Showing posts with label boy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label boy. Show all posts
Saturday, December 24, 2016
I love this little boy
I love this little boy
On the way home from school today:
"Mommy. Mommy, look. Look, Mommy, look. Look."
Tonight, I got some snuggles on the couch. At dinner, Joel and I convinced ourselves that we need to take him back to the doctor cause hes just not acting like himself (still). Hes never really gotten all the way better when he had the ear infections. He still has green snot.
But from these pictures, youd never know that a few minutes prior he was fussing and upset.
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Friday, December 23, 2016
Back to the now big brown boy!
Back to the now big brown boy!
Its been awhile since I posted and my recent ones may seem somewhat off topic. I considered not writing anything about our cat, Millie, on this blog but she was an important part of (Laurel and) Hardys life so I decided to include her.
Today is the last day of March and we have snow on the ground again. Ive been feeling pretty cranky recently - its been a long winter and Ive been feeling kind of crummy due to an ongoing sinus infection since November. That means we havent been getting out as much as Id like and although Hardy and I are working on manners, basic obedience, public access skills and task training at home; I know that isnt the same as getting out and about.
We made it to a CPE Agility trial the weekend of March 11th - 13th. Laurel had a chance to compete with the teeter and the weaves for the first time which was very exciting! Unfortunately, I developed an uncontrollable nose bleed that went until Monday afternoon. Monday morning we went to my doctor who sent us to an Urgent Care that sent us to an ER. The MD there tried cauterizing my nose but that didnt work so she packed it. By Thursday, I was sleeping about 23 hours a day and the ENT told me that it was due to the blood loss, would take about a month to recover from and that we wouldnt be able to work through the ongoing infection for another month because of the other issues with the nose bleed and packing.
Hardy had a good time at the trials - he is learning about wonderful, quiet, calm crate behavior even in the midst of over-the-top dogs. Brent took him for some long walks around Janet and Scotts beautiful property and he got to work with me in the training hall. He has learned the "What Else Can You Do?" game and has become very good at it. He was wowing people with all the different behaviors he can come up to throw at me when I ask him, "What else can you do?" Each behavior has to be a new one that he hasnt done before during the sequence.
I had complained to my service dog trainer, Sue Alexander, because it seemed like Hardy might be "marking". When I described what he was doing - urinating occasionally inside the training hall but without any leg raising or other deliberate behavior, Sue said that didnt sound like marking and suggested that I take in a urine sample to check for a urinary tract infection. I made arrangements to do that on Saturday and to our surprise, Friday night Laurel was up from about 3:00 on doing multiple urinations outside. When we collected a sample from her to take with us, it was blood. We were stunned to find that both our Labs had urinary tract infections! Laurel obviously didnt feel well; Hardy didnt seem much affected! They each have a 20 day supply of Keflex! We asked our vet if it was okay to go to the C-WAGS trials at Medina Kennel Club the next day and he thought it would be fine.
I decided to try Hardy in the Zoom 1 class (which has no stationary exercises). We havent been working on rally much but Hardy can do all the exercises and I thought it would be a good place to see where he is right now. I was fully prepared to take out treats and use it as a run-thru. We went through many of the exercises Friday afternoon and he did very well (but of course, we were at Canine Affair - a place he knows and feels very comfortable at).
Laurel and I had 4 classes before Hardys debut and I will admit to being quite frustrated because of some issues with the facility. Keeping in mind that Im the only person who competes using a power wheelchair (or any type of wheelchair, actually), the fact that the rings were very small and the mats rolled under my chair doesnt really affect anyone else too much. Laurel was obviously not herself (not sure whether it was the UTI or the rolling mats and other environmental issues) but she still tried her best for me and we Qd in 3 out of 4 tries (our NQ occurred when I got completely lost on course). Ill probably try competing there one more time when I know Laurel is feeling fine and see how she reacts - if she is still stressed, Ill skip those trials with her in the future.
Im really hoping that the weather will break and that the MDs and I will figure out what is going on with the nose bleed/sinus infection issues so that Hardy and I can work more consistently away from the house! I can tell you though, that even with our setbacks; as Hardys 1st birthday approaches in April, he is a lovely, funny, enthusiastic young man who continues to show all sorts of promise to become my service dog (first as Laurels partner and then her successor) as well as my dog sport partner!
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Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Big Boy Wrekker Sits Up
Big Boy Wrekker Sits Up
Wrekker can sit up all by himself at six months old! He is so strong and so smart!
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Monday, December 5, 2016
Grandmas Boy
Grandmas Boy
We had the sweetest morning one day. Often when I change Wrekkers diaper, he wants to hold this picture of his grandmas that sits on his dresser. I usually will tell him who is in it, but it doesnt get much more exciting than that. Today, Wrekker wanted to hold the picture and he was going crazy! He was so happy and dancing and touching their faces and would NOT stop gabbing to them! I recorded him on video for several minutes and it was precious to see how much he loves these sweet women in his life so much! Sometimes I think he loves Grandma more than me!
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Thursday, November 10, 2016
Big Boy
Big Boy
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Tuesday, October 11, 2016
Big Boy Outfit
Big Boy Outfit
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Saturday, October 1, 2016
Big Boy Bed On The First Real Try
Big Boy Bed On The First Real Try
Oh yes. Yes, we did. Please-dont-let-me-jinx-it-by-writing-about-it.
On our trip to Evansville last weekend, we brought back my old twin bed and set it up in Tylers room. He was immediately interested in it. The plan was just to have it in Tylers room for a while and let him get used to the idea. But he was immediately taken with it so I rushed out to the store to get a mattress pad in case we could get him to sleep in it that night.
We were close, but he said he didnt want to and we didnt push it.
Then Sunday, at nap, I suggested we try to get him to sleep there. And he did with no protesting. Sunday night, we tried it again and he asked to sleep in his crib, but I convinced him to sleep in his bed. And he did. All night.
On Monday night, he begged Joel to sleep in his crib, but Daddy convinced him to sleep in his big boy bed and he did! All night. (He did startle the crap out of me this morning while I was flipped upside down blow drying my hair....but it was 6:15 and a perfectly acceptable time for him to get up.)
Now the crib is outta there! Out of sight, out of mind and he didnt even ask about it tonight. (Pictures were taken before crib dismantling.) Now I need to start thinking about redecorating his room so it doesnt look like a baby nursery....Theres always something, aint there?
I refuse to say "this was SOOOOO easy" because then I will for sure jinx it..... but, ya know, it wasnt sooooooo hard.
Bring on the potty training! Bwwaaahahahahahahha!
(Im so screwed for saying that!)
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Thursday, September 22, 2016
Good boy Hardy! You are more than a calm balanced young man you are also a ton of fun!
Good boy Hardy! You are more than a calm balanced young man you are also a ton of fun!
The last couple days, since we didnt have any classes and my van and power chair are in the shop, Hardy and I have been doing things around the house and out in the yard. Weve been working on handling (feet, teeth, ears etc) on a bench on our deck and weve been working on everything else in the yard, driveway, bedroom, family room, kitchen and basement. Hardy, like Laurel, especially loves when we head down to the basement -my husband, Brent, matted part of it for me so we can do all sorts of fun things down there. Besides working on the basic obedience behaviors like sit, stand, down, touch, stays etc., we are doing "choose to heel" games. Im also trying to remember how I taught Laurel some exercises, like the right finish with my power chair. Right now, I use a chair or my manual chair in the basement - I can handle a leash from either of those much more easily than from my power chair and I can position them in such a way to encourage Hardy to be straight next to me or I can practice many things off lead as well.
This morning, Hardy, Brent and I went to our manners class. Since I dont have my van or my power chair, we took my manual chair and when I needed help, Brent was there to push me. We worked on sit and down stays, some loose leash walking and recalls. Hardy did a terrific job and I think having my manual chair helped our connection - Im closer to him in that chair than in my power one; theres no arm in between us and I had both my hands to handle the leash, clicker and treats/toy. By the end of class, he was trotting right next to me looking at me even when we were walking past other dogs and their handlers. When hes very pleased with himself, he just prances! Although Hardy is a calm/balanced adolescent, he still a ton of fun and we are having a great time learning together!
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Sunday, September 18, 2016
Tall rookie boy group KNK boasts an average height of 185 cm
Tall rookie boy group KNK boasts an average height of 185 cm
Article: KNK "Our average height is 185 cm... but were not scary" [interview]
Source: OSEN via Daum
1. [+222, -6] Their name is so tacky... (Keunakeun = big)
2. [+164, -8] ? Theyll be disappearing soon enough
3. [+108, -4] They are tall but...
4. [+39, -2] ?? Look at their noses, they all look the same. Did they get it done at the same clinic ????
5. [+34, -2] Do they have nothing more to show off than their heights...? The entire article just talks about how tall they are
6. [+26, -5] Who cares if youre tall... and are the three at the end there brothers? Why do they look the same.
7. [+22, -2] Their name is Keunakeun, Im actually so embarrassed for them
8. [+20, -0] I feel like Ive been seeing articles about their heights for weeks now..
9. [+14, -0] Their team name is at least better than Gamulchi ????
10. [+10, -0] ??? They chose the wrong topic to media play about ??? its not like your height has anything to do with your singing career
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Sunday, September 11, 2016
Sunday, August 28, 2016
Things are looking up for the big brown boy in 2011!
Things are looking up for the big brown boy in 2011!
Hardys decided that things are looking up! This week classes started back up at our training hall so we have something going on most days (which is way better than just doing stuff at home). We missed obedience class this morning because Hardy and I were up 4 times during the night. We are still struggling with finding the right food that will agree with his digestive system well enough that we can also give him high value treats. I think the diarrhea last night was because he got various treats all weekend long and it was just too much for him. Although we have always tried to use premium food, I think well try the food he came to us on (Purina ProPlan). Since we were going up to Canada for the summer and I knew I could get it there, I left him on it. Unfortunately, we didnt start having bad breath, pudding poop, and gas until we switched off it. Well try it again and see how it goes.
Anyway, Hardys digestive tract was recovered enough for him to attend the first class of the next session of agility foundations at 4:30. There were several new dogs there so Hardy was one of the "experienced dogs" and got to work at me sending him to the tunnel, going over a very low A-Frame and walking up and down a board to the table. He is in a fear period right now which we saw during the exercise with the board. While he was confident and happy doing the tunnel and the A-Frame, he was clearly concerned on the 12" wide board. We are using a clicker for his agility training which is working great! He clearly gained confidence on the board and we quit while it was good!
Laurel also had a private with Rob today. Were using a clicker to repair some problems that weve been having. When we started agility class, I had no intention of ever competing so we didnt work on some basics which have come back to bite us. But because Laurel is so clicker savvy, using it now is helping tremendously and she is gaining skills very quickly. Today we worked on the contact at the bottom of the A-Frame and the teeter, we worked on straight up weave poles, especially the entry and we also threw in some start line stays. For the first time, Laurel is stepping onto the pivot spot and confidently riding the teeter down which is a huge improvement. I think we got close to having the teeter at full height today! Both Rob (Laurels instructor) and Ana (Robs wife and Hardys instructor) are great with the clicker and I think it is making all the difference with Laurel right now. I tend to run out of hands and fingers so having instructors willing to click for me is awesome. Im hoping that Hardy will be much better at the foundations because Im going into it knowing that Id like to compete with him and because we will be using the clicker right from the start. I got the book, Agility Right From the Start, for Christmas and although it is a big book filled with information that can be pretty overwhelming, Im trying to take out the stuff that will help us and use it.
It was pretty funny today when Hardy went into the tunnel from my send and both Ana and Rob clicked while I said "yes" almost simultaneously. Obviously I have done a good job training them both to click for my dogs! Thanks, guys!
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