Messy Mouth Monday

Recently, this has been Tibby's standard look every night.  She goes outside to potty (or so she claims) and comes back looking like this.  Then she gets her mouth wiped off, which she hates and an hour or so later she goes back outside to do it again.

I spread 20 bags of mulch around in the yard, in spots where she was digging.  She doesn't like to dig in the mulch, but she keeps finding new places to play.  I don't really mind, my yard is far from perfect, so it's not like she is damaging anything. 

Whatever makes her happy.

Sleepy Head Sunday

Static Electric!  So shocking!

Bark and Giggle Review and Giveaway

Look at these beautiful harnesses the Bark and Giggle Boutique let us review!

They are beautiful and the fabric is SO soft.  Each harness is hand-made.  They are made out of high quality cotton fabric with 5 layers of interfacing for added strength.  I love all the different fabric choices Pamela (owner of Bark and Giggle Boutique) offers.  There are so many choices and so many pretty fabrics to choose from.

The harnesses have cast nickle (shiny and pretty!) D-rings, O-rings and a quick release plastic buckle.

There are 4 sizes from extra-small to large.  Both of these harnesses are small - girth measurement 18" to 28".  Fits Tibby perfectly! 

See!  Pretty!

Pamela also makes some other SUPER cute things:  like these walking packs.  Perfect for holding keys, treats and those most important poop bags!  They come in a huge variety of fabric choices.  Check out the sushi fabric!   Also, these darling bow ties - yes I know they are supposed to be for toddlers, but they would look so sweet on a puppy!  She also makes custom collars, leashes and different harness designs. 

The inspiration for Bark and Giggle is Pamela's 2 Shiba Inus.  Pamela says, "They have a "paw" in each design!" 

To win you must leave a comment with 2 things:

1 - Go to Bark and Giggle

2 - Then leave a comment on this post telling me the name of one of Pamela's Shiba Inus and your e-mail address.
I will have Tibby pick 2 winners next Friday (Nov. 4th)!

International readers are welcome to enter!  We love ALL our readers!!

Also, all Just A Pup readers get 10% off their orders at Bark and Giggle!  Just enter the code 'Tibby' when you check out.  Code is good until 10-31.

Disclosure: I did not receive any financial compensation for this post. All opinions are my own and uninfluenced by anyone else. I received a free product to facilitate my review, but that did not affect my opinion.

More Backside Training

Well, that title should get some interesting hits....hee hee.

Anyway, this is a video of more training with Tibby to take the backside of the jump.  I do not know what I am doing!  This is hard.  Tibby is amazing that she can figure out (most of the time) what I want.  Seriously I watch these videos and I have no idea how Tibby can know what I'm directing with my floppy arms.  I would not make it as a traffic cop. 

I am trying to teach Tibby a verbal 'back' to take the backside of the jump.  Also, I'm (again trying) to direct with my body. 

Interesting things:  This video is 2 different days of training.  Yeah, I wore the same coat.  The first day I was happy, excited and having fun.  I used BIG ole arm sweeps.  Up here to the sky!  Look!  Tibby is short.  Can she really see my arms waving way up high?  I don't know.  Is she watching my knees?  They don't seem to be doing too much.
The 2nd day (today) I was tired from work, but Tibby was begging (yes!) to work/do something/anything/pay attention to me!  I hardly used any arm movements and Tibby did much better.  She wasn't as impressed with me, because of my attitude.  She needs cheering.  But there is always tomorrow. 

Hopefully I'm not messing up too badly.  Don't break the puppy!  That's my motto.  Tomorrow Tibby is 18 months old, so not such a puppy any more. 

We are having fun.  Tibby wants to do agility.  Yeah.  The world might be ending.  She sits outside trying to get me to come out and train with her.  Cute.  But not as cute at 11pm, when it is freezing, the grass is covered with frost and I have been playing with her for an hour already!!

Yay for happy, crazy Tibby! I knew she would come back someday.

Training Weaves and Stuff

Soooo we are taking the Silvia Trkman online Foundation class again. I'm not going to post the lessons, because they are (so far) exactly the same as last time. The previous lessons are in the side bar under ST Lessons.
Tibby and I have been training almost every day. The cooler weather or whatever it is has Tibby wound up. As in, I remember sleeping through the night....it was nice. Why is it that when I have a day off and want to sleep in Tibby wants to get up at 2am, 4am, 6am, 8am and PLAY!!! But when I have to go to work early....Tibby won't even get up to go pee. I had to carry her outside this morning. She was all - I'm a sack of rocks, can't stand up.
We have been working on a bunch of things. Weaves, back side of jumps (now Tibby thinks ALL jumps must be taken from the backside), RC.   I tried 2 methods with the weaves - Weave o Matics and the channel.  I guess I like the channel better, but the WOM helped Tibby to understand the idea of weaving better. 

My RC board is stupid. Too thin, bounces too much. Stupid board.

I think Tibby's weaving is great, so just watch that video.

We also just got a Manners Minder. Now what do I do with it? I did some weave pole training with it, but Tibby was faster with the ball.

Dog Park Fun With Lucy

Tibby had a play date yesterday with Lucy.  You might remember Lucy from here and here.

I picked Lucy up from her house and we headed to the dog park.  As we left Lucy's owner called out, "Oh  by the way, Lucy sometimes gets car sick!"  I had Lucy sit in the front seat and she was fine.

Let's recap Lucy's history:  Besides Tibby, she has never played with any other dogs.  She is about 4 years old.  She has never been off leash.  If she goes outside she is on a tie out or has a gentle leader on.  Let me say that again - She has NEVER been off leash.  As in EVER. 

As we walked up to the dog park gates, I was thinking about that and having second thoughts about this experiment.

Did I mention that her owners were at first afraid to let Tibby play with her, because she is 'mean'.  Yeah, so maybe I should have thought about those things before we got to the dog park.
But then again, I like to have adventures.

~

We went into the dog park and there was a HUGE lab plus something playing fetch with its owner.  The lab had an e-collar on, so that made me a little nervous.  Turns out he was super-duper friendly!  Yeah, a lab.  He kept bringing his ball to me and then his owner would have to walk all the way back to get the ball.  It was, as it always is to me, interesting to see how Tibby interacts with a new dog.  She was very good.  She wanted to play with him, but when I called her off, she came to me.  I was better than another dog!  Yeah!  Lucy did her own thing.  She was fine.  It was sweet to see her realize that she was off leash and could do what ever she wanted.

Tibby would have liked her to play a little more, but Tibby was respectful and didn't annoy her (too much!).  They did get in some good zoomies!

I loved seeing Tibby come to me away from 1) a new person 2) a new dog 3) her friend Lucy.  If it was a choice between going to any of those OR following me.  She chose me!  Apparently she does love me.

So Lucy can now - play with another dog, ride in the car and go to the dog park.  In other words, she is a normal dog and not 'mean' at all.

I put the zoomie pictures into a slide show.

The Winners Are.....

Congratulations to Joanne Cotter - she won the $25 gift code to Amazon! 
And
Congratulations to Boondocks and the Love Shack Pack - you have won the hands free leash!

I will try to contact you, but if you can please send your mailing address to tibbysfriends at hotmail dot com.

Thanks to everyone that entered!

There will be another giveaway this week to enter - something pretty!

Manners Monster!

The Manners Minder arrived yesterday. Tibby thinks it is great. Just like the food ball, but bigger. Catty isn't so sure.....

Digging For Winners

Don't forget!  Today is the last day to Vote For Tibby and enter to win a $25 gift code to Amazon.

AND

The last day to enter the Leash Giveaway.

Clicking

I'm really happy with how Tibby's training is going right now.  Any one who has read this blog will know it hasn't always been that way.  I feel like we are actually communicating now and Tibby has a lot more drive.  She still has (and always will have) her own ideas about everything, but she is willing to listen to my ideas too, if I explain them to her.  Maybe it is that I have learned how to communicate with her.  She needs everything explained to her.  She isn't going to do it, because I tell her to.  She is a thinker.  If I give her time to think things through, she usually decides that my way is the best.  I have the treats and toys, after all!  We did some distance obstacle discrimination today and she was perfect.   

Speaking of drive, I have noticed in the last week a BIG uptick in energy from Tibby.  She used to sleep most of the day and grudgingly do a little play/work if she had to.  Now she is active (playing/digging holes/sniffing the grass/chasing the cat/chewing bully sticks/hiding bones in the yard/working) almost ALL the time.  I only worked one day this week, so I was with her for 3 days all day long and I could see a big difference in her activity.  In the past, when I have been at home, she would sleep almost the entire day.  It makes me wonder if she was fighting off an infection or something.  Maybe it's the weather changing?  She is acting like she did back in the Spring - run, run, run all day.  I thought she had calmed down, because she is older, but maybe it was something else.  Perhaps related to her heart murmur?  They didn't hear the murmur at her appointment in April, but they heard it at her appointment in August.  She has another appointment in November, maybe it will be gone? 

Busy, busy, busy

Tibby is keeping busy.

She can entertain herself for hours.

Whatever makes her happy!

Wordless Wednesday

Hands Free Leash Review + Giveaway

Tibby and I tried out a neat leash today.  It's a hands-free leash from lilydc.

Lily started making these leashes, because she jogs and hikes with her dog Dotty.

She also makes some beautiful tumbled glass pendants - check them out here!

~

Tibby and I tried out the leash 2 different ways - first we took a long walk.  I wrapped the leash around my waist, snapped the buckle and we were off!  Easy! 

It was a very windy day and I was able to walk along with my hands in my pockets.  Tibby trotted along and I had warm hands - win win! Another benefit of this lilydc hands-free leash, I didn't have to worry about the leash slipping out of my hands, when Tibby got excited about someone walking toward us.  She was attached to me, so she wasn't going any where!  This was especially nice when Tibby decided to chase some leaves as we were crossing the highway.  She tried to dash off, but she didn't get too far!

Next, we used the leash for a training session.  This lilydc hands-free leash really simplified training.  It was easy to have my clicker in one hand and the treats in the other hand.  I didn't have to worry about the leash at all!  It was also easy to adjust the leash from a walking/hiking length to a shorter training length.

See!  It's great for training!

Here is a video to show you how easy it is to train with a hand-free leash.  It would be perfect for training loose leash walking. 

This lilydc hands-free leash is made out of a nylon strap measuring 8 feet 8 inches long. It has a swivel bolt snap hook and a durable plastic buckle.

Guess what?!? You can win this leash!

To win this leash you must leave a comment with 2 things:

1 - Go to lilydc's store.
 Look for the breed of dog she has modeling her leash. That's Lilly's cute dog Dotty!

2 - Then leave a comment on this post with your answer and your e-mail address.
I will have Tibby pick a winner on Monday!

International readers are welcome to enter!  We love ALL our readers!!

~~~
For this giveaway I will allow entries from Tibby's facebook page.
However, in the future:
Tis' the season for giveaways and to simplify things as the year ends I will only count entries from the blog post page.


Disclosure: I did not receive any financial compensation for this post. All opinions are my own and uninfluenced by anyone else. I received a free product to facilitate my review, but that did not affect my opinion.

 

Sitting On An Arm

"What do you mean, off the couch?"

"I'm not on the couch."

"See, now I'm on the couch."

Wow! The Wonder Walker Works!

Tibby tried something amazing this weekend. It all started with a package addressed to her.

Look it's addressed to Tibby! This is the first package Tibby has ever received! She was very excited!

"Can I get a little help here, please?"

What was inside?

It was a Wonder Walker Body Halter made by the nice people at Dolan's Dog Doodads.

This is an amazing product. Seriously. I thought it would be like other harnesses we have used in the past. Um, NO! This is a high quality, very well made harness. It has some really nice features that I will show you in a second, but the most exciting part about the Wonder Walker….it REALLY works!! After following the very simple instructions, I had it properly fitted for Tibby and we were off on a walk. It was the best walk we have taken in….um, EVER. She wasn't pulling me and I wasn't pulling her. It was like she finally realized that there was something (ME!) on the other end of the leash. She walked along like a well trained dog.

The Wonder Walker Body Halter should be called the freedom walker, because that's what it has given us. The freedom to take walks anywhere. I won't have to weigh the possibility of Tibby tripping people when she pulls in crowds. No longer will people stop us in the park and ask if I have thought about taking my dog to obedience classes (that was really embarrassing). No longer will I resort to walking Tibby on the flexi lead, because my shoulders can't take her pulling me backwards and forwards and around and around. My Mom might walk with us again, because the Wonder Walker stopped Tibby's habit of crossing in front of people – Yay!

The 1st picture is from the side. See that triangle? What a great idea, right?! The straps can lay flat and they don't get all bunched up, like with other harnesses. Also, when I was adjusting it for Tibby, having those triangles made it super easy to understand the directions. When the directions said to move the buckle to the triangle – I actually knew what they were taking about!

The 2^nd picture is from the front. Notice anything? Yeah, it's not pinching Tibby's legs together or riding down so low she can't walk. What an idea! Something that is comfortable for the dog to wear! A great idea.

The Wonder Walker Body Halter comes in 16 different colors - from hot pink to light green. We chose brown, because I wanted it to match Tibby's fur.

There are 7 sizes – from Tiny (under 10 lbs) to Extra Large (over 85 lbs). They will also make a Wonder Walker Body Halter to your specifications for only a $1 or $2 more than the regular price. And the regular price is a bargain at only $25.99.

The back ring can be attached to a Car Strap. Another great idea that simplifies things – I hate taking off Tibby's leash to put on her car harness.

Just for comparison: On the left in both pictures is the Wonder Walker Body Halter. On the right is an Easy Walk Harness. Both are size small and they are supposed to fit Tibby, but the EZ Walk doesn't let her walk! Very frustrating for both of us! Unlike the Wonder Walker, the EZ Walk pulls her legs together and Tibby ends up stopping and refusing to walk or walking like she is in pain. Sure, the EZ stops her from pulling, but it also makes me sad L.

The Wonder Walker has much better hardware and the design is MUCH better. The Wonder Walker fits and lays flat. Did I mention the hardware? If the Wonder Walker didn't work (which is DOES 100%) I would still be impressed with the way that the Wonder Walker is made. Very nice quality.

On the Wonder Walker there is only one buckle and the straps are easy to adjust. I can't count how many times I've put the EZ Walk on Tibby backwards – so many times that I stopped using it. Frustrating!

 

Want to see how the Wonder Walker works? Check out this video of Tibby before and after with the Wonder Walker. Also, my cute 88 year old Grandma walked Tibby in the Wonder Walker! Before the Wonder Walker I was afraid to walk Tibby around my Grandma, let alone have Grandma actually take the leash, because I never knew if/when Tibby would pull or cut in front of my Grandma and knock her down. Now we can take walks together!

This is my Mom walking Tibby. What did my Mom (the woman who refuses to walk with Tibby) think? She said, "That's amazing, it works. I might go on walks with you now, if Tibby isn't going to pull all over and try to trip me." J

Check out the Wonder Walker if:

1 – You want a harness that makes walking your dog fun again!

2 – You want a high quality harness.

3 – You want a harness with easy to understand instructions.

4 – You want a harness that is easy to adjust, put on and take off.

The Wonder Walker Body Halter is made by Dolan's Dog Doodads – check them out here Wonder Walker

J

Disclosure: I did not receive any financial compensation for this post. All opinions are my own and uninfluenced by anyone else. I received a free product to facilitate my review, but that did not affect my opinion.

 

 

 

 

Rollin' On A Roll

How much fun can you have with a cardboard roll?

A TON!!

It's a rollin' good time.

"Where'd it go?"

"I love you roll, you're the best toy ever."

Fall Foto Friday

"Time for a nice walk."

"Ah!  Don't be so silly Mom! You're messin' up the picture!"

"That's better.  Now let's get walking!"