The End Of 2012

Wow!  2012 what a year.  There have been a lot of changes.  Last year I made 2 posts: One with what we had done and one with goals for the next year.  This year, just one post.  

I started out the year with the idea that I might add another dog to the family, but I wanted to put everything I  could into training Tibby.  Tibby's my baby girl.  With two dogs I thought there might not be enough resources to go around - time, money....love.

2012 was all about the puppy.

So I pushed Tibby and we went on many adventures and I was frustrated a lot.  A lot of dreams and jealousy of other people's dogs.  

Finally I decided I was going to add another dog to the family.  I made a list of what I wanted in a dog.  I thought about adoption.  Then I added my name to a list for a Tibetan Terrier puppy litter that was due in the late Fall.  To keep myself busy and not to frustrate Tibby any more, I volunteered to foster a dog.  I had a lot of fun fostering Ellie and I seriously thought about adopting her, but then I didn't.  I also thought about adopting a puppy from a different place, but then I didn't.  I also thought about taking my name off of the puppy list.  The puppies were so expensive and I felt really guilty spending so much money on one puppy.  Something just for me.  For the price of one puppy I could help a bunch of foster dogs.  What to do?

  Then I got the message that I had not only been moved from the fall litter, but that there was a puppy for me in a litter that was already born.  The last pick of the litter.  And it was a boy.

Wow, last pick and a boy.  I'd never had a boy and I'd always imagined that I would get another girl.  Also, last pick?  What to do?

I went with my heart and said I would take him.  I didn't feel any deep connection looking at his first pictures, but I knew that I wanted him.  Once the decision was made I stopped worrying. It felt like the right decision.

And it was.  So, so happy that I chose Dhali.  Last pick was THE BEST pick!!! :)

And surprise! my heart has plenty of room for two.

This was also the year that I made the big decision to take Tibby to the U of M and see a Behavioral Veterinarian.  Tibby started meds and we are still waiting to see what the future holds for Tibby, but the meds have helped her a lot.  She is calmer and more balanced.  I feel like I'm getting my Tibby back and her personality is starting to show.  

Goals for 2013:

Well, since I hardly met any of my goals for 2012 (see previous post) I will try to keep the 2013 goals modest.

For Tibby:  Go on a walk and not react to anyone or any thing.

For Dhali:  Oh, man I have so many dreams for Dhali.   He'll be a year old at the end of May.  He'll be 18 months old at the end of November.  Old enough to enter an agility trial (!!!!).

My goal is: Play and have fun.

That's it.  If other things happen this year, they will happen, if they don't - there is always 2014!



Our year in video!  Yes it is a long movie, BUT it goes by pretty fast.  We had a very busy year, but I say that every year!

See you next year!

We can't wait to start another year FULL of ADVENTURE!

Incoming!

Snowshoeing With Dhali

Dhali went on his first snowshoe hike.  When I first put the snowshoes on he looked at me like, "What do you have on?!?  Well, just make sure people know you dressed yourself!"

I was a little rusty and I fell down once.  You can't walk backwards, oh yeah, now I remember!  It has been a long time since I snowshoe-ed (showshoed? snowshoeed? spellcheck doesn't like any of them).  We didn't have any snow last year, so the last time I went snowshoeing was the winter of 2010/2011 and Tibby was the same age as Dhali is now.  And she wore the same coat!  Here she is Winter Water.  You will notice that she has about 200% more (fur) coat than Dhali does.  She had/has the thickest coat ever.  Dhali is sparse by comparison. 

It was about 7 F degrees (according to my car), not too bad.  The breeze off of the lake was cool, but when we got away from there it was a lot warmer.

    

We went about 2 miles farther than I wanted to.  The map made it look like the trail was a 2.5 mile loop.  Oh, yeah it's a loop.  You walk out to the end of the trail and then turn around and walk back.  It was a very nice trail though.  No one yelled at us and it was nice to be on a trail where we were allowed. 

 Back story:  One time we were snowshoeing and some skiers yelled/swore at us, because we were on the wrong trail.  It scared me for life.  Now I hate skiers!   

We met some skiers today on OUR clearly marked snowshoe trail and I was very polite.  They were complaining that there weren't any groomed tracks for their skis.  Yes, that's because the 8 MILES of skiing trails are over there.  But I didn't say that!  I just said "Hello."

I have a bunch of cute pictures from today's hike.  Dhali is so cute!  He's a good hiker too.  He stays on the trail and pulls me along!  He sniffed off the trail about 10% of the time.  That means I have to either stop and wait for him or try to get him back on to the trail.  So when he was going full steam straight ahead it was nice!  Tibby is about 90% of the time off the trail.  I like Dhali's percentages better - easier on my shoulders.  

We met 2 other people snowshoeing and Dhali was a good boy.  He passed them very politely.  

He started chewing out ice balls out of his feet about 20 mins. from the car.  We were hiking for 1 1/2 hours, so that's not too bad.  At that point I was wishing someone would come and pick us up!  I think he could use some shoes on his front feet.  The back ones didn't seem to get any snow at all stuck in them.  Although it was pretty cold, so the snow wasn't sticking to anything.

2nd Puppy Agility Class -With Video!

Dhali is so awesome!  He's so awesome that I got lost on the way home from puppy class, because I was re-living each moment of class.  We made it home, but it was dark, snowy AND foggy.  Fog and snow - that seems unfair.  Only added another 30 mins. to our trip, so not too bad - 3 1/2 hours total round trip.

This is a video of just a few seconds of class.  We did the same order of obstacles right before the video was taken - except we didn't do the chute.

I feel bad about Dhali getting caught on the little fence by the teeter.  I also feel bad about the dog barking at him when he was going through the tunnel.  It surprised him and he was a little hesitant.  You can see I take him to the table instead of the chute.  That was because of the dog barking at him and also I thought a 90 degree pull into the chute would be awfully hard.

I really wanted to say something to the guy with the aussie that barked when Dhali went through the tunnel.  His dog barked every time another dog ran through the tunnel.  It was a reactive sort of bark.  I felt bad for him though, because he was already being so hard on himself.

This was Dhali's first time on a table.  He jumped right up on it when I asked him to - yay for playing climb on this games!  This week I have been trying to teach him to lie down.  It's really been hard and I've started trying to lure it, because we weren't getting any where.  I really, really want to teach one of the dogs to roll over!  I have had this goal FOREVER and I still haven't been able to do it.  So simple and so difficult.

Anyway.  Dhali did really good at class.  There ended up being 2 classes for puppy agility, because 4 new puppies came that hadn't had any exposure to agility stuff.  It was fun to watch them - lots of people crawling into tunnels.

I crated Dhali for the first break - while the other group was working.  He did really well.  I could watch him in the big mirrors on the wall and he was just sitting there, watching the other dogs.  And there was a tiny baby Toller (same one as before) screaming in the crate above him and another Toller chilling in the crate next to him.

I think I will always crate him, because it is more relaxing for him.  When we had the 2nd break I took him with me into the little waiting room (first I took him outside to run around a little bit) and he whined and was not as happy.

There were 3 puppies in Dhali's class - Dhali and 2 Aussies.  In the new group there were 2 cattle dogs, a BC and a doberman.  The class is fun, but I still don't agree with puppies on pinch collars at an agility class.  I'm glad I have taken a lot of online classes and gone to a lot of seminars.  It makes it a lot easier to pick out what I want from the class and ignore what I don't want.

Last time he wasn't interested in food at all and wanted to play.  This time he was more into food and not that interested in playing with toys.  He still wanted to play with me.  It was a lot busier class and there were more dogs.

This was also Dhali's first time doing a chute with a hard barrel.  He's done the chute in the basement, but that has a soft barrel.  And I think we've only done that maybe....twice?  He didn't have any trouble going through the chute.  Even after the instructor accidentally stepped on him when he came out of it one time.  She feltt so bad and Dhali was like, "What?"  It didn't phase him.

The first thing we did in class was an L shaped tunnel and Dhali was like - I can't do that!  With it straightened a tiny bit he was fine.  So work on L shaped tunnels!  We did table/hoop/red tunnel/yellow tunnel the first time around and Dhali was the only puppy to get the hoop.  :)  Good boy!  Not like I did anything!  I just run with him and if he takes stuff - yay!
I'm glad we didn't have the silly orange cones tonight - I was going to sit that part out if they were doing that again.

I was really proud of Dhali - he makes everything so easy.

Goals? Or Dreams?

Time to wrap up the year again.  Here are the goals I made last year:

Last year's goals post.

• Grow out and maintain Tibby's full coat - nope!  Didn't happen.  It might this year though - her groomer is moving away.  
• Finish Recallers course - nope!  Didn't happen
• Work with desensitization CDs - again, no not really.
• Get Tibby comfortable in a crate around other dogs - possibly use Lucy for this - I think Tibby made a lot of progress with this one.  Being around other dogs would have been a big step, but she is comfortable in her crate at home and I even crated her for 4 hours when I went to work.  Only once, but still.
• Stay with Tibby overnight in a hotel - Yes!  We did this.  Two nights in a hotel and I never want to do it again.
• Volunteer at a trial - Not yet.  I've tried, but people seem to think it is really weird to volunteer, if you don't have a dog showing.  I only tried at an AKC, maybe I will try USDAA instead.
• Progress to tugging around other dogs - yeah, no.
• Attend a seminar (signed up for Impossible Dogs seminar in Feb.) - yes we did a bunch of seminars - When Pigs Fly, Daisy Peel, Ann Braue and Loretta Mueller.  Not sure that this was a great idea for Tibby with her stress issues.  Might be why she was getting worse and worse this year.
• Attend the Tibetan Terrier Nationals in St. Louis and enter a fun run - uh, yeah no.  maybe 2014???
• Take more online courses - I made this as a goal??  Really checked this one off.  We did a lot of online classes.  Again, not sure if it was good for Tibber, but I learn a lot and it's helping with Dhali's training.
• Pass the CGC test - ha ha ha ha ha, sorry!  That did NOT happen.
• Work more on obedience - nope.
• More clicker training tricks - nope.
• Hike in 2 new state parks - nope.
• Take Tibby swimming - I took her to the beach while Dhali was swimming.  I think that counts.  She's so freaked out by water....yeah the beach counts.
  
  
  So What DID we do all year???  Not sure.   I need to make a 'what happened round up" post.
  
  
  
  
  Don't forget to vote for Dhali!!!  Here's the link All I Got Contest
  He's in 4th place with 6 votes. 
  Thank you to the 5 people who have voted!!

I'm A Unicorn!

Dhali rockin' a manly blue pony tail.  

Head tilt!  Can ya' say, "Awwww"?

Itty bitty tongue.

Jingle Hippo, Jingle Hippo

Jingle Hippo toy!  This toy is still rattling around the yard.  Looks pretty good!  Not bad for an Ikea baby toy.

Here is Tibby with the same toy in 2011 - Tibby

Bully Stick Contest

I made this cute video of Dhali and entered it in a contest for bully sticks.  I don't have 6,000 FB friends so we probably won't win, but I think our video is super cute.  Totally biased, but Dhali is the CUTEST.

Check it out here - All I Got Contest.

Let us know if you think it is cute with your vote!

Contest ends in a couple days and then the cute video will be gone fo-r-e-v-e-r......

Something Sad

About 20 mins. ago I saw a post on FB from a friend of a friend that her dog had just given birth to 3 puppies.  This is sad.  

This dog is barely a year old.  

It is a papillon/bichon cross that her family paid a huge amount for from a pet store.

She bred it to the neighbor's dog - a Heinz 57 dog.  Not an accidental breeding - she has been talking about doing it since she bought her dog.

Neither dog has had their shots or goes to the vet or is regularly treated for parasites.

Breeding a dog is a HUGE responsibility.  After my experiences with Tibby and her poor breeding and all the issues that come with that.....it makes me very, very sad and also angry.

There are so many things that could go wrong with a litter of puppies - Parvo for one.  And dogs are STILL dying in my town from Parvo.  That is ridiculous.

I told this person all the reasons not to have a litter of puppies, but it didn't do any good!  Very sad.

Wordless Wednesday Kiss

Eat Snow

"Weeeeeeeeeee!"

"Can't catch me!"

"But I can....

....catch YOU!"

Tibby: "Eat snow, little puppy face!"

Dhali: "Mghrdhkl!"

Tibby: "Eat some more snow!  Here have a pawful in the FACE!"

Dhali : "I eated snow."

Pretty Presents

My Two Special Gifts!

Doesn't Dhali look teenager-ish?  

The best gift(s) I ever bought myself.

And now the funny outtake, blooper pictures.  Hee hee hee!

"Sun is TOO bright, ewww."

"Eyes, pain.  Too bright."

"I'm being tortured by this extremely heavy ribbon.  Ugh, it's cold out here and my feet are freezing.  I can't move!  I'm frozen.  Oh, woe is me, I will die here in this frozen wasteland, while you take pictures to document my becoming an icicle.  Oh WOE is me."

Sunglasses

"I'm so bright, your* gonna need sunglasses."

An old pair of sunglasses - one of the many things Dhali has found in the yard this week.  I swear I do not know where he is finding all this stuff, but he sure is having fun bring all his treasures up onto the deck.  

"Now how do I get these things on?"

*your/you're Dhali doesn't do grammar, he chews it up and barks at it.

Rubba Dub Dub

One dog in the tub!

Rubba dub dub....

Two dogs in the tub! 

Tibby: "Don't look so happy about it."

Dhali: "I can't help it!!!"

Dhali: "Mmm, my bubbles taste yummy.

Tibby: "That's gross.  Stop eating the bubbles."

Dhali: "I can't help it!  They're jumping into my mouth!"

She's My Sister.....

and I looooove her.

Dhali Is 7 Months Old!

Dhali is 7 months old!  He's learned so much in the last month.  I didn't think it was possible, but we are having even more fun playing together :)

He is such a fun little guy!

The first 30 sec. of the video are messed up, so just skip them.

Dhali at 7 months - I LOVE this little puppy!!!!! 

He is so much fun to play with and he LOVES to play.  He makes everything easy.  I finally understand what people are talking about when they talk about playing with your dog.  I can't wait to see him at 17 months - agility is going to be so much fun with him.  Fingers crossed I don't screw it up :) 

He learns SO fast.  It's scary.  He is really easy - he has drive and wants SO BAD to do whatever he can to keep the game going.  I'm very lucky to have him - how did I get so lucky?

Dhali has learned to wait in his crate to be released.  He's getting really good at it.  He learned to wrap around a jump and we started doing figure 8's.  He's also started running through an open channel (beginning weave practice),but I didn't get that on this video. 

I added a 2nd jump, because I found at that puppy class we went to Dhali came in to me after every jump.  Now he's getting better at going through the 2nd jump.  It would help to have a bit more space to run in!  But we work with what we have.  

Tonight he taught himself to set up between my legs and it only took 5 treats.  He's smart.  Not patient, but definitely smart.

I love his little bark at the end when I ask him if he's read.  So cute!  He's done that since he was ity bity.

Wordless Wednesday

I was busy with this project and 2 craft projects this weekend.  Tibby thought I was boring.