Where have the last few days gone? Life has been so busy. Let's get up to date on what's been happening on the training scene.
In the last couple of days Willow and I have had a couple of adventures. I am continuing to take her new places and having her meet new people.
Some of the places we have gone are walking in the neighborhood, the local park, the IFA Store, Maverick, and standing outside at Costco. She has been able to meet short people, tall people, fat people, skinny people, black people, brown people, old people, young people, little kids, infants, etc.
She is becoming pretty comfortable going to new places. She really likes seeing the people even when I don't let them pet her. Something I am noticing is she walks much better when I walk her and use my cane rather than the walker. It's kind of odd but the walker seems to bring out the puller in her. Whereas using just a leash she will walk loose leash 75 - 80% of the time.
Sunday our home teacher and his son came by. Willow did good with them. We had a little trouble getting the son to understand that you don't want to reach your hands up to a dogs head. With Willow she thinks you want to play and will try to grab your hand. When she did this to the son he got scared. We need to work with him more especially since they are thinking of getting a dog of their own.
Monday was a good day. Willow played nicely in the office most of the day while I worked and so she only had to spend a minimal amount of time her crate. I gave her a treat last night and let her sleep with me. She thought she had died and gone to heaven and she settled right down and went to sleep.
Today was my birthday and I took the day off work. Willow and I had a very busy day. We started by going to my neurologist. Willow was a huge hit at the office and did very well. She did get a little antsy in the exam room while we were waiting for the doctor to come in so I worked on her training. I was quite happy that she would still give me focus attention, respond to her name, and do the hand and sticky note touch, even when the tech and later the doctor were in the room.
After the doctor visit we went to Home Depot so the employees there could meet the dog they helped raise money for. Again, she was a huge hit and she behaved like such a little lady. I was so proud of her. Especially since there were so many new and strange sounds there.
From there we went to the Ma & Paw Bakery and bought her a bully stick. She loves it! Then I took her to the Utah Dog Park where she was interviewed for going to doggy daycare. She did really well and ended up staying the rest of the day. When I picked her up tonight she was so tired she fell asleep in the car.
She and I are calling it an early night tonight because we are both so tired.
Till next time friends....
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Saturday, September 27, 2014
It was a UTI and...
Well, I was unfortunately correct. Willow has another UTI. Second one in a month. She also has an infection, Coccidia. Apparently it's common in puppies and older dogs. Luckily the same medicine is used to treat both. An antibiotic called TMS she takes twice a day. Since she has now had two UTI's I have also started her on a Cranberry pill that has vitamin C in it as well. The vet said this would be fine and should help her with her urinary tract health. The vitamin C will help her with any stress she feels (new situations, new noises, getting vaccinations, being on antibiotics, etc.).
She just started yesterday but she has already started doing better. She only had one accident and I think that was because she was pretty nervous about the carpet spot shampooer. She was busy watching it and peed. I'm not sure she even knew she did it.
I've been told Swissys are like that. They have a one track mind and can't do two things at once until they are a lot older (about 1 or 2 years old). Some people have told me that having a Swissy puppy is like having a puppy with ADHD. I have to agree.
Anyway, Willow goes back to the vet in two weeks for a recheck. I'm just glad she is back to more of her normal self. Hopefully she will be completely well by then.
She just started yesterday but she has already started doing better. She only had one accident and I think that was because she was pretty nervous about the carpet spot shampooer. She was busy watching it and peed. I'm not sure she even knew she did it.
I've been told Swissys are like that. They have a one track mind and can't do two things at once until they are a lot older (about 1 or 2 years old). Some people have told me that having a Swissy puppy is like having a puppy with ADHD. I have to agree.
Anyway, Willow goes back to the vet in two weeks for a recheck. I'm just glad she is back to more of her normal self. Hopefully she will be completely well by then.
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Bad day for Willow
Today has been a rough day. I think Willow has another UTI. Yesterday afternoon she started drinking a bunch of water and today she can't hardly seem to stop. She has 3 water dishes (Crate, Kitchen, Office) and I have had to fill each of them at least 3 times. Consequently she is peeing a lot and has had several accidents. Even with dropping back to taking her outside every half hour she still had three accidents in the house. She has also been pretty lethargic today and has eaten less than half of the food she normally eats. Also her stools are back to being super soft. So it's back to the vet tomorrow to see what's going on. We attempted some training today but she really didn't want to do it. She didn't even want her favorite soft treats. Not sure what is up with my girl. Hopefully it's nothing too serious and we can get her taken care of.
She does seem happy and animated if I am petting her and talking to her but if I am on the phone she gets all mopey. I wonder, is she bored? Could these problems have anything to do with the fact that I am pretty sure she is teething?
I guess I will find out tomorrow. Hopefully she feels better and is back to her normal self tomorrow. I miss my happy go lucky girl.
Till next time my friends...
She does seem happy and animated if I am petting her and talking to her but if I am on the phone she gets all mopey. I wonder, is she bored? Could these problems have anything to do with the fact that I am pretty sure she is teething?
I guess I will find out tomorrow. Hopefully she feels better and is back to her normal self tomorrow. I miss my happy go lucky girl.
Till next time my friends...
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Puppy Train and Play
Tonight was Puppy Train and Play. Willow has such a good time there.
Tonight we worked on Doggy Push-ups, Walking on a loose leash, Staying at our side, Paying attention to Mom, and Scarecrow.
Doggy push-ups are where you have the dog sit, then lay down, then stand up, and repeat. When your pup begins to anticipate what is coming next mix it up a bit, do lay down, sit, stand, or whatever order you feel like doing. Of course you click and treat when they do each piece.
Similar to this is what I call Doggy Squats. You have your pup sit, then stand, then sit, then stand. This strengthens the back legs. Both Doggy Push-ups and Doggy Squats have the added benefit of being fun your pup and of using up some of their excess energy.
Walking on a loose leash and staying at our side while we walk is accomplished by teaching your pup that you are the most interesting this in the world. You do that with food. When your pup is walking beside you with a loose leash treat. When they wander away, stop. When they come back to you treat and start again.
For the paying attention to mom I had the hardest time because you are supposed to sit quietly with your dog in front of you and not say anything. When they look at you, you click and treat. This teaches them to look at you without being asked to. The hard part is not talking. I never seem to stop talking. My husband is always asking me to please talk a bit less because he can't get a word in edgewise.
Finally we worked on Scarecrow. Scarecrow is where you put the leash on the floor and step on it. Show your pup you have a treat in your hand and then hold both arms out like a scarecrow. When your dog stops looking at the hand with the treat and looks at you , click and treat. This can also be quite hard if your pup is really concentrating on the food. It may take them awhile to get the idea and your arms may get really tired. You may have to start with if your dogs eyes move away from your hand click and treat that and gradually work up to the full turning and looking at you thing.
At the end of class our pups got to have play time. The big pups went outside and the little pups stayed inside. I took a little video of Willow and Indigo playing. One of these days maybe I'll learn to take the video with a steady hand and smooth movement.
Till next time friends...
Tonight we worked on Doggy Push-ups, Walking on a loose leash, Staying at our side, Paying attention to Mom, and Scarecrow.
Doggy push-ups are where you have the dog sit, then lay down, then stand up, and repeat. When your pup begins to anticipate what is coming next mix it up a bit, do lay down, sit, stand, or whatever order you feel like doing. Of course you click and treat when they do each piece.
Similar to this is what I call Doggy Squats. You have your pup sit, then stand, then sit, then stand. This strengthens the back legs. Both Doggy Push-ups and Doggy Squats have the added benefit of being fun your pup and of using up some of their excess energy.
Walking on a loose leash and staying at our side while we walk is accomplished by teaching your pup that you are the most interesting this in the world. You do that with food. When your pup is walking beside you with a loose leash treat. When they wander away, stop. When they come back to you treat and start again.
For the paying attention to mom I had the hardest time because you are supposed to sit quietly with your dog in front of you and not say anything. When they look at you, you click and treat. This teaches them to look at you without being asked to. The hard part is not talking. I never seem to stop talking. My husband is always asking me to please talk a bit less because he can't get a word in edgewise.
Finally we worked on Scarecrow. Scarecrow is where you put the leash on the floor and step on it. Show your pup you have a treat in your hand and then hold both arms out like a scarecrow. When your dog stops looking at the hand with the treat and looks at you , click and treat. This can also be quite hard if your pup is really concentrating on the food. It may take them awhile to get the idea and your arms may get really tired. You may have to start with if your dogs eyes move away from your hand click and treat that and gradually work up to the full turning and looking at you thing.
At the end of class our pups got to have play time. The big pups went outside and the little pups stayed inside. I took a little video of Willow and Indigo playing. One of these days maybe I'll learn to take the video with a steady hand and smooth movement.
Till next time friends...
A Trip to Papa Murphy's
Last night we took a trip to Papa Murphy's. My husband and I wanted to have pizza and I figured it would make a good field trip for Willow.
So once I had Willow buckled into her seatbelt (yes, she wears a seatbelt) We drove to Papa Murphy's. Willow did great in the car. She just laid down and rested all the way there. It was about a 10 minute ride. Once we got there and out of the car she of course wanted to go smelling everything around her. I let her do a bit of sniffing and then we approached the door. She was fine until I opened the door and took one step in. Then she froze. So I thought no big deal we'll just stay outside awhile. While outside a customer came to the door and walked in. Willow just followed the woman trying to get her to pet her. It was rather funny. You could see the exact moment that Willow realized that she was inside and she didn't know what was going on. She quickly ducked under the bench seat and stayed there. I sat with her and talked to her. Luckily it wasn't very busy and I was able to call my order across the room. While I was talking to the employees Willow got more brave and came out from under the bench. Of course the employees started saying how cute and adorable she was. It was like she knew they were talking about her and the more nice things they said about her the braver she became until she went over to the counter on her own and I was then able to pay for the pizza. Of course none of the employees petted her because that was against health regulations. But by this time Willow was quite the happy girl.
I have noticed that when we first go to a new place she is nervous and sometimes afraid. Usually if I stop and let her take her time she will eventually take me into the place. Sometimes it's a minute or two. Other times it's five minutes or more. I am sure there will be times we don't make it into a place but we will deal with that when it happens.
Till next time my friend...
So once I had Willow buckled into her seatbelt (yes, she wears a seatbelt) We drove to Papa Murphy's. Willow did great in the car. She just laid down and rested all the way there. It was about a 10 minute ride. Once we got there and out of the car she of course wanted to go smelling everything around her. I let her do a bit of sniffing and then we approached the door. She was fine until I opened the door and took one step in. Then she froze. So I thought no big deal we'll just stay outside awhile. While outside a customer came to the door and walked in. Willow just followed the woman trying to get her to pet her. It was rather funny. You could see the exact moment that Willow realized that she was inside and she didn't know what was going on. She quickly ducked under the bench seat and stayed there. I sat with her and talked to her. Luckily it wasn't very busy and I was able to call my order across the room. While I was talking to the employees Willow got more brave and came out from under the bench. Of course the employees started saying how cute and adorable she was. It was like she knew they were talking about her and the more nice things they said about her the braver she became until she went over to the counter on her own and I was then able to pay for the pizza. Of course none of the employees petted her because that was against health regulations. But by this time Willow was quite the happy girl.
I have noticed that when we first go to a new place she is nervous and sometimes afraid. Usually if I stop and let her take her time she will eventually take me into the place. Sometimes it's a minute or two. Other times it's five minutes or more. I am sure there will be times we don't make it into a place but we will deal with that when it happens.
Till next time my friend...
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Willow discovers packing paper
Today Willow discovered how much fun a long sheet of blank newsprint can be. She got to play with it all morning.
I received my order of cookbooks and the paper was used as fill in the boxes. I was so excited to get my first batch of 50 cookbooks. You see I complied a cookbook using recipes from my family and my husbands family. The recipes date from the 1880's to present day. Some are really good and some are not to the tastes of modern day folks. The oldest recipes used very little salt and sugar, no where near as much as we use today.
Originally I put the book together just for family but when I decided to go ahead and get a service dog I knew I would need to raise money. So I talked to my family and got everyone's permission to publish the book for others to buy. The book is available in paperback and Kindle formats and is available on the Amazon store. Feel free to check it out. All of the money I get will go towards Willow's training and equipment. Here is the link...
I received my order of cookbooks and the paper was used as fill in the boxes. I was so excited to get my first batch of 50 cookbooks. You see I complied a cookbook using recipes from my family and my husbands family. The recipes date from the 1880's to present day. Some are really good and some are not to the tastes of modern day folks. The oldest recipes used very little salt and sugar, no where near as much as we use today.
Originally I put the book together just for family but when I decided to go ahead and get a service dog I knew I would need to raise money. So I talked to my family and got everyone's permission to publish the book for others to buy. The book is available in paperback and Kindle formats and is available on the Amazon store. Feel free to check it out. All of the money I get will go towards Willow's training and equipment. Here is the link...
The paperback version is normally $12.99 but Amazon has it on sale now for $11.45. The Kindle version is $7.99. When you buy the paperback version you can get the Kindle version for $1.99.
Thank you in advance if you decide to purchase this book.
Happy 15 week birthday and a look back
On June 10, 2014 a litter of puppies was born to Ch Swiss Run & Shade Tree too drunk to Fish "Never" and RMS Blue Hill Cinna Noel CGC "Cinna". The 6th puppy born was a little female. Her ribbon color was Gold and her litter name was "Sage". She was born headfirst at 2:12 pm and she weighed a whopping 14.5 oz. This tiny girl was beautiful.
As the days and weeks went by Sage grew and grew...
Finally! 1 lb 1 oz
Until on July 19, 2014 she weighed 5 lbs 11 oz. Then on July 22nd she weighed 6 lbs 11.5 oz and Aug 1st she was 9 lbs 7 oz. Then came August 30, 2014 The day we brought her home and changed her name to Willow.
At that point she was 18 lbs.
On Sept 11th she had grown to be 22 lbs 2 oz
And finally on September 21st she was a whopping 26 lbs 8 oz
My girl Willow has definitely grown in 15 short weeks.
Happy 15 week birthday Willow!
Monday, September 22, 2014
Sunday has been the best day yet!
Willow - Thursday night
Today has been a great day! We are now on day 3 with no potty accidents! Willow actually went to the door and scratched on it twice today to go out. We gave her tons of praise petting and a jackpot treat, a cookie from PetCo (a sandwich cookie) It is her favorite cookie. Those two things make today a red letter day!
We upped the ante on the touch exercise today. I started putting a sticky note on my hand. At first Willow was really confused and kept touching outside the sticky note. So, I started moving my hand to keep the sticky note in front of her nose. I did this 3 or 4 times and then she got it and would touch the paper without my moving my hand (most of the time). When I made a fist and put the sticky note on it she touched the note every time and stopped trying to find a spot on my hand that didn't have the sticky note.
This morning we had a good time at the local park. we were the only ones there. I put her on the 20 foot training lead so that she could run around a bit. She loved that! Especially when I threw her ball for her (Kong SqueakAir Tennis ball). the great thing is she brought the ball to within 6 inches of me 3 times. That is a record for her. When we got back from the park we went for a walk around the block. Three of the kids across the street were out playing (1 girl, about 10 yrs old, 1 boy about 8 yrs old, 1 boy about 6 yrs old.). I know these children and know that they can be gentle and not get too wild or excited around a dog and they are not fearful of dogs. So I asked them to help me with Willow. I told them that she hadn't met or seen any new people today and would like their help because she has to learn to behave around them. They of course were thrilled. They came up quietly and calmly to Willow and we introduced her to them. Then they began petting her. When she would try to jump on them they took 2 steps back, crossed their arms and turned their backs on her. Willow didn't like that. When she stopped jumping they would turn around again and give her attention. This happened twice before she got the idea if she jumped on them she wouldn't get petted. They said their parents taught them that because they just got a new puppy and are trying to train him not to jump. After about 5 minutes we continued our walk. I heard someone calling me and turned around to see the dad of the kids running towards me. He wanted to meet Willow too. her had been watching the kids and Willow and he told me how impressed he was. She is so calm even when excited. She's also more than twice the size of their pup and only 3 weeks older. He just cant' believe the difference in the 2 dogs. He has been observing Willow since we got her on August 30th. Within about 20 seconds the kids had come to join him as well as the other 3 kids that were at their home. So there were now 6 kids ranging in age from 1 1/2 to 10 yrs. I was amazed at Willow. With the older kids she tried to get a little rambunctious but with the 2 small children she was very gentle and didn't once try to jump on them even though they had food in their hands and you could see she really wanted it. So I decided it was to to seal the friendship with the kids. All 6 kids had Popsicles and a cookie in their hand. I asked the kids if they would like to take turns and each give Willow a treat. They were ecstatic! I laid the ground rules. One person at a time and Willow had to finish one treat before she could have another. The kids were great, even the 2 little ones. They each quietly and gently gave Willow her treat (I took 2 doggy cookies and broke them into 3 pieces each). Willow and the kids were having a great time. I felt like a meany but we needed to continue our walk so we said good bye and continued on.
Willow loved the cooler air we had today and she thoroughly enjoyed her walk. By the time we got home she was one pooped pup. She went into her crate as soon as I took her leash off and laid done and went right to sleep. She slept for almost 2 hours.
It will be interesting to see how tomorrow goes since I will be working again.
Till next time my friends...
Willow during the playtime at Puppy Train and Play Wednesday Night
Today has been a great day! We are now on day 3 with no potty accidents! Willow actually went to the door and scratched on it twice today to go out. We gave her tons of praise petting and a jackpot treat, a cookie from PetCo (a sandwich cookie) It is her favorite cookie. Those two things make today a red letter day!
We upped the ante on the touch exercise today. I started putting a sticky note on my hand. At first Willow was really confused and kept touching outside the sticky note. So, I started moving my hand to keep the sticky note in front of her nose. I did this 3 or 4 times and then she got it and would touch the paper without my moving my hand (most of the time). When I made a fist and put the sticky note on it she touched the note every time and stopped trying to find a spot on my hand that didn't have the sticky note.
This morning we had a good time at the local park. we were the only ones there. I put her on the 20 foot training lead so that she could run around a bit. She loved that! Especially when I threw her ball for her (Kong SqueakAir Tennis ball). the great thing is she brought the ball to within 6 inches of me 3 times. That is a record for her. When we got back from the park we went for a walk around the block. Three of the kids across the street were out playing (1 girl, about 10 yrs old, 1 boy about 8 yrs old, 1 boy about 6 yrs old.). I know these children and know that they can be gentle and not get too wild or excited around a dog and they are not fearful of dogs. So I asked them to help me with Willow. I told them that she hadn't met or seen any new people today and would like their help because she has to learn to behave around them. They of course were thrilled. They came up quietly and calmly to Willow and we introduced her to them. Then they began petting her. When she would try to jump on them they took 2 steps back, crossed their arms and turned their backs on her. Willow didn't like that. When she stopped jumping they would turn around again and give her attention. This happened twice before she got the idea if she jumped on them she wouldn't get petted. They said their parents taught them that because they just got a new puppy and are trying to train him not to jump. After about 5 minutes we continued our walk. I heard someone calling me and turned around to see the dad of the kids running towards me. He wanted to meet Willow too. her had been watching the kids and Willow and he told me how impressed he was. She is so calm even when excited. She's also more than twice the size of their pup and only 3 weeks older. He just cant' believe the difference in the 2 dogs. He has been observing Willow since we got her on August 30th. Within about 20 seconds the kids had come to join him as well as the other 3 kids that were at their home. So there were now 6 kids ranging in age from 1 1/2 to 10 yrs. I was amazed at Willow. With the older kids she tried to get a little rambunctious but with the 2 small children she was very gentle and didn't once try to jump on them even though they had food in their hands and you could see she really wanted it. So I decided it was to to seal the friendship with the kids. All 6 kids had Popsicles and a cookie in their hand. I asked the kids if they would like to take turns and each give Willow a treat. They were ecstatic! I laid the ground rules. One person at a time and Willow had to finish one treat before she could have another. The kids were great, even the 2 little ones. They each quietly and gently gave Willow her treat (I took 2 doggy cookies and broke them into 3 pieces each). Willow and the kids were having a great time. I felt like a meany but we needed to continue our walk so we said good bye and continued on.
Willow loved the cooler air we had today and she thoroughly enjoyed her walk. By the time we got home she was one pooped pup. She went into her crate as soon as I took her leash off and laid done and went right to sleep. She slept for almost 2 hours.
It will be interesting to see how tomorrow goes since I will be working again.
Till next time my friends...
Friday, September 19, 2014
Wow! What a busy few days this has been...
It's been a busy few days since my last post. I have got to make sure I post more often.
Well let's see if I can recap some of what has been happening...
Wednesday was a quiet day at home. We only got in 2 good training sessions where Willow was paying attention. The rest of the time she was in puppy land and didn't want to come out of it. I should make her work more.
That night was Puppy Train and Play class. Willow sure loves that class! She wants to spend all of her time on the play portion! After a false start or two she began to pay attention and did a good job on the training. We began to work on recall last night. That was fun. Allie and I took turns calling Willow to us. She quickly figured out what we were doing and after a few times she was like, "ok it's time to go to someone else, I need a change of scenery". She can be so funny.
Yesterday we didn't do a lot. I was on a clear liquid diet in prep for my colonoscopy on Friday. It gave me a massive headache and I was very lightheaded. So besides having to work all day I also did a lot of playing with Willow and tried to practice some of her behaviors in our play. After work I took her to my friend Kaylynn's home. She was watching Willow for me since I had to do my evening prep and be up at 2 am to finish my colonoscopy prep. then head in for the procedure. I am so glad it is done and the doctor said I don't need to go back for another for 10 years! Whoo Hoo!
When I brought Willow home she was exhausted. Not only did she spend a lot of time playing with Nacho but she also played with 2 of Kaylynn's grandkids. They wore each other out! She slept for 2 hours when she got home. This evening we spent playing and I tried to get a couple of sessions in but Willow was not co-operating. I think she was still tired because all she wanted to do was lay around. She didn't want to play but she did want to chew on her antler.
Well tomorrow is another day.
I received an email from Amazon today that my cookbooks will be arriving on Monday. I am so excited! 2 years ago I finished a cookbook for family members that was a collection of recipes from both sides of my family and both sides of my husbands family. It came out really well. So well in fact that when I needed to have money to train Willow I obtained permission from the family members to reprint the recipes and sell them as long as I took out the family info, pictures, and stories. So I redid the book added in some new graphics and some quotes, designed a nice cover and now I have a cookbook that is available on Amazon in the Kindle format as well as a paper format. I will be using all of my royalties towards training Willow. I only need to sell 500-1000 to have enough money. But it will be worth every penny. Willow is already shaping up to be a great dog and as she grows she will become a great service dog.
The recipes in the cookbook go back to the 1880's and possibly earlier and come up to our current day. I have called it "Family Favorites Through the Generations, From our Family to yours"
Here's a link to my book...
http://tinyurl.com/pqzg22y
Till next time my friends...
Well let's see if I can recap some of what has been happening...
Wednesday was a quiet day at home. We only got in 2 good training sessions where Willow was paying attention. The rest of the time she was in puppy land and didn't want to come out of it. I should make her work more.
That night was Puppy Train and Play class. Willow sure loves that class! She wants to spend all of her time on the play portion! After a false start or two she began to pay attention and did a good job on the training. We began to work on recall last night. That was fun. Allie and I took turns calling Willow to us. She quickly figured out what we were doing and after a few times she was like, "ok it's time to go to someone else, I need a change of scenery". She can be so funny.
Yesterday we didn't do a lot. I was on a clear liquid diet in prep for my colonoscopy on Friday. It gave me a massive headache and I was very lightheaded. So besides having to work all day I also did a lot of playing with Willow and tried to practice some of her behaviors in our play. After work I took her to my friend Kaylynn's home. She was watching Willow for me since I had to do my evening prep and be up at 2 am to finish my colonoscopy prep. then head in for the procedure. I am so glad it is done and the doctor said I don't need to go back for another for 10 years! Whoo Hoo!
When I brought Willow home she was exhausted. Not only did she spend a lot of time playing with Nacho but she also played with 2 of Kaylynn's grandkids. They wore each other out! She slept for 2 hours when she got home. This evening we spent playing and I tried to get a couple of sessions in but Willow was not co-operating. I think she was still tired because all she wanted to do was lay around. She didn't want to play but she did want to chew on her antler.
Well tomorrow is another day.
I received an email from Amazon today that my cookbooks will be arriving on Monday. I am so excited! 2 years ago I finished a cookbook for family members that was a collection of recipes from both sides of my family and both sides of my husbands family. It came out really well. So well in fact that when I needed to have money to train Willow I obtained permission from the family members to reprint the recipes and sell them as long as I took out the family info, pictures, and stories. So I redid the book added in some new graphics and some quotes, designed a nice cover and now I have a cookbook that is available on Amazon in the Kindle format as well as a paper format. I will be using all of my royalties towards training Willow. I only need to sell 500-1000 to have enough money. But it will be worth every penny. Willow is already shaping up to be a great dog and as she grows she will become a great service dog.
The recipes in the cookbook go back to the 1880's and possibly earlier and come up to our current day. I have called it "Family Favorites Through the Generations, From our Family to yours"
Here's a link to my book...
http://tinyurl.com/pqzg22y
Till next time my friends...
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
09/15 & 09/16
The time just seemed to get away from me yesterday and I didn't get a post in. Yesterday was my first day working from home and dealing with a puppy. Though in all honesty I didn't have her a lot of the day. Willow had a vet appointment and ended up spending the day at the vets. She had a blast and they are all in love with her. The vet gave us great news. Willow's UTI is all cleared up! YAY!!! We had a good time playing before going to the vet. While at the vet's she played extremely hard. They had something like 7 puppies there that day and they all got along great and played great. According to all the tech's and the vet Willow had a great time. I know she was sure tired. They actually had to wake her up to bring her to me. That's just not like her. Apparently Willow and another pup were playing and they both fell asleep while playing. Training was a little tough yesterday. Willow's heart just wasn't into it. She would respond to sit, touch, or her name 2, maybe 3 times and then just lay and close her eyes. So I decided the one 5 minute session would have to do. She was just too tired to concentrate. She slept REALLY well last night and she slept in this morning.
Today was a good day. We both slept in a little and so we were running late. I barely got started on my work on time. I decided to do an experiment this morning. After she had eaten and gone potty I brought her into my office with me. She did wonderful for about 45 min. She was chewing on her antler and a couple of her stuffies (stuffed animal chew toys). She lay down right next to me and was very quiet and mellow. Then she started getting restless so we took a quick trip outside to potty and then because she still seemed tired I put her in her crate for awhile with a small milk bone and her toys. Checked on her 5 min later and she was fast asleep. Came back in 2 hours and woke her up. We went for a short walk, played in the yard, did some more training on touch, sit, down, off and then came in and chilled in the office for another 45 min. Went back outside to potty, came back in had lunch, back out to potty, rest time in crate. Then spent the rest of the afternoon alternating between being outside, training, working in office, and crate time.
I have noticed that she is most active first thing in the morning and later in the evening after it begins to cool down. Willow definitely doesn't like the heat.
This evening we decided we wanted to go to Quizno's for dinner so Willow and I went down to get our food. At first when we went in she seemed a little unsure of herself but as we were turning around to leave other people started coming in and she got so excited to see them that she forgot to be nervous. There was a tall heavy set gentlemen who wanted to pet her and I let him. There were also 2 young women who looked at her but wanted nothing to do with petting her. And that was fine. Willow got her first taste of not being able to have everyone make a fuss over her. When she tried to pull away from me to get to them (or so I thought) I redirected her attention. I called her name and since she turned her head towards me I clicked and gave a jackpot treat (a small piece of cheese). Every time I could get her to look at me I clicked and treated. I wanted to reward her for looking at me with major distractions around. Three people in the restaurant, One of whom brought food from Subway and sat the bag on the floor (that's what Willow was trying to get to) plus there were all the yummy food smells from Quizno's. It was enough to make your mouth water, let a lone a little pup. I was very proud of her today.
Till next time...
Today was a good day. We both slept in a little and so we were running late. I barely got started on my work on time. I decided to do an experiment this morning. After she had eaten and gone potty I brought her into my office with me. She did wonderful for about 45 min. She was chewing on her antler and a couple of her stuffies (stuffed animal chew toys). She lay down right next to me and was very quiet and mellow. Then she started getting restless so we took a quick trip outside to potty and then because she still seemed tired I put her in her crate for awhile with a small milk bone and her toys. Checked on her 5 min later and she was fast asleep. Came back in 2 hours and woke her up. We went for a short walk, played in the yard, did some more training on touch, sit, down, off and then came in and chilled in the office for another 45 min. Went back outside to potty, came back in had lunch, back out to potty, rest time in crate. Then spent the rest of the afternoon alternating between being outside, training, working in office, and crate time.
I have noticed that she is most active first thing in the morning and later in the evening after it begins to cool down. Willow definitely doesn't like the heat.
This evening we decided we wanted to go to Quizno's for dinner so Willow and I went down to get our food. At first when we went in she seemed a little unsure of herself but as we were turning around to leave other people started coming in and she got so excited to see them that she forgot to be nervous. There was a tall heavy set gentlemen who wanted to pet her and I let him. There were also 2 young women who looked at her but wanted nothing to do with petting her. And that was fine. Willow got her first taste of not being able to have everyone make a fuss over her. When she tried to pull away from me to get to them (or so I thought) I redirected her attention. I called her name and since she turned her head towards me I clicked and gave a jackpot treat (a small piece of cheese). Every time I could get her to look at me I clicked and treated. I wanted to reward her for looking at me with major distractions around. Three people in the restaurant, One of whom brought food from Subway and sat the bag on the floor (that's what Willow was trying to get to) plus there were all the yummy food smells from Quizno's. It was enough to make your mouth water, let a lone a little pup. I was very proud of her today.
Till next time...
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Sept 14th
This still feels a little weird writing about my experiences with Willow. Laurie assures me this will be very useful, especially on those days when she is being a little stinker and it seems like we are starting all over again.
This morning was great. When we went outside for the first time I let Willow play a bit after she did her business and while I cleaned up her little presents in the yard. Boy for such a little thing she sure can produce some MEGA stinky pooh! While outside I decided to water a couple of planters and that's when the fun began. At first Willow didn't want anything to do with the water and that was fine but the little drops of water coming off the end of the hose and sprayer were just too much for her to resist! She came up right beside me and began trying to catch the drops of water. It was funny. It got even funnier when she realized that the spray was lots and lots of drops of water. She began running under the spray and jumping up and trying to get the drops. Every so often she would drop into a crouch and then proceed to roll in the grass under the spray. She was having a blast and I was laughing so hard I nearly wet my pants! She can be a real hoot sometimes. When I turned the water off Willow gave me this really disgusted look. She would look at me and then look pointedly at the hose as if to say "Turn the water back on, I wasn't done having fun yet." But I had to get ready for church and we still needed to do some training and have breakfast.
Willow only had one accident today and that was totally my fault. She had been doing so well that I forgot to set the timer to remind me when it was time to take her out and I got busy making dinner. Of course that is when she would have a problem. But we went outside and she did her business again and then we played a little and I had my husband watch her while I finished getting dinner ready.
We did 5 short training sessions today. Willow was having a real difficult time concentrating. We worked on her name, touch, sit, stand, and sit to touch and stand. We also spent a bit of time playing with toys today and I was finally able to get her to play with some toys. Her current favorite is the large Hedgehog that grunts and squeaks. She also likes the tennis ball that squeaks and the Minnie Mouse Water Bottle toy. She is beginning to get the idea of go get it. we play with Hedgehog and I tell her to go get it when I throw it. She will go chasing after it and then she will do one of two things. She will either start wrestling with it and making it squeak and/or grunt or she will bring it to me to throw again. I praise her lavishly and she gets a jackpot/high value treat for bringing it to me.
There were a couple of times today when Willow just wanted to lay beside me and chill. She would take one of her chew toys and just chill. I really had a chance to enjoy her today and not constantly worry about her pottying in the house and being super active.
Today on our walk Willow met 5 men (a short and heavy, a tall and skinny, a bald guy, a young guy, and an old guy); she also met 3 women (Short with long black hair, Tall with very straight blonde hair, older with curly gray hair) and several children one of which was very scarred of her. I am continually amazed at how well Willow walks on a leash for being so young. 95% of the time she walks with a loose leash. She walks better than any of the older dogs I have had. I never expected that. I am also amazed at how quickly she recovers from being startled. I try hard not to give her reinforcement of startled or scarred behaviors but I am only human and sometimes I mess up. I notice that if I am very matter of fact and pretend like it's no big deal she usually acts that way as well. I try to remove her from those situations as soon as I can.
Tomorrow should be interesting. It will be my first day working from home, I have a meeting with Laurie to develop our training plan for Willow and I, and Willow gets to spend the day at the vets because she needs to be checked to see if her UTI has cleared up and because of working I won't be able to pick her up till about 4:30 pm and will have to drop her off at 7:00 am. My vets office encourages the pet parents to leave their pets there all day so the staff can play with them and the pets can learn that this is a good place to be and these are good people. It actually makes exams easier on everyone.
Well, I have rambled enough for today.
Till next time...
This morning was great. When we went outside for the first time I let Willow play a bit after she did her business and while I cleaned up her little presents in the yard. Boy for such a little thing she sure can produce some MEGA stinky pooh! While outside I decided to water a couple of planters and that's when the fun began. At first Willow didn't want anything to do with the water and that was fine but the little drops of water coming off the end of the hose and sprayer were just too much for her to resist! She came up right beside me and began trying to catch the drops of water. It was funny. It got even funnier when she realized that the spray was lots and lots of drops of water. She began running under the spray and jumping up and trying to get the drops. Every so often she would drop into a crouch and then proceed to roll in the grass under the spray. She was having a blast and I was laughing so hard I nearly wet my pants! She can be a real hoot sometimes. When I turned the water off Willow gave me this really disgusted look. She would look at me and then look pointedly at the hose as if to say "Turn the water back on, I wasn't done having fun yet." But I had to get ready for church and we still needed to do some training and have breakfast.
Willow only had one accident today and that was totally my fault. She had been doing so well that I forgot to set the timer to remind me when it was time to take her out and I got busy making dinner. Of course that is when she would have a problem. But we went outside and she did her business again and then we played a little and I had my husband watch her while I finished getting dinner ready.
We did 5 short training sessions today. Willow was having a real difficult time concentrating. We worked on her name, touch, sit, stand, and sit to touch and stand. We also spent a bit of time playing with toys today and I was finally able to get her to play with some toys. Her current favorite is the large Hedgehog that grunts and squeaks. She also likes the tennis ball that squeaks and the Minnie Mouse Water Bottle toy. She is beginning to get the idea of go get it. we play with Hedgehog and I tell her to go get it when I throw it. She will go chasing after it and then she will do one of two things. She will either start wrestling with it and making it squeak and/or grunt or she will bring it to me to throw again. I praise her lavishly and she gets a jackpot/high value treat for bringing it to me.
There were a couple of times today when Willow just wanted to lay beside me and chill. She would take one of her chew toys and just chill. I really had a chance to enjoy her today and not constantly worry about her pottying in the house and being super active.
Today on our walk Willow met 5 men (a short and heavy, a tall and skinny, a bald guy, a young guy, and an old guy); she also met 3 women (Short with long black hair, Tall with very straight blonde hair, older with curly gray hair) and several children one of which was very scarred of her. I am continually amazed at how well Willow walks on a leash for being so young. 95% of the time she walks with a loose leash. She walks better than any of the older dogs I have had. I never expected that. I am also amazed at how quickly she recovers from being startled. I try hard not to give her reinforcement of startled or scarred behaviors but I am only human and sometimes I mess up. I notice that if I am very matter of fact and pretend like it's no big deal she usually acts that way as well. I try to remove her from those situations as soon as I can.
Tomorrow should be interesting. It will be my first day working from home, I have a meeting with Laurie to develop our training plan for Willow and I, and Willow gets to spend the day at the vets because she needs to be checked to see if her UTI has cleared up and because of working I won't be able to pick her up till about 4:30 pm and will have to drop her off at 7:00 am. My vets office encourages the pet parents to leave their pets there all day so the staff can play with them and the pets can learn that this is a good place to be and these are good people. It actually makes exams easier on everyone.
Well, I have rambled enough for today.
Till next time...
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Bringing Willow home
On Sept 3rd Willow had her first vet visit with me. The vet office I am using is the Animal Care Center in West Bountiful Utah. The vets there are wonderful and caring! She saw Dr. Pam for her check up, shots and worming. Willow also went to her first puppy training and socializing class that evening at the Utah Dog Park. The class is led by Laurie, of Side by Side Dog Training. Willow and I had a great time. On Sept 6th Willow was diagnosed with an UTI (Urinary Tract Infection) and started on antibiotics.
On Sept 10th Willow went to her 2nd Puppy Class and seemed to really enjoy it, I know I did. On Saturday, the 13th (Today) Willow came home.
There was a boy about 12 yrs old in a cul-d-sac that we walked by. He was on a skateboard and she was fine with that. She was wagging her tail and being her usual happy self but stopped for a rest (we were on the way home and she was getting tired). All of a sudden the boy made a circle around the cul-d-sac and went up his skateboard ramp and did a big jump. that startled Willow and she took off and yanked the leash right out of my hand. Now the yanking the leash out of my hand was my own fault. I had become too complacent because she was doing so well I was holding the leash very loosely in my hand. It took nothing for her to pull away. We must have looked quite the site, me with my walker chasing her across the street into the park, the kid behind me and Willow deciding it's a game. After her first startled reaction and my trying to chase her and catch her she decided to play. So I know she wasn't overly traumatized. In fact she went right up to the boy to be petted. That's how I caught her. The little stinker. So lesson learned. She doesn't like airborn skateboards. She's also not overly fond of lawn mowers. The rest of the day was uneventful. We just did playtime, crate time, training, food.
More next time...
Welcome to my training journal for Willow
My name is Jacqui and I have Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Here is a link to the National MS Society. You can find lot's of good information here about MS.
My MS affects me in many ways. The major effect is on my balance. I feel like I am walking on a small ship most of the time and in the last 6 months I have begun to have a real problem with drop foot on my left side.
Another way that MS affects me is that it sorely tries my patience! I have never been overly patient and now I am having to learn to be patient with myself. I absolutely hate it when I stumble, fall, trip over my words and when my thoughts just won't work well together. I have never had these problems before and often I find myself saying "Why ME?"
While researching treatments and ways to slow my MS progression and ways to keep from having to use a cane and walker all the time I came across articles that talked about Service Dogs for MS patients.
When I saw my doctor I asked her about it and she said a balance/mobility service dog could very well keep me out of a walker and/or wheelchair full-time for a couple of more years. I absolutely adore dogs so I thought this would be a very good idea. I immediately began researching where to get a dog and the costs involved. That was very depressing. Because I am a large woman the agencies that give out dogs for free would not consider me for a mobility dog. Mostly because most of them use Labs and Golden's which would be too small. The agencies that would consider me wanted $30,000-$50,000. Way more money than I have and way more money than I would be able to raise.
So I began to look for an adult dog at local shelters and online trying to find one that was the correct size, temperament and personality to be a service dog. That's when I received another rude awakening. Many of the rescues would not even consider me for their dogs because I wanted a dog to be a service dog and they felt that dogs should never have to work. Rescues have had enough problems and needed to live a life of leisure and not have to work. The ones that would consider me had dogs with so many problems I didn't feel like they could ever be a good service dog.
That brought me to the next phase of my search. I finally decided to look for a puppy so that I could get the breed that I knew would work for me size and temperament wise. I put this off for a long time because I have absolutely no experience with puppies and I have never done the potty training thing. I knew I would have to have a great trainer to work with. The breed I chose is the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog. I got Willow on August 30th and she is beautiful. She is currently 13 weeks old and her birthday was June 10, 2014. No she isn't named after the movie. Willow is just a name I like and the name of my favorite tree. The breeder I got her from is Blue Hill Swissy's. To find out more about the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog (GSM Dog or Swissy) go to the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog Club of America they have a lot of wonderful information on the breed.
The purpose of this blog is to journal my successes and failures with training Willow. I will have help along the way. I am working with a wonderful trainer, Laurie of Side by Side Dog Training. She is a local trainer in the Salt Lake City area.
Welcome to my journey!
My MS affects me in many ways. The major effect is on my balance. I feel like I am walking on a small ship most of the time and in the last 6 months I have begun to have a real problem with drop foot on my left side.
Another way that MS affects me is that it sorely tries my patience! I have never been overly patient and now I am having to learn to be patient with myself. I absolutely hate it when I stumble, fall, trip over my words and when my thoughts just won't work well together. I have never had these problems before and often I find myself saying "Why ME?"
While researching treatments and ways to slow my MS progression and ways to keep from having to use a cane and walker all the time I came across articles that talked about Service Dogs for MS patients.
When I saw my doctor I asked her about it and she said a balance/mobility service dog could very well keep me out of a walker and/or wheelchair full-time for a couple of more years. I absolutely adore dogs so I thought this would be a very good idea. I immediately began researching where to get a dog and the costs involved. That was very depressing. Because I am a large woman the agencies that give out dogs for free would not consider me for a mobility dog. Mostly because most of them use Labs and Golden's which would be too small. The agencies that would consider me wanted $30,000-$50,000. Way more money than I have and way more money than I would be able to raise.
So I began to look for an adult dog at local shelters and online trying to find one that was the correct size, temperament and personality to be a service dog. That's when I received another rude awakening. Many of the rescues would not even consider me for their dogs because I wanted a dog to be a service dog and they felt that dogs should never have to work. Rescues have had enough problems and needed to live a life of leisure and not have to work. The ones that would consider me had dogs with so many problems I didn't feel like they could ever be a good service dog.
That brought me to the next phase of my search. I finally decided to look for a puppy so that I could get the breed that I knew would work for me size and temperament wise. I put this off for a long time because I have absolutely no experience with puppies and I have never done the potty training thing. I knew I would have to have a great trainer to work with. The breed I chose is the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog. I got Willow on August 30th and she is beautiful. She is currently 13 weeks old and her birthday was June 10, 2014. No she isn't named after the movie. Willow is just a name I like and the name of my favorite tree. The breeder I got her from is Blue Hill Swissy's. To find out more about the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog (GSM Dog or Swissy) go to the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog Club of America they have a lot of wonderful information on the breed.
The purpose of this blog is to journal my successes and failures with training Willow. I will have help along the way. I am working with a wonderful trainer, Laurie of Side by Side Dog Training. She is a local trainer in the Salt Lake City area.
Welcome to my journey!
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