Shoot

You might remember that I have mentioned living near a baseball stadium.  Apparently it was opening night tonight.  Tibby and I were relaxing on the couch and the only warning we got about the incoming deluge of fireworks was the announcers voice yelling (yes, I can hear the baseball games INSIDE my house) 5,4,3,2,1 and then BAM! BANG! POW! 

I LOVE fireworks, but Tibby HATES fireworks.  Too bad, because they have the best, biggest, brightest, LOUDEST fireworks I have ever seen.  It's a long show too.....

Next year I'll take a video of the fireworks from my backyard.  Hopefully I will be better prepared!

It sounds like our house is being attacked.  The windows shake and it is REALLY REALLY LOUD.

I've lived here for 7 years and the stadium was built 2 years ago......most of the time I think it's an ok neighbor, but NOT when it scares my Tibby baby >:(

Finders, Keepers

I have been trying to get a good picture of Tibby laying on my lap.  She does this all the time, but it's hard to get a picture of it.  She has to have a pillow to support her head.  If it's not perfect and she isn't comfortable or properly supported then she jumps off.  However, if everything is perfect then she lets me rub her belly!

Tibby wearing her superhero walking costume :P

I had Tibby wear her Thundershirt on our walk today and we had a lot of success.  It's not a miracle cure or anything - I still used the cheese and did our little focus game when there was a potential reaction trigger.  My goal is to keep Tibby from reacting.  I don't want her to rehearse that behavior ( any more than she has already).  Our walk was 100% successful!!

At one point I was basically luring her past some triggers, but it's Ok with me.  If that's what I have to do at this point....that's what I have to do.

The luring part we were walking by - man walking alone (biggest trigger), man mowing lawn, woman standing in yard with arms folded watching us and an off leash dog barking and moving toward us (another big trigger).

Yes I had to lure her past them, BUT she was able to actually eat the cheese and be lured.  It hasn't always been that way.  I almost lost her when the barking dog started to move toward us, but then she came back to me :)  Good thing I crossed the street when I saw the off leash dog up ahead.  She isn't ready for a moving dog right next to her yet.

We also met a nice older couple that wanted to pet Tibby.  I'm not sure when Tibby went from the outgoing/crazy/jumping on every stranger puppy to the shy/timid/ducking an outstretched hand dog.

But she didn't bark at them!  Yay....

Finally, a public notice.  If you lose your balls in front of my house....I will keep them.  Yes, I'm the mean neighbor that keeps the neighborhood kids' toys.  I give them the overnight test.  You have one day, one night and one day to claim your balls.  If they are still there the next night - then they are mine!  We aren't really interested in any other toys....and they only ever seem to lose balls....hmmm?

These are the latest lost toys - a spiky ball and a super heavy purple ball.  The purple one is really heavy - I've never seen a ball like it before.  Yay!  Free toys!

What's Happening

We've had a nice relaxing vacation.  Tibby and I have taken a lot of naps and snuggled on the couch.  It's rained every day.  Good napping weather.  My Mom ran in a race yesterday - in the rain, 30 mph wind, lightning and rolling thunder.  Yeah.....they're crazy people!  My Mom won first place again.  Tibby is showing off her medal.  Also the hat that she won.

Lot's of hanging out in the garden, mine and my parent's garden, when it isn't raining.  Tibby hung out on the deck and watched me work for a few hours on Friday.  She even had her nice big bed to lay on! 

We tried to do some agility, but we got rained out.

It has been really, really rainy.  If it's not raining, it's getting ready to rain or drying off from raining or muddy, humid and mosquito-y.

We had delicious food.  Yummy smoky grilled dinner.

Tibby did a lot of this and a lot of chewing bully sticks.  She has like 7 partially chewed bully sticks now all around the house! 

Personal Play

I have been reading Denise Fenzi's blog and watching her training videos with her puppy.  I have learned a lot about playing with a dog.  Sometimes I want to slap my past self!  I really, really didn't know how to speak 'dog' when Tibby was a puppy.  Sorry Tibs :(  I'm trying to do better though! 

I love watching a whole string of the videos of Denise Fenzi's puppy Lyra and see the progression.  It's neat to see how her puppy learned and changed.  I like the way Denise interacts physically with Lyra.  When Tibby was a puppy I (extremely unfortunately) took the advice that any time Tibby tried to play with me physically - jumping on me, mouthing, pulling on my clothes - that she was trying to be dominate.  When in reality.....she just wanted to play and needed some redirection.

I'm still learning and I don't understand it all.  It being playing.  So I don't want to write like I'm some authority on it.  My attempts to play with Tibby are pretty hilarious.  I'm sure Tibby thinks I'm a little....slow.  But we are having A TON O' FUN!!!  We play a lot. 

Last night I tried personal play without a toy.  Tibby LOVED it!  She was better playing with me than with her favorite tug.  She played with me and I have the scars to prove it!  LOL!  Nah, not scars, just little scratches.  We wrestled and she chased me and I chased her and Tibby ran around like a crazy beast.  And then tonight we played again!  Even better - Tibby offered banging the teeter to start our play game.  Every time I would start to slow down, she would bang the teeter again - like a restart button!  Because OF COURSE I go crazy when she bangs the teeter!  Hee hee :)  She loves it :) 

So as a re-cap:  My hard to motivate dog likes to play with me :)  No toys or treats in sight.

Memory Monday

This time last year.....What was Tibby up to?  Why dancing on tables of course!  Dancing On Tables and Never Saying No  not sure that the whole bravery thing has worked out......interesting to see what I was thinking about one year ago.  Wonder what we will be doing next year???


One year ago Tibby was much darker.  Now she's The Blonde.
For anyone searching for sable puppy coat change or do sable Tibetan Terrier's coat color change - HERE YOU GO.  Yes.  They change.  On the outside!!

One Bite

I took Tibby to the vet today for her spring check-up.

She tested positive for Lyme's disease.

Shock, anger, disappointment, regret, sadness...

So the Dr. started her on 100mg of doxycycline for 21 days.

And said we could come back after that and get the vaccine....if we wanted to.

Have I said before how I would like to find another vet????

So like every other person in the world I turned to the wide and all knowing internet for answers.

And the internet couldn't agree.

Yes to doxycycline??  No?  21 days? 3 months? 6 months?

More blood tests?  No blood tests necessary?

Get vaccine?  Don't get vaccine?

Which vaccine?  Lower side affects?

Vaccine will cause more affects in positive dogs?

Treat asymptomatic dogs?  Don't treat asymptomatic dogs?

Urine test yes?  No urine test?

Test again in 6 months?  No need for asymptomatic dogs?

Yeah, no one can agree apparently.

So I gave Tibby the first dose of doxycycline.  It can't hurt her (unless it can) and it made me feel like I was at least doing something!

The pills are huge, but Tibby ate it without any problem.  Plus cheese. 

Stupid ticks.

Stupid Frontline.

Stupid hiking.

Stupid me.

Poor Tibby.

Who Said Summer?

Amazing day, perfect.

Lazin' in the grass.

Third time this week we have taken naps outside in the grass.

Ahhhh!  Wonderful!

2 Dog Team! Brace Agility!

We had so much fun playing agility tonight over at Zoe's house.  This video of Zoe's Mom, Zoe and Tibby all running together is SO CUTE!!  Brace agility!!  Watch out world, I think they are going to be an awesome 3 member team! LOL!!  So cute to see Tibby running for someone else.  Ha ha she ran better for Zoe's Mom than for me!

Silly girl, but OH SO CUTE!!  Funny how BIG she looks next to Zoe's Mom.  She always looks tiny next to me and then when people see her they say she's bigger than they thought.  I think she's just the right size :)

We did a lot of fun things tonight.  Next to the brace agility, my favorite thing was having Zoe and her Mom run around the course and Tibby and I stayed in the middle and did tricks.  Tibby did great!  Not perfect, but she was really wanting to chase Zoe (it was after the 'brace agility') and she stuck with me most of the time.  She is a smart little pup pup.

Agility Evening

I went over to Zoe's Mom's house today.   Lugged all my equipment and set up lesson 4 from the Silvia Trkman foundation course. 

It was a dog party over there today!  There was Tibby, Zoe, Benji and Niko.  Benji and Niko are her sister's dogs.  Niko is soooo cute!  He's a 3 1/2 month old Yorkie puppy.  He REALLY liked Tibby.  He was the size of a medium baked potato and Tibby looked like a giant next to him.  She was very patient with him - cute.  It's the first puppy she's ever played with.

After a nice (maybe too long) play session with all the dogs, Tibby was a little too tired for agility.  Her tongue was hanging way out :)
Of course, when we were done she had a plenty of energy to race around with the dog pack again.

I think we did pretty well.  It was fun.  Relaxed.  Just playing around :) 

She's very nice and tired now!

Kiss, Kiss

Tansy giving Kiwi an ear bath.  They are so cute!

Although it does look like Tansy is eating Kiwi!  LOL!!

Zentek Coat, Vest and Mat Review

I don't usually do reviews of products that I have bought, but I really like the Zentek products.

My parents had their 40th wedding anniversary this month and I bought my Mom a Zentek vest.  She is a long distance runner and runs in all weather. 

The Zentek products are supposed to keep you warm when it is cold and cool when it is hot.  I don't really understand how it works, you can read the information on their website Zentek clothing.  They have some neat pictures that show the vest working.

So I gave the vest to my Mom and she still hasn't worn it running!  Why?  Because she is wearing it all the time and she's afraid it might get sweaty if she runs in it.  She has slept in it every night, except one, since I gave it to her.  The one night she didn't sleep in it?  She didn't sleep.  She was tossing and turning all night.  It's MAGIC!!  It keeps you at the perfect temperature.

She also worries that the black color might attract the sun and heat up.  So maybe next I will have to get her a light colored vest.  Then we could test it out and see what happens.  But it will be a while before I can get her another one!  They are expensive.  But worth the price!

So I of course also got Tibby a coat and 2 of the crate mats.  Tibby's not a huge fan of the coat, but she puts up with it.  She's a dog,  it's a coat - nothing personally to the coat, I'm sure.

The crate mats will take some time.  Right now she is sure they are EVIL.  New and evil.  Sorry mats, nothing personal, just the way Tibby is.  "Scary new things!"

The color is more like the indoor pictures.  I think it's really pretty.  The coat, vest and mats are VERY well made.  I was extremely impressed.  Also, shipping was amazingly fast - like the next day.

They had a special running on their facebook page: a $100 gift certificate for $75 dollars.  I saved like $80 on all of the items that I ordered.  Sweet deal!  And my Mom loves her vest!  That alone was worth it :)

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

Hadabaf

"I had a baf."

"Now let me go rub my wet furz on the carpet!"

When You're Not Watching

Tibby wakes me up every morning and asks to go outside.  Then she runs ahead of me and steals my place in the bed!  I don't mind, but I wish she wouldn't put her feet on my pillow!

"What?  You don't like this?"

"How's this?  Better?"

Also, beware the quiet kitchen.  I thought Tibby was being unusually quiet and I found that she had been using her long tongue to sample some frosting.  My fault for putting it so close to the edge.  I had a laugh about that.  I like it when she's naughty!  She's just naughty enough, but she could be a little naughtier if she wanted to.  The things she thinks of.....she's so cute and funny!

Wordless Weave Wednesday

Good Little Fluffer

We had a very good walk day!  I thought Tibby would pick this up fairly quickly.

We saw a delivery man getting things out of his truck and were able to pass by him (about 6 feet away) with zero reaction from Tibby.  She saw him - he said 'Hi' to us, but she was too busy heeling and working for cheese.

We saw a few cars - I stop and have Tibby sit and eat cheese while they go past, to eliminate the lunging for cars.  Very successful.

We saw a man using a wheelchair lift to put an elderly person into a van (about 20 feet away) Tibby had a level one/two reaction.  Stiff body language, tail dropped, staring hard at the man.  She stared hard at him for about 2 seconds, ignored me when I called her once, but responded when I started to move away from her and called her again.  She looked back once and then kept walking with me.

I read this post today Flying Dog Press and I think it made a difference in my attitude and our success.

I paid attention to Tibby instead of scanning the world for possible threats.  I talked to her and told her she was doing great.  And she was!  She heeled for 90% of the walk.  Once she checked out to pee, once to poop and once to sniff some bird poop.

I don't ask her to heel, but she seems to think that will get her the cheese faster. 

For day 2 I think she is doing great :)

 

Cheesy

Day one of walking reactive retraining went pretty well.  I think Tibby will figure out this game quickly.  It will also help our focus issues in other areas.  Basically I'm asking her to focus on me and ignore the rest of the world.

We went for our walk as it was getting dark.  I was hoping there wouldn't be too many people out walking.  It was such a gorgeous day that I'm sure the 7 parks (yes 7 huge park, too bad Tibby isn't reliable off leash or she could enjoy them) ,that I live next too, were full of people walking the trails. 

So we saw 2 boys on skateboards and 2 people walking.

I saw the boys coming toward us and I stepped off the trail and had Tibby sit facing me and I gave her lots of cheese.  She saw the boys and was biting me fairly hard, when she took the treats.  When they were about 20 feet away she barked once at them and then whipped back around and took some more cheese.  That was pretty good for her.  No lunging and the leash was loose, because she was sitting.  One bark, instead of a screaming fit.

The people walking she did bark a few times at them.  I couldn't stop and have her sit in that situation, because of the way the trails meet in the park.  The people would have eventually been following us - which she does NOT like.  I was able to keep her moving and give her cheese.  She heeled all the way home, hoping to get more cheese.  That's a first.  Hmmm, I just have to carry a cheese stick in one hand.  Magic!

Work in progress. 

Life project.

Stranger Danger

We had a bad walk day.  I'm disappointed in myself.  Tibby is reactive.  It's pretty decided now and I can't pretend that it's not really a problem.  I have been trying to manage it for a long time - since I brought her home at 4 months old.  Now she's 2 and it's only getting worse.  I've been doing some reading and I guess what I have been doing is not all wrong, but I just need to be more prepared.  And honestly say - this is a problem and it needs to be managed better.

Today she had level 8 reactions to - A boy in a hooded sweatshirt who rode up on his bike behind us and an old man that started following us.  She had smaller (quiet) reactions to a boy on a scooter, a plastic ball in the street and 2 small dogs crossing the street 3 blocks away. 

Right now when I see something that is a potential reaction trigger (like a bike, rollerblader, stroller, scooter, men walking alone) I have her sit and we wait for them to pass by us.  I should start carrying treats again....

I do wonder what is wrong with some people - if you saw a dog that was growling, barking, lunging and snapping at you, would you A) ride your scooter as close as possible to the dog? OR  B) Stop to ask why the doggie doesn't like you?

Ok, I'm mean and bad, but I when people see me keeping Tibby of off the sidewalk and waiting for them to pass and they don't give us any space - I sometimes think about letting her go.  Hmmm....yeah it's wrong, but I'll bet they would stay away next time.  I also wonder what would Tibby actually do?  No we won't ever find out.

I crazy thing is that I think people see a cute fluffy dog and don't realize that she (if you are on a bike, rollerblades, scooter or male) wants to rip you up.  Then they get closer and she lets them know.

The old man walking behind us - I was glad she told him off.  And that's part of the problem.  My problem.  She's alerted me to a lot of creepy people on our walks before.  Or the weird neighbor man that peeks over my fence.  Weirdo.   And I like that she tells me about those creepers.   But I don't want her to be known as the mean dog on the block any more.

So now you know.

Our secret.

Videos From Thrusday's Lesson

Two videos from our lesson on Thursday with Loretta. Lots of fun :) I like how happy Tibby looks playing on the dogwalk. She loves RC training. I was so happy to see that she did understand what we wanted and she would try hard to hit the contact, if she missed it the first time.

Manipulation

We had a really good lesson with Loretta today.  Usually I spend the 2 hour drive home thinking about all the different things I wish I had said or done differently.  But this time I didn't even think about it.  It was a good lesson and I wouldn't change anything.

Tibby worked hard for a long time.  She had a few moments when she needed a time out in the crate, but then she would come back ready to work.

There was one funny moment when she decided to try hiding out in the black (previously) 'scary' tunnel to avoid working in the newly 'scary' corner of the building.  Hence the title of this post.  She isn't actually scared of these things, but boy have I taught her well that acting 'scared' gets you lots of treats and you can avoid doing whatever I want.  You would have to be there and work with Tibby for a little while to understand this.  Even Loretta didn't believe me when I first told her that I felt like Tibby was 'playing me'.  I think she believes me now :P

She was SO tired by the end of the hour, but she kept trying for me and did what I asked her to do.

I've said it before, but my favorite part of lessons is having someone watch what we are doing and tell me/explain to me/translate what is going on.  It's also nice to have someone to talk through things and tell you what you're doing is OK! 

Loretta is a really great teacher!

I learned today that Tibby actually does understand the criteria of running contacts.  I've been thinking that she doesn't get it - it seems like I'm rewarding everything, so how could she figure it out.

Really neat to see her thinking and trying different things out.

When she missed leapt and didn't get rewarded, she would come back and run through the contact the next time. 

Good girl!