Bark in the Park!

Caleb and I just came back from Bark in the Park, it was fantastic! He did really well, although he pulled the entire time we were there. I was able to practice a few commands with him in all the hullabaloo (sit, down, watch), and he did really well bringing his focus back to me when I asked for it. But when I was not asking for it, it was PULL, PULL, PULL!

I read an article last night by Ian Dunbar talking about fading the food lure. He suggested making the thing the dog wants the reward for doing what we want him to do. So I practiced at Bark in the Park asking him to sit / down / watch, then made the reward taking off to say hello to the nearest dog wandering by. It worked very well, and reinforced in me our need to get out more often to different locations with larger groups of dogs. Now, as for heel....well, heel takes a lot of work when we're not surrounded by hundreds of friendly people and dogs who want to say hello, so I just put his harness on so his neck would be ok, and focused on commands I knew he'd have a good chance of succeeding at. Less stress for all involved. :-)

There were TONS of cute doggie related goodies, but I managed to control myself.


The Breakdown:

• Bought a car magnet that says: 'BAN STUPID PEOPLE, NOT DOGS'. :-)

• Donated some money to the German Shepherd Rescue of Northern California. I have already decided that I am adopting a German Shepherd from them roughly the day after I buy a house with a yard! **must keep saving**

• Got Caleb a sample of some all homemade all organic dog food. Caleb LOOOOOOVED it, but I am NOT buying it. It looked life barf and was even more expense than the expensive food I already buy for him. Besides, do not get me wrong, but just how much knowledge does one well meaning lady running a business out of her home have about dog nutrition? It's great that the food is organic, but is it a balanced diet? I am willing to bet NO, just because Caleb ate it up. If he could live off of McDonalds french fries and cheeseburgers, he'd be one happy puppy. Unfortunately for him, he has an overprotective and slightly obsessive momma, so he gets Wellness dog food and treats. Mmmm...healthy!

• Speaking of Wellness, we got lots of free treat samples, including an entire full size bag of Wellness Pure Rewards Training Treats! Yaaaay! I love the Wellness brand, and Caleb loved the treats. Score!
  

• Got an inside look at my puppy! I stopped at a tent for one of the local vets and after making sure I brushed Caleb's teeth, he asked how his ears were doing. I said as far as I could tell they were great, clean and no smells. He asked if I'd like to see for myself, so naturally I said, YES! Yes I would! He had a neat little camera machine that looked right in his ear (Dr. Vet Man: Wow, that's a great looking ear! Me: Why, thank you!). Caleb did great on the first ear, and whined a bit for the second ear. The second ear was just as clean and healthy, I think it just took him a second to realize what was going on (Caleb:....waaaiiitt....what are you putting in my ear?? Ack! Get me outta here!). Anyway, I thought it was neat. Caleb got some cooked chicken, so he got over it quickly.

• Collected lots and lots of business cards, handouts, and website info! One of the handouts was a list of all emergency vets in the area. I came home and put them in my iphone. I had never thought about it before today, so if you do not know where the nearest emergency vet is in your area, look it up now! Quickly! Another handout included national pet poison phone numbers and information. Don't worry, you don't need to look it up, here it is:

ANIMAL POISON HOTLINE: 1 (888) 232-8870

PET POISON HELPLINE: 1 (800) 213-6680 WEBSITE: WWW.PETPOISONHELPLINE.COM

• Disclaimer: The Pet Poison Helpline apparently charges a 35 dollar per incident fee payable via credit card. They also have a facebook page, if you'd like to check them out. I have no idea what the difference is between the two, or if the Animal Poison Hotline also charges, but even if it did, if Caleb got into something that I was freaking out about (knowing how I am about him), I would mail them a blank check to get them to help me with my puppy, so a 35 dollar fee seems reasonable.

That was about it. There were lots of demonstrations that I kind of wanted to check out, but I think the temperatures went up at least 20 degrees in an hour, and I was with my Mom (NOT a fan of the heat and she just had a complete knee replacement a couple of months ago, so she's still healing), so we threw in the towel and went home to the air conditioning.

We're going to hole up in the apartment for the rest of the day. I got the new Dan Brown novel when it came out this week, so three guesses what I'll be doing for the rest of the day...

Love, Love, LOVE

1. I love, love, love my blogging friends. I've never met most of you, yet our insane love for all things corgi drew us from the wide world of the interwebs and brought us together; to laugh, cry, agree, and disagree on everything from our shared obsession to our everyday lives. You. Are. Awesome!

2. I love, love, LOVE the amazingly talented Kazzie. We were talking about her art projects from high school, and her current assignments for her art classes, when the topic turned to (who else?) Caleb! Next thing I know, I find these on her facebook:

Step One:

Step Two:

All together now: EEEEEEEEE! Kazzie says the canvas is about 2 ft tall, so I'm definitely going to have to rearrange the stuff on my walls to make room for it. I can't wait to see it completed!

A Rant, In Which I May Lose Friends

Alternate Title: A Rant, In Which It May Be Discovered How Dog Crazy I Truly Am

In the name of full slightly more disclosure than usual, I should tell you that:

1: I am the child of divorced parents
2: I watched this show long before it became tabloid fodder
3: I will get it out of the way right now and say that yes, the way the kids are being treated is arguable worse, but I don't want to argue about it, ok? The comment moderation force is strong with me, so you can save any smarmy comments lambasting me for my topic choice.

*sigh* Ok, now that we're through all of that:

I am so pissed that Jon and Kate (yes, of Jon and Kate Plus 8) are getting rid of their German Shepherds. There, I said it. I feel better now.

No, no I don't.

I wholeheartedly and emphatically believe that your kids shouldn't be punished for your failed marriage. I do not fly the 'Stay Married No Matter What' flag. You're not doing your kids any favors, because by the time you are nearly-but-not-quite-in Divorceland you're no longer focused on being good parents anyway, because one or both of you is in a near constant state of meltdown. So instead, I proudly fly the 'Stay Functional' flag. Do what you have to do to have a healthy, functional family. No matter what. Even if it means getting a divorce.

Healthy, functional people grow up out of divorced households all the time.

How many healthy, functional people do you know who grew up in a household where everyone, including the kids, knew these two needed a divorce, but instead they just made each other, and everyone around them, miserable until the kids could escape?

So I'm not going to launch into an in depth analysis of whether I think Jon and Kate should be getting a divorce; or whether I should be blogging over the trauma that the poor children will have to endure because of their parents choice to split, instead of railing on these people for flaking on the 15 year commitment they signed onto when they picked up their German Shepherd puppies. Which will commence...right now.

In the grand scheme of things, at least these dogs came from a reputable breeder who was willing to take the dogs back, no matter what. They will be re-homed and maybe they'll be able to stay together (I'm hopeful, especially after all the public brouhaha that this is stirring up). But that's almost beside the point. Or, my point, at least. Why do people think animals are disposable, or make good pawns in a divorce? I hate, hate, HATE people who get a dog and as soon as their life circumstances change, the first thing to go is the dog. Not because it is the RIGHT thing to do, (and sometimes as painful as it is to admit, there are times a dog should be re-homed) because it's the EASY thing to do. If anything, the divorce made the dogs an inconvenience.

You. Made. A. Commitment. To. An. Animal. That. Completely. Depends. On. You.

There is no room in that incorrectly punctuated sentence for inconvenience. Dogs are not kids, and they should not be confused as such, you are correct. But they are a commitment, and if you asked those kids, they would probably agree that they are part of the family. And wasn't the whole point of the kids staying in the house while Mommy and Daddy take turns living there to keep things as consistent for the kids as possible? How is ripping their dogs away from them helping that consistency?

You have inordinate amounts of money. You have a throng of people to help take care of your sparkly mansion and your human brood. And you mean to tell me that two German Shepherd dogs proved to be such an inconvenience that you had to rip them out of the home they grew to love and from a whole herd of kids who adored them to send them back to the breeder, because that was what is best for them?

You, Sir, are an Ass.

Thunder and Lightning

We had another California first for Caleb this morning: Thunder and lightning!

Thunder and lightning are rare where I live, so I have an odd fascination with it whenever it does make an appearance. It woke me up at 4:45 this morning, and after peeking out on the patio to see what I could see (Admittedly it was hard to enjoy...what with my mother's voice in my head screaming at me to get back in the house and behave myself, and all...), I started to worry that Caleb may get upset by the commotion, so I hurried back in to scoop him and put him on the bed with me. After he got situated, he was asleep 20 seconds later. So much for thunder and lightning related hysterics!

After a few more hours of sleep we both grudgingly got up early to make it to Caleb's grooming appointment. No, Caleb does not need to go to the groomer, all they do is wash him, brush out enough fur for two or three more corgis then trim his nails, all of which I could technically do, but there is an unfortunate lack of windows in the bathroom at my apartment...I have a hard enough time keeping the humidity from the shower out of my bedroom (even with the bathroom fan going full blast)...and the prospect of eau de soggy dog permeating my apartment for a month afterward is less than ideal. Plus, I love these little old ladies who groom and love on him, and he smells WONDERFUL afterward, and always sports a snazzy new bandanna when I come to pick him up. So off to the groomer we go!

I picked him up a few hours later, all clean, smelling wonderful, and sporting a new blue bandanna, and off we went to meet up with my friend Kazzie and her dog, an Aussie Shepherd / Lab mix named Lexi. Poor Lexi has had a couple of crappy dog related incidents (pit bull gnawings, to be exact), and this was the first time she'd spent any time with any other dogs since that incident. I am happy to report that Lexi and Caleb got along swimmingly! There was only one growly moment when Lexi tried to stick her nose in Caleb's ear when he wasn't looking; I think he was more startled than anything else, but we handled it, moved on, and everyone had a great time. There were plenty of people outside of the coffee shop that stopped to admire our friendly puppies, and another person brought his newly rescued terrier mix over to say hello to us as well. Gooooo Team Rescues! While Kazzie and I got to catch up, Caleb helped himself to Lexi's cup of water. When I offered to share some of the treats we brought, Lexi took it from my hand, dropped it on the ground and kicked it out of her way. Kazzie and I sat there for a second, mouths agape, then collapsed into hysterics. What can I say, you cannot argue with a girl who knows what she wants, and what she does not want. I wish we'd caught video of that! After coffee we went to the Los Gatos Creek Trail. After getting hopelessly lost and querying both the iPhone AND Kazzie's brother, we finally made it and had a nice walk around the lake. I think we are going to try to do things like this more often, Lexi needs more good doggie interactions, and Caleb can always use more socialization.

Of course, in typical corgi fashion, Caleb just had to pull something. I made it all the way to the end of our walk with a nice clean (but really pooped out) puppy, until I turned my back for one second to say my goodbyes and Caleb decided he was going to rest in the shade UNDER the front of my truck, IN a mud puddle. *EPIC SIGH*

Side note: Bark in the Park 2009. Be there or be square. If you happen to be in my vicinity, that is.

Labor Day Weekend: Status Update

Cleaning?

Check.


Cat Naps?

Check.


Corgi Naps?


Check.


JulieandCaleb Photo Fail Number Seven Thousand Four Hundred and Thirty Two?

Check.

I had a feeling when I saw that picture of us at the San Diego Dog Beach that that would be THE JulieandCaleb picture. Caleb does not like the camera; which is really too bad, he's the photogenic one of this duo.
Oh well.

Hope everyone is having a great Labor Day weekend!

Photobooks and Prayers

My photobook came in today! It looks great, I'm definitely going to consider doing another one the next time I take a big trip or decide to create another Caleb compilation. I'll have to take a picture of Caleb posing with it and post it tomorrow.

In non-dog related news, my Second Mother (Darcy's Mom and Raf-the-most-adorable-child-ever's Grandma) has a very uplifting blog (Side note: Have I won the 'Most Links in a Sentence' award yet?) that never fails to get me thinking. Today it was on Pslam 11:

Psalm 11

For the director of music. Of David.

1 In the LORD I take refuge.
How then can you say to me:
"Flee like a bird to your mountain.

2 For look, the wicked bend their bows;
they set their arrows against the strings
to shoot from the shadows
at the upright in heart.

3 When the foundations are being destroyed,
what can the righteous do ?"

4 The LORD is in his holy temple;
the LORD is on his heavenly throne.
He observes the sons of men;
his eyes examine them.

5 The LORD examines the righteous,
but the wicked and those who love violence
his soul hates.

6 On the wicked he will rain
fiery coals and burning sulfur;
a scorching wind will be their lot.

7 For the LORD is righteous,
he loves justice;
upright men will see his face.

I won't rehash her blog (Because I couldn't do it justice, and you should read it yourselves anyway), but I read this Psalm and immediately thought of the people in my life who are having their foundations rattled like it's 1989: my Grandparents and their struggles with my Grandfather's Alzheimer's, my Mother's slow recovery from knee replacement surgery, the all too many friends and family members who have been touched in one way or another by cancer, serious illness, or the death of a close friend, all within a short period of time.

It seems like a lot of us are having our foundations rattled lately. Good thing God provides earthquake insurance.