Showing posts with label class. Show all posts
Showing posts with label class. Show all posts
Friday, December 23, 2016
Our first Levels class is a success and we visit Dr Neal!
Our first Levels class is a success and we visit Dr Neal!
Yesterday I taught my first Levels class at Canine Affair Center! Two people who had signed up didnt show so we might be able to bring a couple people in from the wait list. I used Hardy as a demo dog for clicker training and he was super! Then when I put him in a crate to wait, he yelled at me so after giving him a warning, he got "too badded" out to the crate in my van. After class, I worked with him a bit and he generally remembered everything. We are still working on loose leash walking with my chair really hard since what he learned with John walking doesnt just transfer to the chair (something I learned from training Laurel - the puppy has to learn both skills).
This afternoon, Laurel had an appointment with Dr. Neal. He checked her ruptured ligament and thought that it was healing nicely however, he wants her to rest for another two weeks. He doesnt think it is going to be a chronic injury and it shouldnt interfere with her ability to do her job or play dog sport games (like agility). Of course, the movement we want to avoid - having her pivot on that foot - is exactly what she does when she is playing with Hardy! However, she is being very good at self regulation and will put herself in her crate or lay on my bed instead of tearing around the house or yard with him. Dr. Neal looked at Hardys eyes which are still goopy at times (and Laurels are starting to be goopy some too) and gave us some antibiotic ointment to use with both. He also looked at an upper tooth behind one of Hardys adult teeth - it is a baby tooth that is resisting coming out. He suggested we just leave it until it comes out on its own. Hardy weighs 36.7 lbs now and seems to be growing nicely.
download now
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Hardys first class at Canine Affair Center
Hardys first class at Canine Affair Center
This morning Hardy and I attended his first class at Canine Affair Center - a basic obedience and manners class with Mary. There were two other dogs, both adults - a very large 1 1/2 year old Wheaten Terrier and a Golden Retriever. We worked on watch me, sit, down, stays, come front and left finishes. Hardy was terrific! We worked particularly on sit from a down; something he seems to have forgotten. Although we didnt work on walking during class, we worked on keeping a loose leash walking into and out of the training hall.
Hardy is still exploring the house and loves coming across one of the cats; neither of whom is nearly as happy to see him! Apparently Laurels foot is bothering her because she is taking it easy all by herself. Tomorrow Im teaching my first Introduction to Training Levels class so I am working hard to get ready!
download now
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
We attend our first AKC STAR Puppy Class go out to dinner
We attend our first AKC STAR Puppy Class go out to dinner
Hardy, Brent and I attended our first AKC STAR Puppy Class at Fortunate Fido this morning. It takes about an hour to get there but at least we arent doing it during rush hour! The STAR program is kind of a pre-CGC (Canine Good Citizen) class developed for puppies in which you and your puppy not only have to pass a evaluation but you also have to attend all 6 classes run by the AKC evaluator. There is only one other puppy in the class, a lovely Border Collie one week younger than Hardy owned by someone I knew a long time ago (in my other life) in high school when we rode horses together. We have our instructor/evaluator, Anne and an assistant, so we have plenty of help! This week, we learned what the program would entail and worked on handling our dogs, "4 on the floor" greetings, and loose leash walking. Both puppies did a great job and we even had enough time to let them play a couple times. Although they are about the same height, Hardy definitely has the weight advantage on his side!
We dropped my power chair off at the medical equipment place on our way home so that it could get some repairs and maintenance done this coming week while my van is in the shop getting the body work done from when it got run into in Canada. That means that other than when Brent can take us places, Laurel, Hardy and I will be home together all week. Im thinking up things we can do that wont require Laurel to move too much while keeping Hardy busy.
Then, this evening we headed back to the west side to have dinner with some very good friends, Don and Alice at one of our favorite restaurants. We took Hardy with us because the weather was cool enough that he could stay in his crate in the van for part of the time. Before we went in, we took him to the grass and he quickly did his business! Don and Alice had gotten there early and when we went in, we found that our table was at the very back of the restaurant right in the major traffic pattern for all the servers carrying food out from the kitchen. I had my manual chair and we had to go through all the other tables which were very close together and filled with diners. Hardy had to go behind me - something we havent actually worked on but, he did it like a little pro. We had him go as far under the table as possible in front of Brent and he was very good; not perfect, but hes just 5 months old now. He stayed with us through our salad course and when our main dishes arrived, Brent took him out to rest in the van. We tend to take our time when we are out with our friends and I didnt want Hardy to have a bad experience. At his age and point in training, I want to make sure that when I have him out in public, the time is about him and how he is doing, not about eating dinner or running errands or spending time with friends.
To top off a great day with our little guy, when we got home and he finished greeting Laurel, he came over to me and started alerting to the rheumatoid in the chest wall. I asked him if I should take my meds based on his alert or whether I should wait for Laurel to confirm. Just then, she joined us with her own alert so I took my medications and snuggled in bed with my two amazing Labs! And sure enough, just as they both had known, the rheumatoid "struck" about 50 minutes later but the pain meds were already on board so it wasnt too bad.
download now
Monday, November 14, 2016
2nd Levels Class Hardy continues to work on politely waiting for his turn
2nd Levels Class Hardy continues to work on politely waiting for his turn
Tonight was my second Levels Class at Canine Affair. It went very well - our first team earned their red bandanna (Yea, Kay & Tia!) I saw some lovely improvement in our other teams as well! I brought Hardy to use for demos again and he also needs to continue to work on having to wait for his turn. He particularly doesnt think its fair when I am working with another dog, especially if Im giving treats! Mary was terrific in being willing to treat him for good (quiet) behavior and next week, Im planning to bring him a treat toy to work on while hes waiting in the crate. He does fine when he is in the crate in the van but he tends to complain when he is in one in the training hall. Obviously, this is something we need to continue to work on. On the other hand, he did some truly lovely loose leash walking with nice eye contact (checking in every couple steps). Im incredibly proud of my big brown puppy!
I know this blog is about my experience raising Hardy but I need to include a couple brags about my goofy yellow girl, Laurel! First, she is doing a great job taking it easy while her ruptured ligament heals! I really didnt expect that so, you go, Laurel! But my big brag concerns her diabetes alert - whenever I have one of my gamma globulin infusions (every 3 weeks), my blood sugar goes very high (one of the IV bags I get is glucose so go figure ...). I had an infusion yesterday and when I got home, Laurel went searching for the toy she brings me to alert to high or low blood sugar. She couldnt find it so she jumped up on the bed with me and went back to licking me around my mouth (which was her natural alert that I untrained before I found out I had steroid-induced diabetes). Im very proud of her ability and persistence to give me an alert even though I had inadvertently hidden the toy under the box of Kleenex.
download now
Thursday, September 15, 2016
Weekend Recap Bryans 10 Year Class Reunion Mini Quiche Recipe
Weekend Recap Bryans 10 Year Class Reunion Mini Quiche Recipe
My weekend started on Thursday night when I went to dinner with my sister and her family. I got the sweetest video of Shepherd and my nephew Owen. They havent been able to hang out for quite some time now and they missed each other. It was adorable:
On Friday after work, Shep and I went over to Colleen and Jordans to hang out. I cant wait for Baby Brown to make his appearance and its so cute to ask Shepherd where the baby is! He points right to Colleens belly. Its adorable.
Saturday, I woke up really early for whatever reason, so I decided to go hit up some yard sales while the boys slept. When I got home they woke up and we ran errands and just hung around the house. Saturday evening we went to Bryans 10 year class reunion, which was small but fun! I got to catch up with Andrea about motherhood, babies and life in general, then made the rounds with everyone else. One of the highlights was when Amanda came up to me and said that I inspired her to start a blog! She and her boyfriend just bought a house in SLO and they are gutting it and starting over. I caught up on all the posts last night and I cant WAIT to see how it all comes together!
Bryan and I also had a great discussion with Kara about music, journalism, social media/networking. It was really interesting. It is not often that someone from Hanford moves to New York and actually makes it. Ive followed her writings on the Daily Beast over the years. Kara and I were on staff at the high school newspaper (so high brow) and now shes writing full-time. What a dream!
Anyways, we skipped out right before 11 so we could get home to our boy. I wish more of the graduating class had attended, but luckily there were a lot of people that showed up that I havent talked to in a long time so it worked out.
Today we slept in and I ended up getting a migraine. I hate those dumb things. They are the worst! So it ate up most of my afternoon. When I woke up, I felt so weak and disoriented all I did was lay on the couch. Finally around 7pm I kicked into gear. I just knew that I had a busy week this week that I couldnt not get some grocery shopping and meal prep done.
Bryan took a nap and Shepherd and I loaded up to go to the great Bullseye, Target. After spending way too much skrilla, yes I said skrilla, I called in a pizza at Boston House of Pizza in the parking lot and had just enough time to drop off the cold stuff in the fridge from Target and hit up the grocery store before walking over to grab the pizza. It was perfect. We got home, ate, and I started teriyaki chicken in the crock pot and made twelve mini quiches for breakfast in the mornings over the next few days.
You know what is stupid? Photographing food. UGH. A food blogger, I am not. The quiches have a pie crust bottom, zucchini, spinach, bell pepper, ham, a little feta and a little cheddar cheese. I used the scalloped end of a biscuit cutter (that was about the size of a 1/4 measuring scoop wide) on the pie crust and put that in a muffin pan which was sprayed with baking spray. I fill scooped the veggie mixture in and topped with 9 eggs mixed with a bit of milk so that it was about 3/4 of the way full. Are you asking yourself why I specifically mentioned that I used a scalloped biscuit cutter on the pie crust? Well Ill tell you, because A. its prettier and 2. I feel like the egg attaches better to the scalloped edges and it holds together better. Does it make sense? Maybe. If you arent sold on the science behind it just refer to my first point. Its prettier. The second point is just a plus if its true. And Im 99.4% positive Im right.
Anyways, I baked them for about 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven. I was going to cut up tomato but usually the simpler the better with these. Once cooled, pop them in a ziplock bag and heat them in the oven, microwave or toaster oven (which is my preference because the crust gets crunchy again) in the morning before running out the door. Perfect, healthy breakfast. Youre welcome.
Life hack: If you ever have some veggie/ham mixture left, save it and throw it on a salad with some strawberries, blue berries and Raspberry vinaigrette. YUM. Way to make two meals out of one. GO YOU!
I have class tonight and a group meeting tomorrow night and Wednesday is the first day of school at work! Not to mention homework. Eeek! Sometime this week I have to make it over to Visalia to pick up a bridal shower gift for the event on Saturday which Im one two days late RSVPing for because I didnt read the entire invitation. I hate me.
Hope you guys had a great weekend and a happy Monday!
download now
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Laurel I took obedience class Hardy I did agility foundations class
Laurel I took obedience class Hardy I did agility foundations class
Laurel and I took obedience class this afternoon to work on C-WAGS Level 3 exercises - drop on recall, directed jump, retrieve over broad jump, and go out. The jumps are going consistently great while the drop on recall and go out are brilliant one time and dismal the next. Obviously I need to keep breaking them apart and making sure that Laurel really understands what Im asking. Its great to be working together again!
Hardy and I had the agility foundations class - we worked on doing a rear cross behind the A-Frame, jumping the tire set very low, doing 3 and 6 weave poles, walking across the teeter totter board set on the ground and a couple little jump combinations. He is such a willing, steady little guy. Sometimes it takes him a minute to figure out what I want him to do but once he does, he tries his best. He was thrilled to see the equipment set up which seems like a good sign for having a confident young man who enjoys the various agility exercises!
download now
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)