Fix it

Vacation has been full of fix its. Sage chewed the cord on the Shop Vac, toilet leaking and new smoke alarms need installing as my furnace is old. Shop Vac was easy enough-put on a new plug and dig out the extension cord from the garage. Toilet possibly needs a new seal-simple but not easy. I've not done that before and will need a strong person to lift it but it's doable. Smoke alarms I'll put where the old ones were. Always something isn't it. And, got to play some with my dogs. That's always fun. We play every day but more so on vacation.

Also we play outside everyday as I pick up the dog doo every day. You know I have multiple dogs so there's multiple dog doo. And you can't just leave it there. You would think it just dissinegrates into the ground and I guess if you had one small dog that would not be an issue. But we have piles every day so every day I pick it up. At least then we can run and play and not step in it. And also keep the neighbors happy.

Tis the Season

Tis the season for me to take vacation. I haven't taken much this year and many people are busy this week anyway so attendence in class is down. I will be closed Monday 11-23 thru Sunday 11-29 resuming classes on Monday 11-30. Just cleaning and resting are the plans. I just need a break to catch my breath. I also rest so I can clearly and creatively come up with more exciting things to do in class. I plan to also get out with Sage on the foot trails so I can plan that class also. We may also do some beginning scent tracking this spring. I think that would be fun. Sage is a natural at it. Have a great Thanksgiving. Christmas is just a few short weeks away. I can't believe it but I love it. This season is the best.

Good bye sweet girl.

Just got an email from a client informing me that they put their dog down over a bite incident. I'm sure it was serious and I'm sure they thought long and hard before putting her down. I take it very hard when a dog from my class is put down. I always wonder if I could have done more, said more, trained more, warned more. She was a beautiful little aussie and just had a problem with kids and strangers. A big problem. Her owner worked and worked with her but I still think we could have possibly saved her somehow. People will argue-why save the problem ones when there are so many good ones with no home. Because all problem dogs started out as normal puppies and a human messed them up somewhere along the way. Usually not intentionally just misinformed. I'm going to miss you sweet girl.

Back to Blogging

Took a break from blogging as other things have kept me busy. Such as out of town company, brochure designing (having a terrible time with it) and just general busyness. I'm working on two new classes for after the first of the year: Therapy Dog Training and Adventure Trails. I have to do tons of research for both to get ready. I was inspired by Moments with Baxter, a 19 yr old therapy dog that passed away a couple weeks ago. If you go to YouTube.com and search Moments with Baxter you will find a few videos of him. Lots of my clients want to do therapy work with their dogs but do not know how to get started or certified.

Adventure Trails was inspired by my Leash walks in the Park which no one was interested in but every one needs. We are going to hike the foot trails of the Hamilton County Parks. There are lots of them and Sage and I have to go and explore them first so I can plan the classes. Each course will be 5-6 weeks and have a one time charge. Possibly $60 or $70.

Other concerns for me have been clients that just don't get the whole positive training thing. They still yell, jerk and worse and their dogs keep misbehaving. They don't understand that their dogs aren't being stubborn (they're just puppies). The pups really don't get it yet. It takes repetition after repetition after repetition in a calm, confident tone with lots of rewards. Lots of practice over lots of time. Dogs are easier to train than people, unfortunately.