New Toys!

"This is just cruel..."

Not really much of an update, but the other day I got the Jaker some new toys! I know better than to buy him squeaker balls, because as soon as they lose their squeak(not long...) he rips them to shreds. He does, however, love squeakies... and the last stuffy I let him have lasted a few months- he babied it! So on an act of good faith, I bought him two stuffingless stuffies. Isn't that contradictory sounding, lol! Anyways, one is a pheasant, and one is one of those skineez squirrels. He loves them, especially the pheasant! I had him pose for the above picture... he was not impressed, obviously!

"Must... have... squirrel... oh come ON mom!"

"I gets the squirrel! RAWWWR!"
And humoring me... I love that cross paws trick, I think it's my favorite. he just looks so dignified... hard to do with him. Anyways, that's really all I've got. I was going to take some shots outside... but I had gotten the camera, got shoes and a coat, amped up the dog...

Looked outside...
It was pitch black at 7 o clock. lol! The joys of Alaska. You get used to nearly 24 hour sunlight, then BAM! You want to go outside to do something at an hour that would have been great for it all summer and you can't see at all.

Anyways, until next time.

PS: Thoughts on the new banner? Just finished it.

This just breaks my heart.

Well, I decided to try to approach the dog belonging to my Grandma's neighbor today, after my interest was piqued by something she said.

Her neighbors have had this dog since... sometimes around July. She's a beautiful dog, definitely an ACD mix of some sort. Her name is Bella. They let her run(sigh...) and she's only let inside- into the garage- at night. You never see anyone out with her unless the kids there are on their snow machines or four wheelers. I hadn't approached her before now, but then my grandma mentioned that whenever anyone tried to pet her, she cowered and ran. It’s not as if they try to approach her to pet her, she’ll follow them around. My grandma said that it was as though someone had beaten her.

So, curious and concerned, I went outside just to see, since the dog was out in front of the house. I had expected her to cower and move away of course, but not quite to the extent of what I saw.

She spotted me and moved further away, sniffing at the pavement in the driveway across the street, walking parallel to me. I crouched for a while, and she watched me, then when she was about 40 feet away paused and just watched me. Seeing she wouldn’t come any closer the way I was, I stood and turned my back to her, walking down the street. When I moved away she sniffed where I had been standing. She wears tags so I was able to hear her get closer to me as I walked. Near the end of the street, when she was maybe 6 feet away from me, I crouched down again and shifted my hand out, careful not to look at her.

What astonishes me is the way she moved. She obviously WANTED to come closer to me; she moved forward on her own, but it was very slow, and she nearly bent in half as though to guard her side, head turned. Her tail was tucked tightly the entire time.This first round she stayed a fair distance away, so I got up. I moved too fast, and she startled and cowered. I quickly turned and started walking with my back to her again. I did this twice more, and she seemed to grow a little more confident each time. I stopped in the driveway and crouched down, and waited. This time she approached enough to sniff my hand, not touching it. She disengaged and moved a little ways to walk in an arc, sniffing the ground before coming back and sniffing again. She then sat a little ways away and peered at me. I talked to her for a moment, then stood up very carefully so as not to startle her, and stood still again. She walked over and sniffed my shoe and pants leg, then again moved a little ways away to watch me. I had to go inside then, but she followed me to the edge of the garage and watched me go.

I wish I could have taken a video of how she moved, but really watching it just broke my heart. I didn’t try to pet her, because I didn’t want to mess up what little trust she seemed to be placing in me. I think I might start doing this when I’m over at grandma’s(quite often) and see her out… I want to help her so badly.

Oi What a Week...

Title says it all, really. I've had a very bad ear canal infection all this week. Woke up on Sunday with an ear that hurt to the touch. Got done with school Monday, went straight to bed with a hurting ear and just not feeling right. By that evening it was throbbing. Woke up at 3 AM and woke my mom up in tears, spent Tuesday moaning in pain or sleeping, woke up three times that night and vomited Wednesday morning, went to the doctor that afternoon and got a lovely shot of antibiotics. Like... a gram of something which the name of I can't remember. After they debated about sending me to the hospital for IV antibiotics. I just know they kept describing how my ear looked as 'very angry' lol. The nurses were very gentle but the doctor kept poking and tugging while he examined it.

Thankfully, because of the pills and ear drops they have me taking(as well as painkillers) I am feeling MUCH better. The swelling in and around my ear has gone WAY down, as has the redness. Yayy.

Unfortunately that means I haven't done much with Jake, and the poor guy is going kind of stir crazy. He however took advantage of my illness as I let him sneak up onto the couch with me once even though he's not allowed. It was a one time thing though, lol, and Buck looked at me like 'you traitor, he's not allowed!'.

I'm behind on my writing assignments now because of it, due to immense pain and therefore a lack of ability to concentrate; however I have a REALLY understanding teacher who told me when she was emailed about the situation not to worry about turning my things in a bit late, just to get better soon and turn them in as soon as possible.

Also I start drivers ed courses on Wednesday, and before too long I should be mobile and able to get a job. It was killing me when we drove past the theater(where I would REALLY like to work) and they were taking applications. Can't apply for anything until I'm able to transport myself to and from though. Soon!

So yeah, unfortunately not much dog related to report due to illness. Hopefully I'll have something to share soon.

Training Vid

My little sister volunteered to get a video of me working with Jake a little bit. Nothing serious, I was just having him do some tricks and wanted to get a video of him heeling anyways.




His heeling certainly isn't the best, but it works for us XP And I didn't want to work hard this session. He offers eye contact all on his own so I just reward him for it. And he heels on the right because that's where I'm comfortable having him walk. This is a non-cued heel. Also at the end we're working on learning Rollover.

Freestyle

So after looking into freestyle some more(Thanks Sam/Missmutt) I've gotten rather enthused about trying to put together a routine. I'd actually looked at it before, but I could never think of a song that fit the way Jake moves in any way... or that I would want to work with. I found two that I think we would have a lot of fun with, I would just need to cut them down...

Kryptonite by Three Doors Down: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg8gEIBs5CU

and Life is a Highway by Rascal Flatts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvsmRuRp4cM

I like the beats and lyrics of both, and they'd be easy to work with. I especially like the beat in Kryptonite... I'm torn.

I've also been thinking about tricks I could use for a routine. + means he knows it already.

Spin +
Sit +
Down +
Play Dead +
Pony +
Cross(?)+
Weave between Legs
Back Up
Beg +
Circle
Heel +

I know Spin will definitely be a key in any routine, he loves that trick. I haven't quite figured out how to easily teach that Weave between Legs... I've tried before, but he never seemed to get it. Sigh. We'll get there.

On a depressing note, my best friend's Cockatiel Snickers passed away last night. Fly free little guy...