I've been putting together a list of things I need to get before the little pup comes home and, my word, it's frightening how expensive it's going to be. I keep making things worse for myself, adding on extra things that I think, "Hey... That'd be handy... Wonder if I can find it online..."
And then of course I do and I can't stop thinking about how useful it'd be. And it gets added to the list.
My two books should, hopefully, be arriving if not by the end of this week then sometime next week. I've got- and am loving- my FURminator. So now I've got this nice long list of various things and I'm trying to prioritise what's so important it needs to be bought before we collect the little fluff bum and what can wait until my bank account total has a little more numbers strung together. My issue isn't that I can't afford everything it's that I'm going to have a whole pile of cash coming out within a very short period of time and there isn't going to be a whole pile left. Not only do I have to pay for the actual pup but also, more or less as soon as we get home, there'll be a vet visit for a check up and vaccination, then another vet visit a couple of weeks later. Along with food, since the puppy has to eat. And that's going to easily all add up to over a thousand bucks. Easily.
I may end up taking a short loan off my parents again just until I get some more pay checks.
But the point of this was I was lurking through Sheltie Nation and came across the crate section. People kept mentioning x pens and of course I had to go have a squiz. Now I'm set on getting one because of how super handy it'll be, having a bigger area that the pup can play in and still be contained without having to pop her in the crate. I'm definite on having her spend time bonding with just me, bonding with Charlie and Jack, and learning to entertain herself. I can also use it outside, when I want her with me but not crated and not underfoot when I'm working Charlie. The only issue, apart from working it into the budget, is our house is small and, even though I have the biggest room in the house, I'm going to have to be doing yoga every time I want to walk around where I'm planning on setting her up.
I spy yet another room revamp on the horizon. My dad's going to kill me.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Coooooones
We have proper little training cone do das. My mum bought them in a pack of four from Big W last Thursday and I've been working with getting Charlie to nose target one when asked to "touch". It's in prep for the running contact work we were going to do at training on Monday, but the weather was out to get us again and brought out the whole stupid "Let's storm NOOOOOOW" attitude it's been doing of late.
So it was cancelled. Grr.
Fingers crossed the rest of the week stays dry and we can go Friday evening. It sucks not having any equipment at home, but hopefully I'll be addressing that issue over the Christmas holidays.
Charlie's doing awesome with the cone work, though, and I'm getting good distance and speed from him now I've stopped with the clicker and treats and switched him over to a verbal marker word and his tiger tug as a reward. I don't know whether it's because I worked him for nearly a year without the clicker or just him being quirky as per usual, but he's a bit funny like that: I can use the clicker and treats with a fair amount of success to start a behaviour off, but once he's progressed a bit I more or less have to change tactics completely to finish off training or he's so sluggish and dull the whole thing is just boring for both of us.
Complicated doggy he is.
So it was cancelled. Grr.
Fingers crossed the rest of the week stays dry and we can go Friday evening. It sucks not having any equipment at home, but hopefully I'll be addressing that issue over the Christmas holidays.
Charlie's doing awesome with the cone work, though, and I'm getting good distance and speed from him now I've stopped with the clicker and treats and switched him over to a verbal marker word and his tiger tug as a reward. I don't know whether it's because I worked him for nearly a year without the clicker or just him being quirky as per usual, but he's a bit funny like that: I can use the clicker and treats with a fair amount of success to start a behaviour off, but once he's progressed a bit I more or less have to change tactics completely to finish off training or he's so sluggish and dull the whole thing is just boring for both of us.
Complicated doggy he is.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Puppy Breaths!
The litter was born via c-section this morning consisting of a single, hefty (300 gram) bitch.
I'm about to burst with excitement. Photos will be following when I get some sent through from the breeder.
She is exactly three years and two weeks younger than Charlie ♥
I'm about to burst with excitement. Photos will be following when I get some sent through from the breeder.
She is exactly three years and two weeks younger than Charlie ♥
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Fuuuuuur
Yes, my awesome grooming tool arrived.
Yes, I made poor Charlie deal with me plonking him on the table and giving it a test drive.
Yes, I did "ooooooh" when I started to get nice big fluffies out of his coat.
It doesn't work miracles on him, like I expected, but it does get quite a bit of the undercoat out. Charlie's got a strange mixture of fur, some of it like human hair and really long and coarse, other bits are dense and puppy fluff, and then there's a whole pile in between so he's not an easy dog to brush with just one tool. I mixed it up with the FURminator and his crappy comb and did a pretty good job if I do say so myself. He also loves it, which I'm very happy about. The slicker is his worst enemy and he fidgets like mad when I try to go over him with it, but I managed to get him to lie down on his side while I line brushed with the FURminator and the little precious went to sleep.
I've also decided that the table on the veranda will not do as a grooming table and I'm going to make my own. Scary stuff, all my DIY projects on the to-do list. I think if I get a metal folding table that's nice and sturdy I can stick some pyramid matting on it for the dogs to grip and that way it can double as a washing table, too; my back is very happy about these plans.
Yes, I made poor Charlie deal with me plonking him on the table and giving it a test drive.
Yes, I did "ooooooh" when I started to get nice big fluffies out of his coat.
It doesn't work miracles on him, like I expected, but it does get quite a bit of the undercoat out. Charlie's got a strange mixture of fur, some of it like human hair and really long and coarse, other bits are dense and puppy fluff, and then there's a whole pile in between so he's not an easy dog to brush with just one tool. I mixed it up with the FURminator and his crappy comb and did a pretty good job if I do say so myself. He also loves it, which I'm very happy about. The slicker is his worst enemy and he fidgets like mad when I try to go over him with it, but I managed to get him to lie down on his side while I line brushed with the FURminator and the little precious went to sleep.
I've also decided that the table on the veranda will not do as a grooming table and I'm going to make my own. Scary stuff, all my DIY projects on the to-do list. I think if I get a metal folding table that's nice and sturdy I can stick some pyramid matting on it for the dogs to grip and that way it can double as a washing table, too; my back is very happy about these plans.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Adventures In Metal
For the past few months, every now and then I'll pick up a bit of pipe, take it to my dad and wave it in his face chanting "jumps, jumps, jumps" until he gets up to help me with yet another prototype.
None have worked. Something about my dad being a perfectionist and the pipe being round and the jump cups not sticking...
Whatever.
The point is we're now looking at making some metal ones- the uprights, that is, with the bar a bit of the aforementioned pipe. Dad's a self taught welder so it should be interesting; once my fence is finished and he's recooped from the stress of it all, we'll be looking into getting started on some of my agility equipment. I'm hoping I can track down- or have dad "borrow" some from work- bits of metal to make the jumps out of that aren't going to break my bank account further than it already has been. He's also had a "brilliant idea" on how to make my proper set of weave poles with a metal base and pipe poles. He kind of had a heart attack when I requested a set of twelve, and the relief was evident when I reconsidered the future use of the weave poles and changed to two sets of three- handy for teaching channel weaves.
I've also located some rather conveniently shaped bits of metal under the boat that could be used as a starting base for either a dog walk or, with a bit of hacking, seesaw. I've got to get my creative hat on, my dad motivated, and some spare cash to devote to building it all.
And I've tracked down some pretty reasonably priced star pickets from the local farm supply store. $4.60 for a five foot picket- seven of those to add onto the five ones we found in the back garden along with the roll of dog wire should bring the basic fence to a fairly low total cost of just over $160. Not including the gate, but I'm sure dad can just knock one up with bits and pieces laying around here- and we're going to dismantle the Fence to Nowhere, the old bird house feeding thing that is never used and the weird log do-da that dad made ages ago to get the corner posts. With the left over concrete from cementing my cockatiel aviary, that's cutting back some costs as well.
It's all falling into place, but my puppy still hasn't been born yet; the breeder has said she'll email me as soon as there's any news, and today is day sixty three of the bitch's pregnancy, so surely I must hear something soon. Tension... It's killing me slowly.
None have worked. Something about my dad being a perfectionist and the pipe being round and the jump cups not sticking...
Whatever.
The point is we're now looking at making some metal ones- the uprights, that is, with the bar a bit of the aforementioned pipe. Dad's a self taught welder so it should be interesting; once my fence is finished and he's recooped from the stress of it all, we'll be looking into getting started on some of my agility equipment. I'm hoping I can track down- or have dad "borrow" some from work- bits of metal to make the jumps out of that aren't going to break my bank account further than it already has been. He's also had a "brilliant idea" on how to make my proper set of weave poles with a metal base and pipe poles. He kind of had a heart attack when I requested a set of twelve, and the relief was evident when I reconsidered the future use of the weave poles and changed to two sets of three- handy for teaching channel weaves.
I've also located some rather conveniently shaped bits of metal under the boat that could be used as a starting base for either a dog walk or, with a bit of hacking, seesaw. I've got to get my creative hat on, my dad motivated, and some spare cash to devote to building it all.
And I've tracked down some pretty reasonably priced star pickets from the local farm supply store. $4.60 for a five foot picket- seven of those to add onto the five ones we found in the back garden along with the roll of dog wire should bring the basic fence to a fairly low total cost of just over $160. Not including the gate, but I'm sure dad can just knock one up with bits and pieces laying around here- and we're going to dismantle the Fence to Nowhere, the old bird house feeding thing that is never used and the weird log do-da that dad made ages ago to get the corner posts. With the left over concrete from cementing my cockatiel aviary, that's cutting back some costs as well.
It's all falling into place, but my puppy still hasn't been born yet; the breeder has said she'll email me as soon as there's any news, and today is day sixty three of the bitch's pregnancy, so surely I must hear something soon. Tension... It's killing me slowly.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Waaaay Too Much Time
I was given permission to get a puppy and two months later we visited the AWL and adopted Charlie. It was all very instant, with little time to really prep in the same way I'm prepping for my sheltie since I had no idea what sort of dogs were going to be available the day we went, what dog I was going to adopt, what gender I was going to end up with- I was hoping for a bitch, ended up with a dog, though- and there was a whole less of the anxious anticipation I'm getting now; there was also less time for me to ponder over names.
Charlie was called Crunchie- the litter he was in were all named after chocolates: Picnic, Snickers, etc, etc- and he was renamed on the way home in the car. It was either that or Harry, since he had that sort of look about him.
My puppy still hasn't been born yet, though it should be within the next day or two at the latest, and even though I'm still not one hundred per cent sure that I am getting a bitch, I'm left with a whole lot more time to kill and knowledge about what my future dog is going to be which means I'm going through dozens and dozens of possible names.
I'm big on finding a name that fits the dog, not me just flinging a name I love at it, so I've got a short list drawn up that I'll hopefully be able to pick a perfect name off:
Female
Lyric;
Myah;
Mia;
Flo; and
Willow
Male (just in case)
Fletcher;
Jif; and
Zeke
So now I've just got wait oh so patiently until the pups are born and keep my fingers crossed that one of those names fits my new fur baby. And if none of them do, it'll be back to the drawing board and I'll try not to think about how much time I've wasted pondering over these :P
Charlie was called Crunchie- the litter he was in were all named after chocolates: Picnic, Snickers, etc, etc- and he was renamed on the way home in the car. It was either that or Harry, since he had that sort of look about him.
My puppy still hasn't been born yet, though it should be within the next day or two at the latest, and even though I'm still not one hundred per cent sure that I am getting a bitch, I'm left with a whole lot more time to kill and knowledge about what my future dog is going to be which means I'm going through dozens and dozens of possible names.
I'm big on finding a name that fits the dog, not me just flinging a name I love at it, so I've got a short list drawn up that I'll hopefully be able to pick a perfect name off:
Female
Lyric;
Myah;
Mia;
Flo; and
Willow
Male (just in case)
Fletcher;
Jif; and
Zeke
So now I've just got wait oh so patiently until the pups are born and keep my fingers crossed that one of those names fits my new fur baby. And if none of them do, it'll be back to the drawing board and I'll try not to think about how much time I've wasted pondering over these :P
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Awaiting The Arrival Of... The FURMINATOR!
I came across a couple of reviews and mentions of the FURminator, particularly in relation to long haired double coated breeds- hello little shelties of the world- and curiosity got the better of me: this was also just after my mum had melted into a pile of emotional goo about the "huge amount of dog hair all over the floor", so when said reviews and mentions included "reduces shedding" I figured if it'd help get my mum off my back and the hair on the dog instead of the floor all the better.
Then I saw the price tag and I just about died.
Eighty plus bucks for a brush. A brush.
It'd have to do something amazing- more amazing than strip a poodle worth of fur out of a dog- for me to fork out that much cash; I don't mind spending oodles on my pets, but keeping in mind I've got a nine hundred dollar dog to buy, another crate, maybe a flight for the puppy depending on what happens with driving down and whatnot, food, a spey, vaccinations, multiple collars and leads (because I have bad leash karma and they will be chewed within five seconds of first using them), fencing and star pickets- for a start- along with keeping the rest of my pets well looked after on my rather modest pay means I have to be realistic. And eighty bucks for a single brush just isn't so.
Of course I ran to eBay in a mad panic, hoping to maybe come across a secondhand one I could snatch up for a fraction of the cost and found dozens of the damn things for no more than $16, new, still in the packets, with free postage and handling. I've ordered a medium one and I should have it by the end of the week at the very latest. Although it apparently isn't as effective on shorter coated breeds, I'm going to subject poor Charlie to my first fumbling attempts at line brushing once it comes and see what it does. I won't have to use it on the sheltie until she's older and got her full coat in, but practice makes perfect and it ain't ever hurt anyone- though Charlie may object to that.
I've also got my fingers crossed that my first ever international order- Sheltie Talk (the breed bible and a book all scared newbie sheltie parents need to have) and the Illustrated Guide to Sheltie Grooming (since I am such a bumbling fool when it comes to the more intricate art form of grooming long coats)- arrives safely sometime in the near future; I had to order from Alpine Publishers in America since both books apparently don't exist in Australia. How handy. Both books are quite cheap but the postage is nearly $30 which boosted it up quite a lot.
My poor, poor bank account. It's had a couple of hefty sugeries of late and it seems that just when it starts to recover I'm back in there with scrubs and a scalpel.
Then I saw the price tag and I just about died.
Eighty plus bucks for a brush. A brush.
It'd have to do something amazing- more amazing than strip a poodle worth of fur out of a dog- for me to fork out that much cash; I don't mind spending oodles on my pets, but keeping in mind I've got a nine hundred dollar dog to buy, another crate, maybe a flight for the puppy depending on what happens with driving down and whatnot, food, a spey, vaccinations, multiple collars and leads (because I have bad leash karma and they will be chewed within five seconds of first using them), fencing and star pickets- for a start- along with keeping the rest of my pets well looked after on my rather modest pay means I have to be realistic. And eighty bucks for a single brush just isn't so.
Of course I ran to eBay in a mad panic, hoping to maybe come across a secondhand one I could snatch up for a fraction of the cost and found dozens of the damn things for no more than $16, new, still in the packets, with free postage and handling. I've ordered a medium one and I should have it by the end of the week at the very latest. Although it apparently isn't as effective on shorter coated breeds, I'm going to subject poor Charlie to my first fumbling attempts at line brushing once it comes and see what it does. I won't have to use it on the sheltie until she's older and got her full coat in, but practice makes perfect and it ain't ever hurt anyone- though Charlie may object to that.
I've also got my fingers crossed that my first ever international order- Sheltie Talk (the breed bible and a book all scared newbie sheltie parents need to have) and the Illustrated Guide to Sheltie Grooming (since I am such a bumbling fool when it comes to the more intricate art form of grooming long coats)- arrives safely sometime in the near future; I had to order from Alpine Publishers in America since both books apparently don't exist in Australia. How handy. Both books are quite cheap but the postage is nearly $30 which boosted it up quite a lot.
My poor, poor bank account. It's had a couple of hefty sugeries of late and it seems that just when it starts to recover I'm back in there with scrubs and a scalpel.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
This Is Just Classic XD
So of course I have to share ^ . ^
WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD?
(Dog Trainer Version)
Author: Unknown
Pavlov: we fed the chicken on the opposite side of the road each day at 4p.m. until the chicken’s autonomic system actually began causing the chicken to cross the road at 4 p.m. without even questioning the “why.”
B.F. Skinner: on prior occasions when the chicken voluntarily crossed the road, this behavior was followed immediately by a reinforcing consequence.
Cesar Milan: I bullied, chased, poked, and intimidated the chicken until it raced across the road, because I am a strong leader.
Barbara Woodhouse: You just say, “Walkies” with the right accent and place a crumpet on the other side of the road.
Karen Pryor: by associating R+ with road crossing and P+ withstanding still, with a VR schedule, and offering a reward in keeping with the Premack principle, we increased the intensity and frequency of the road crossing behavior.
Bill Koehler: a few well-timed pops on the choke chain and the chicken was cheerfully to crossing the road.
Nicholas Dodman: I gave the chicken fluoxetine, sertraline, paroxetine, carbamazepine, and azapirone and then it was happy to cross the road.
Patti Ruzzo: I crossed the road, pausing every step to spit a treat out of my mouth like a human pez dispenser and the chicken followed along catching the treats.
Electric Collar Advocate: whenever the chicken does not cross the road I give it an electric shock. But do not worry, the shock is no more than you would feel if you walked on a carpet wearing socks and it does not bother the chicken at all. The feathers standing up and the smell of burning flesh mean nothing. In fact, they are happier having nice clear communication than they would be otherwise.
Yuppie: chickens are just like little people in feather jackets, and if you love them and give them diamonds and feel sorry for them all the time, they will be happy to cross the road for you.
Paris Hilton: Because I put it in a Gucci bag and carried it.
Shelter director: Any chickens that do not cross the road will be euthanized for their own good, and the others we will ‘adopt’ out tomorrow for only $200 each. Please send us money so we can keep doing more of this important work!
HSUS member: I do not know anything about animals, I have never been around animals and am not really fond of animals, but we passed a law mandating that chickens be kept without cages because animals belong only in the wild and cannot be happy coexisting with man, so now they are walking wherever they want.
PETA member: chickens have the right to live in world without roads. Any chicken that lives within a hundred miles of a road is suffering an inhumane existence and might eventually be hit by a car so we should kill it today to ensure that it does not die tomorrow.
WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD?
(Dog Trainer Version)
Author: Unknown
Pavlov: we fed the chicken on the opposite side of the road each day at 4p.m. until the chicken’s autonomic system actually began causing the chicken to cross the road at 4 p.m. without even questioning the “why.”
B.F. Skinner: on prior occasions when the chicken voluntarily crossed the road, this behavior was followed immediately by a reinforcing consequence.
Cesar Milan: I bullied, chased, poked, and intimidated the chicken until it raced across the road, because I am a strong leader.
Barbara Woodhouse: You just say, “Walkies” with the right accent and place a crumpet on the other side of the road.
Karen Pryor: by associating R+ with road crossing and P+ withstanding still, with a VR schedule, and offering a reward in keeping with the Premack principle, we increased the intensity and frequency of the road crossing behavior.
Bill Koehler: a few well-timed pops on the choke chain and the chicken was cheerfully to crossing the road.
Nicholas Dodman: I gave the chicken fluoxetine, sertraline, paroxetine, carbamazepine, and azapirone and then it was happy to cross the road.
Patti Ruzzo: I crossed the road, pausing every step to spit a treat out of my mouth like a human pez dispenser and the chicken followed along catching the treats.
Electric Collar Advocate: whenever the chicken does not cross the road I give it an electric shock. But do not worry, the shock is no more than you would feel if you walked on a carpet wearing socks and it does not bother the chicken at all. The feathers standing up and the smell of burning flesh mean nothing. In fact, they are happier having nice clear communication than they would be otherwise.
Yuppie: chickens are just like little people in feather jackets, and if you love them and give them diamonds and feel sorry for them all the time, they will be happy to cross the road for you.
Paris Hilton: Because I put it in a Gucci bag and carried it.
Shelter director: Any chickens that do not cross the road will be euthanized for their own good, and the others we will ‘adopt’ out tomorrow for only $200 each. Please send us money so we can keep doing more of this important work!
HSUS member: I do not know anything about animals, I have never been around animals and am not really fond of animals, but we passed a law mandating that chickens be kept without cages because animals belong only in the wild and cannot be happy coexisting with man, so now they are walking wherever they want.
PETA member: chickens have the right to live in world without roads. Any chicken that lives within a hundred miles of a road is suffering an inhumane existence and might eventually be hit by a car so we should kill it today to ensure that it does not die tomorrow.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Yet Another Puppy Update
I emailed the breeder aaaaaaaaand...
The bitch is due from Saturday :D Which means, all going well, my sheltie could be joining my furry family in early December.
I'm emailing the breeder again on Sunday for an update and keeping my fingers crossed so tightly I'm in danger of cutting off the circulation.
Two months will feel like forever but I know it's going to fly by so quickly I'll be scampering around like a lunatic to get everything organised O.O
The bitch is due from Saturday :D Which means, all going well, my sheltie could be joining my furry family in early December.
I'm emailing the breeder again on Sunday for an update and keeping my fingers crossed so tightly I'm in danger of cutting off the circulation.
Two months will feel like forever but I know it's going to fly by so quickly I'll be scampering around like a lunatic to get everything organised O.O
Friday, October 8, 2010
Charlie And Jack Bob For Chunkers
From the other day; it was warm, I had a bucket, some water and some Chunkers that needed to be used.
This happened.
This happened.
How Time Does Fly...
Yesterday- 7th October- was Charlie's third birthday and I can't believe how quickly the time's gone! On December the twelfth I'll have owned him for three years, too. It's both mind boggling and uplifting to look back over all those months, remember where we used to be- with the fear aggression and lack of focus and bolting and yadi yada- and where we are now. He can be the most infuriating, frustrating dog to work with, but he is a whole lot of fun.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Puppy Update
Not very new, but because I'm slack I'm only posting now.
After an exhausting search involving a seriously unpleasant experience with a rather suspicious breeder and some major disappointments, I do believe I have found a breeder- and a backup breeder should the need arise.
I was all set to go with a Scotsdream puppy, due end of October, but the breeder emailed me with the news that the bitch wasn't actually pregnant. I'd kind of fallen just a tiny bit in love with this breeder and her dogs, so it was a real shame. She said she'd be more than happy to put me on a reservation list for a litter planned for early next year, but with the puppies not being ready to go until the end of June/beginning of July, it was really pushing my ideal time frame.
So I headed back to another breeder, Hillswick, I'd emailed who left her phone number for me to call for a chat. Technical difficulties aplenty, but I finally managed to speak to her and got a really good vibe about the whole thing. And she has puppies due end of October, which will be ready to go end of December/early January; perfect timing. She's all the way down in Orange- a twenty four to twenty six hour round trip by car- so if I am able to get a suitable puppy from her I'll either have it flown up to collect at the airport, or convince my dad that taking a weekend road trip would be just dandy; it would mean I could scrape together a whole more hours for my learner's, anyway.
Very exciting stuff, and I can't wait until the puppies are born so I know exactly what's happening and when.
After an exhausting search involving a seriously unpleasant experience with a rather suspicious breeder and some major disappointments, I do believe I have found a breeder- and a backup breeder should the need arise.
I was all set to go with a Scotsdream puppy, due end of October, but the breeder emailed me with the news that the bitch wasn't actually pregnant. I'd kind of fallen just a tiny bit in love with this breeder and her dogs, so it was a real shame. She said she'd be more than happy to put me on a reservation list for a litter planned for early next year, but with the puppies not being ready to go until the end of June/beginning of July, it was really pushing my ideal time frame.
So I headed back to another breeder, Hillswick, I'd emailed who left her phone number for me to call for a chat. Technical difficulties aplenty, but I finally managed to speak to her and got a really good vibe about the whole thing. And she has puppies due end of October, which will be ready to go end of December/early January; perfect timing. She's all the way down in Orange- a twenty four to twenty six hour round trip by car- so if I am able to get a suitable puppy from her I'll either have it flown up to collect at the airport, or convince my dad that taking a weekend road trip would be just dandy; it would mean I could scrape together a whole more hours for my learner's, anyway.
Very exciting stuff, and I can't wait until the puppies are born so I know exactly what's happening and when.
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