Weekly Training Update (Sept 25)
PERSONAL AD: Fearful, occasionally snarky 5yo, F, BC seeks suitable dog friends for play dates. Must take well to clumsy, sometimes grumpy, and often bossy attempts at social engagement. …
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Dog Boarding Dilemma
Based on my post Top 10 Ways Veterinarians Can Better Serve Fearful Dogs, I wrote something along the same lines for the Pet Services Journal, a trade magazine for those in the petcare services industry. I don’t have the published issue yet, but I need to whine about my own search for a boarding facility suitable for Lilly and Ginko — both of whom have issues. Right now, it comes down to this: the dog boarding industry (as a whole) is poorly equipped to deal with dogs like mine. That’s why we haven’t gone on vacation …
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Happy, Happy Carnivores
After class on Sunday, which was a bit of a rough one, Lilly and I made our first visit to PC’s Pantry in Boulder, which comes highly recommended by several of our training and blogging friends. Lilly stayed in the car since off-leash dogs are welcome in the store, and there are several cats hanging out, etc. I bought some training treats, some organic shampoo and such, but I also went for some EXTRA SPECIAL treats — raw bison bones from Boulder Dog Food. PC’s keeps them in a freezer. (And, P.S. …
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Our Friends K and KB Need Your Prayers
I just read on KB’s blog that K (her beautiful, brilliant chocolate Lab) is very sick and hospitalized with a potential mushroom poisoning. I just poked at our pal SMRP for an update, and she heard from KB that the latest thought is pancreatitis (like what happened to Ginko recently) but perhaps from mushrooms and maybe a few other tummy troubles. We may never know why she got so sick Monday morning. Let’s just hope she gets better. So, please send both of them good thoughts, prayers, mojo, magic sprinkles, …
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Bobaji: The Sidecar Dog (Feature Article)
In early 2009, I pitched and sold a magazine feature article about Van and Bobaji (the sidecar dog), whom we “met” when I first posted photos of Lilly in a motorcycle sidecar back in October 2008. I’ve posted a couple of their videos before. You can see many of them on YouTube, just search on “vanschannel”. Well, the article on them was originally slated to run in May 2009, then in July 2009, but it finally ran in the current issue of Fido Friendly (Sept-Oct 2009). Savvy readers will …
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Lilly Meets LuLu, Part 1
It’s late, so this is just a quick note. Stay tuned this week for more info and even videos chronicling Lilly’s first extended encounter with a very young puppy. Our agility friend Betsy recently welcomed home LuLu, a performance-bred Australian Shepherd (aka agility dog). She is a total doll — as you will see. …
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Meet Cody: A Retrospective
Since I spent most of this week overcoming a late summer / early fall cold, I have no training news to report. So, I dug out and scanned some photos of Cody, who was my second dog as an adult. He was probably a yellow lab mix of some sort. Here is his story. …
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Real Life Recalls
Yesterday, I sat in my office poking at a few things on my desk, when I heard the distinct sounds of Lilly trying to sass the mules next door. While the mules actually handle her barking and bossing quite well, I’d rather she not get kicked. So, I went to the front door and said in a mostly normal tone of voice — “Lilly, COME.” And, she did. I’m not saying it was perfect, but here is what made it better than your average recall. …
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Lulu Comes Home
Well, it’s official. Aunam Cara She Runs Hot, our agility friend Pitsch’s new baby sister, came home over the weekend. Her call name is LuLu, and we are SO EXCITED to meet her. We have tentative plans to visit next Saturday as part of LuLu’s socialization work. …
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Snake Update
On our walk up to the road to get today’s mail, we spotted our bridge snake friend sunning himself on the rocks. Neither Lilly or Ginko noticed him because we were playing fetch on our way out. On the way back, I told Ginko it was dinnertime, and I asked Lilly to SIDE (which means cross in front of me and move to the other heel side). Once we got both pups in the house, happily eating dinner, Tom went back out to see if the bull snake seemed OK, after Lilly winged him into the pasture on …