bites ended.  Still cogitating on how I might handle it better next time.  Next time I sneeze.  Next time something triggers the little one's fears, although I have to admit that Susan's "bite protocol" has been the best thing for it so far.  It is counter-intuitive to me, to grab hold of the collar and pull the dog to me, but that does loosen the tension if she was trying to tug and gets her in a calmer frame of mind.

Life goes on in Emberville, and life is good.  Keep on a-sparkin'!

A People Post! A SPARKPeople post!

 

I had traveled East many moons ago and a Spark friend that many of you may know from those days drove up to Boston from her home just to meet in person.  Oh, what times we had on those trips (two of them).

Well, she's on the road again, and this time, she's trying to fill in the blank spaces on her US map, and my kid sis Alicia and I happen to live in one of those blank spaces.  So, here we are, the three Spark refugees, having an old-fashioned Spark meet!

Left to right, that's ALICIA363, ONEKIDSMOM, and OVERWORKEDJANET, from the old screen names days!  We had a lovely luncheon before Janet had to get back on the road.

A Boston marathon weekend memory photo just for grins and giggles.  This was the 2019 version.  Left to right, that is MOBYCARP, ONEKIDSMOM, and OVERWORKEDJANET.

Another fun shot from the Boston adventure, when the girls went out playing... we found a set of teeter-totters that made tonal music.  I was on the other end of this particular see-saw!  This was the 2018 version, also known as "the year of the monsoon"!

Oh, look!  Here's one from the 2016 Spark meet... Janet and I are in the front, the other two are Lauren and Janis, in the back.  Now here's one of the kickers... I don't remember Lauren or Janis's spark names, but I'm still facebook friends with both of them.

It is amazing to me how many life-long friendships were "sparked" by that website, and I know I'm not the only one who misses that venue.  But somehow, in little knots of friends, many of us have stayed connected on other online platforms.

A very satisfying day, I would say, and it is my hope that Janet's traveling party continued their journey with as many good feelings as they left Alicia and me with!

Life is Good.  Spark on!

Wednesday wobbles

A lot of the roller coaster of dog training is the roller coaster of personal energy, or lack thereof.  Today's flops involved the trash can attempts, the muddy mat at the back door attempt, and an impulse buy of bound carpet mats that were immediately attacked by the land shark in my home.

Another aspect was an attempt to let her see the old fuzzy dog bed, which she also eviscerated.

When I had that fuzzy donut outside the X-Pen, she not only barked at its absence, but she jumped one of the baby gates to get to it, so I tossed it back inside the Xpen, where she proceeded to take out her aggression on it before settling down.  

Yes, we have reached the second stage of baby gate breaches.  She tips them over, then jumps into the blocked off room.

The plus side is that the carpet mats were very cheap, thus the impulse.  The fuzzy donut is now in the trash, as is the first of the two carpet mats.  She has not been exposed to the second one.

Two dog beds arrived on my doorstep on Wednesday.  This one is bolstered, the other one is raised.  I have hopes of them eventually becoming "hot zones" for Ember, but after her performance today surrounding the fluffy / furry donut one?  I have my doubts.  I'm going to keep them hopefully out of harm's way until I get to the lessons that show how to transition to beds from towels on the floor.

That was the plan.  She jumped the gate to go "visit" them.  I distracted her away, in the end, with a game of chase.  Staying a few steps ahead of her is likely not in the long-term cards.

Alicia came over and we had the wins of the day.  Before she arrived, I put Ember into her harness.  Or I should say, Ember was very calm and didn't offer any resistance at all, and the harness went on smoothly.  We waited outside while Alicia drove up, and had a "pretty fair" greeting, Ember earning her ear scritches from our guest with a pretty little sit.

We had a calm pack walk, and even greeted a passing pedestrian nicely, gaining praise from him.  When we got home, she went to bed pretty smoothly after a bit too.  I figured she earned a "last call" about 7:30 p.m., and even that went well.  So yes, ups, downs, wobbles... but Life is Good!  Keep Sparking, my friends!

Tuesday

Sunrise painting the clouds, as the season progresses.  I love the time of year when the morning is cool but not cold, the afternoon is pleasantly warm, not hot, and it's light enough to play fetch or walk the dog both before and after work hours.

After I got back from workout with the personal trainer, I took Ember out for a leash walk.  She was so good about letting me put the harness on, she earned it.

Her manners were very good... did not lunge at the distractions when I opened the baby gate to go out the front door.  Did not pull but retained all the good manners she knew before about what we do to earn our walkies.

Good manners continued on our walk.  Fortunately, it was the eleven-a.m. hour, so not a lot of foot traffic in the neighborhood; not a lot of other dogs out and about... no pulling at the leash.  We took our time to allow sniffing.  Everything was going oh, so well.  That's usually when mommy misses something, and this time it was a biggie.  Someone had either dropped a plate of BBQ dinner on the grass, or somebody threw up... I'm hoping it was the former. I could identify beans and bread as the contents, so I'm probably right. 

Regardless, it was more than Ember's self-discipline could handle.  She resisted my attempts to divert her and proceeded to snarf the whole thing.  It is going to be interesting monitoring the output the next couple of days.

After we got home, we had another episode of interest in the garbage bin (I had put it back), and this time she got one of my Keurig pods and ripped it open inside her X-Pen, spilling the grounds around on the carpet.  She was not particularly happy being locked out of her pen while I cleaned up after her.  Sigh.  Haven't vacuumed yet (she's sleeping in her crate).  I have some human things other than that to take care of first.

Did my human things, then I thought I would try to take Ember on a short car ride that was not to the vet or the groomer, just to mail some bill payments.  

After all, one cannot go someplace fun, until one gets into the car to take us there.   Last Friday she had refused to get into the car when it was time for puppy class.  This afternoon the first attempt was also a no-go.  

Too many distractions in the garage.  And about that time the lawn mowing service guys showed up, so I took her back inside to strategize.  What on earth will I do, I mused, if she NEVER wants to get in the car again?  She's too big for me to man-handle!

After the lawn guys left, I tried again.  I succumbed to luring her with a glove from the trunk.  She jumped in to follow it when I tossed it on the back seat.

We got the bills mailed.  When we got home, lather/rinse/repeat:  Ember did not want to go into the house!  I took her through the back yard to get her inside.  But I had left the door to the landing (which also leads to the laundry room) open, and Ember took advantage.  First time she's been in the basement level!

You all know whose luxury suite is in the laundry room on that level!  It was bound to happen at some point.  Ember sniffed her way around the vast collection of junk in the big room.  I closed the laundry room door before she went there and went back upstairs to get her leash.  I gave in to luring: a trail of treats up the stairs, and we headed outside to chase balls.  

Came back in to supper "chow" and a chew stick while mommy ate her own supper, then bedded the furry one down with her mousse treatment applied.

There is a difference between "luring" and "shaping" a dog's behavior.  If you're in a hurry, luring might work better in the short run, but it doesn't help the dog make better decisions when they are on their own.  So... the training conversion was about a D- grade today for the human involved.

Life is still good!  Keep on a-sparkin'

Monday started a fresh new week

Monday morning

Ember chewing on a "reject" chew stick, calmed down, inside the X-Pen while mom is on the couch outside of it.  This was after the morning "crazies".  Mom's still working on figuring out what's up and how to "manipulate the environment" to prevent "rehearsals of undesirable behaviors".

One of those undesirable behaviors I wrote about yesterday.  That would be her pushing around the (empty) big crate and chewing on its corners.  This included tipping it over onto its side.

Another would be going after the tall kitchen trash container.  I moved it.  This morning she went for the little wastebasket under the sink, when I had the door open.  She pulled it out by the plastic bag it was lined with.  Once I got it away from her, my prevention plan is not to have it lined with a plastic bag that she can reach for.  She hasn't (yet) figured out how to open the cupboard doors.  I figure it's only a matter of time.

On another front, I am bummed to find out I'm having trouble breaking myself of luring Ember in training.  I started out with luring, and it has continued to be an issue.  Habits die hard.

Ember is smart, and she sees me reaching for treats from the bag to be prepared to "reward quickly" since they tell me I have ONE SECOND to deliver a treat for good behavior to reinforce it.  I'm slower than that.  I'm even slower getting the treats loaded from my bag into my hand or fumbling with a pocket, if it's cool enough to have a jacket or sweatshirt on.  I have been breaking up the treats into small enough ones to use as training treats ahead of time and loading the bag during her puppy naps.

 

Don't wanna chase the toys.  Don't hafta chase the toys.  It is getting too warm to do that kind of thing, mom!

This is her current favorite spot in the backyard.  She herds her toys to it, and then decides which to chew on.

Monday afternoon

I headed over to the doctor's office to have a blood draw.  Thyroid check.  The pharmacy had been backordered a couple of refills ago with the generic I'd been using for several years, and it was a weekend.  I OK'd them to give me what they had on hand, and then was going to notify the doctor.  My most recent refill was the same stuff they gave me as a substitute.  I'm noticing more rapid hair loss again.  So, doc ordered me up a thyroid test.  Took very little time.

Tuesday morning

I got one of those "scathingly brilliant ideas" to try putting the tall trash can from the family room in the kitchen/dining room spot this morning, and let her knock it over, just to see what she would do when she found out it was "boring"?  Anyway, yes, we knocked it over, pulled out the plastic bag liner, and sniffed and investigated everything.  Eventually I did put it back behind the gate in the family room.

Important to me was that by diverting the attention to this trash bin, she did not push the empty big crate around inside the X-Pen.  Mornings are always a surprise package.  Each seems to have the feature of Ember testing how far she can reach:  up the side of the 'fridge, onto the counters, etc.  Gentle reminders of "where do our paws belong" do generally result in her dropping, but the value of what she's going after comes into play.  She does love to shred paper, and today it was a size chart for harnesses that she pulled off the 'fridge, and a "Save the date" announcement from a cousin who's getting married next year.  Thankfully, I had already captured the needed information from both.

Mornings work best when I am fully present and participating, interacting with Ember.  Giving her simple things to do to earn treats.  Insisting on her being polite while I deliver her "chow" to her feeding spot.  Reminding her that some things are "Mommy's" and some things are "puppy's".

As Susan Garrett says about her training, there's no guarantee you're going to get your dog to be an elite competition dog just because you signed up for her program.  But you will see improvement if you patiently and persistently follow it.

So now, I can sit down outside, wearing a sweatshirt, in the quiet of a sunrise time yard, and love my life.  Or at least, this morning I could.  

Ember keeps me in line of sight, and I keep her in line of sight, as well!

Life is good!  Spark on!

Just the two of us... a photo Saturday

 

Early Saturday morning, gnawing on a formerly rejected chew stick.

Saturday afternoon sunning on the deck.  It was a very pleasant day!  Cool in the morning, and warmish in the afternoon.  I think the high was 76℉, which is a degree lower than what I set my Summer thermostat at.

Ember rolled on her back, showing off her healing hives on her belly!  They really are improving, which is a good thing, since the last pill was for Sunday morning.  The mousse still has plenty in it, and the instructions were to rub it on her affected areas once a day for a week, then "as needed" after that.

Sometimes the toys that are the most fun are the ones that we steal from mom's bag-holder.  Empty poo bags!  But I noticed that in the "tuggers" module of my online dog-training class, an empty poo bag is one of the warm-up toys that one of the students actually used!

This tug toy is one she shakes and plays the "smack da baby" game solo, all by herself!

If this chair is good enough for Mom, it's good enough for Ember!  She looked so stinkin' cute, I had to take her picture!

Sunday report

Things got a bit exciting this morning.  Mornings, pre-sunrise are always a "surprise package".  This morning's surprise was Ember deciding to push her big crate around and gnaw on it, inside the XPen.  She likes big toys, and she chews on anything she finds in her environment.

I got her outside by calling her recall word, and giving her the recall treats.  

We did have one little bite episode after we had played a game of IYC, and I used the sliding glass door to separate us.  I'm concerned that we may have a case of separation anxiety being built.  She seems content to lay at my feet while I eat my breakfast.  Once she's worn out, the luring into the crate for her puppy nap can happen.

It was a quiet day in Emberville, all in all.  She was well fed, got playtime in the backyard, some crate training lessons, some reward zone practice, right in the backyard, too.  And a little bit of hot zone practice, too.  But mostly, we just chilled.  Oh, and she chased a squirrel for the first time!

Life is good.  Spark on!

Around the house

 

Ember scraped some of Stony's paint off.  

Things never seem to stop growing around here.  Thursday's trimmings.

Another of Ember's makeshift toys... a strap and four drapery ties make this one up.  She's fascinated.

She quickly broke the little loops on the ties, so I've reworked this toy already.

This one is a Holee-Roller with the braided shoelace handle... she loves it but wants to play by herself with this one.

Egg carton food puzzle.  She consumes the food, then destroys the carton.

The wall that Ember has been targeting most recently.  It's right outside the bathroom/pantry, where mommy disappears to "go potty", human style.  Sigh.  I need another baby gate.  Her potential allowable spaces keep shrinking.

This may just be Stony's final spot, right by the front faucet.  I can coil a hose at his feet.  And Stony is a "he", btw, you can see this from certain angles!

I think what she is feeling is frustration.  Mom keeps changing things on her, from her nap schedule to her food to how many car rides she's expected to endure in a week.  But that doesn't make it any easier for Mom.

Late Friday morning, I think it was Susan who came to my door.  By the time I got Ember into the XPen and opened the door, she had left.  But I don't have her phone number, nor does she have mine, and I don't even know the exact location of her front door, the way the townhomes are laid out.  What I see is the side of her house and her "back garden".  And being me, I'm a "what if I misidentified the video and it wasn't her?"  I had an appointment to get to, so did not follow up.  I might have done if Ember hadn't had another "episode" of the bites a little after 3.  

I was feeling pretty bummed out end of day, Friday.  Three episodes of teeth on Mom or Mom's clothing.  The first was in the early morning inside the XPen.  Bite protocol seemed to work well in the confined space.

I think the second was on the deck.  I had easy access to separate us by a door, there.

The 3 p.m. one was the worst of the bunch.  I was streaming blood down my arms from several scrape wounds.  It happened way in the back where the shed used to be.  Ember was not on a leash, and the "grab the collar and reduce the tension she's putting on your pant leg" did not apply, although I did try to adapt it.  It wasn't the pant leg, it was my arm inside the sweatshirt, and she had hold of the arm, not just the fabric! 

I shimmied myself out of the sweatshirt, but this did not deter her.  I eventually got her inside, freezing and stepping, and stroking, and freezing and stepping and stroking.  I stayed outside to calm myself down.

Then I reversed our positions with her on the back deck and me inside to clean up. 

I have bloody laundry.  The dog stripped bandages and ate them.  She had "No legs" to get in car to go to puppy class (so mom called us in "going to be absent").  She expanded the damage on the wall.

Saturday morning I woke in a more optimistic mood.  This lasted until the adolescent decided she wanted to use the kitchen trash can for a chew toy.  I took her outside and she started digging up trouble in the old river rock bed next to the sandbox.

I had some idea of what I wanted to train on Saturday.  The plan did not make it to the execution stage.  

At least so far, we have not had a major biting incident on Saturday.  She has shown signs of wanting to, but I have been ready with interventions.  For example if she is focused enough, I give her a cue to do something simple, like "sit" or "hop it up".  I traded her the "magic dust pan" for the lid to the kitchen trash, then moved the trash can behind the gate to the family room.

As I was eating my salad on the deck, she went for my shoes, and I stepped her inside, closing the sliding door.  She settled herself down and was civilized by the time I finished my lunch and was ready to deal with her again.

I diagnosed tired and hungry.  I put her down with a Kong full of kibble and plugged with peanut butter, and she's now down for puppy nap #2.

Life is good, even when challenging.  Spark on!

September, forward!

 

Do I have enough toys?  I think not!

Mom tried to do something clever, attaching a leash to one of my holee-rollers, but I really prefer to chew on the leash, not tug on the ball.

So now, Mom is working on doing something she hadn't done in years:  braiding shoestrings.  Why?  To make dog toys!  Specifically, custom tug toys, so she and Ember can learn to play tug safely.  The commercially produced ones do not have the specific qualities I want.  Yep.  Been watching videos again!

Ember went down for a short puppy nap, because her groomer drop off time was 9 a.m. While she was getting her "special" bath and her nails trimmed, I did what I wanted to do:  reconfigured the XPen to expose a portion of the parlor for human use!

Alicia and I might just test it out if she remembers it is Wednesday and comes for her usual visit after her workday.

(She did, and we did.)

Also new today, one of those "whimsical" purchases I am wont to make at times arrived.  Ember met the new "garden bench" when she came home.  She barked at it.  

Note the cute little bandana they put on her after her "diva" appointment.  Tony tells me if the vet wants her treated with the shampoo more frequently, like a bath a week or something, they do have reduced rates for that kind of multiple appointments. Obviously, will monitor progress of the spots, and if we don't see enough progress, I'll ask the vet about it.

The Prisoner had "met" the bench earlier and was unimpressed.  It's really quite small, suitable for a child to sit on, or for me to use as a seat while weeding.

I gave Ember her "salad" when she got home.  This was the fourth trip in a row where she did NOT want to get in the car to come home.  Puppy class last Friday, visit to son's house on Sunday, the Vet on Tuesday, and now the Groomer on Wednesday.  

Today's reluctance was complicated by my failing to put on the treat pouch before heading over to collect her.  I tried the water bottle.  I had taken her current favorite stuffed toy (the orange iguana).  I tried putting a towel from the trunk into the back seat (she likes towels).  No dice on any of them.  Finally, I recruited one of the employees to help me convince Ember to get in, and she lifted the front while I hefted her hind quarters!  

I have to wonder whether the car sickness feeds into this reluctance.  She's usually quite eager to get into the car on the way out, but on the way back, not so much.

That bandana stayed on through her puppy nap, but it came off in the back yard shortly after getting up and getting active.  Tony must tie good bandana knots!

Thursday morning we played in the yard.  Mom didn't even offer a harness try on.  But we went outside and listened to all the morning sounds, like the garbage trucks and the birds.  We watched the sky lighten.  We took care of business.

Inside, Mommy gave Ember a peanut butter treat with you-know-what (her meds) tucked inside.  Ember lapped it up.  Then she got her "chow".  We played the "hot zone" game to exercise the puppy mind, and we chased balls (I can't say retrieved, because she's not big on bringing them back to me) in the backyard.

Despite the relatively "new" routine of yard play instead of leash walk (part of this is the new configuration of the house... we can't get to the front door without hazard of a chew-trigger), Ember settled into her puppy nap on schedule.

Mommy had to remove the dog statue due to Ember chewing on it and knocking it over to boot.  Mom was concerned it might break.  She tucked it into the garage overnight and is trying it in the river rock on the South Side of the house today (Thursday).  It might migrate around the yard for a while before being declared to be in its permanent home.

Chopped down some of the suckers off the tree on that South side, too.  They come back every year.  I might get them cleared every other year, but they do come back.  This year with all the watering I did, maybe more than usual!

Now it's time for Mom to head out to the grocery store.  Bananas and blueberries are always on the list.  

Life is good.  Keep on Sparkin'!