The best dog ever

I know this probably looks Photoshopped, but it is a real photo! Maddie and I were practicing her down-stays and I decided to try propping a book up in front of her. I'm not sure why we have a Golden Retrievers for Dummies book, but it was good for a photo op.

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I also made a scrapbook layout of the photo with Maddie's evaluation from her Obedience II class on Saturday. She got an "Excellent", by the way, and is approved to move on to just about any class we want to take next. The original plan was to do the Canine Good Citizen class next, but we're having such a good time working together, that I'm thinking of signing up for Obedience III or Rally instead.

P.S. The little girl next door told her mom that Maddie is her best friend. Isn't that cute?! Maddie's gonna be great with Nora.

** Paper and elements from Miss Mint/Peppermint Creative Good Dog kit. **

The best dog ever

A while back I mentioned that Maddie and I were going to repeat our intermediate obedience class as a refresher. Yesterday was our second week and things are going just great - Maddie is a superstar. Her sit-stay, down-stay, stand-stay, heel, wait, recall and finish are all rock solid. Anything messed up is certainly my fault because Madness sincerely wants to do the right thing.

Next week we are going to learn to teach "go to your rug", so I'll be off to Target today to get Maddie a rug. I think this will be a great thing for her to know around Nora. In fact, I think I'll get a pretty Maddie rug for Nora's room too.

One comment that our instructor made yesterday has really stuck with me. I don't remember her exact words, but the gist was that dog training is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you constantly worry that your dog is going to screw up, he'll probably screw up, but if you have confidence and believe in him, he'll do great. It is so true, I worried a lot with our first dog and he was a wild thing (gorgeous and sweet, but also quite naughty). I could have been a better dog mama to him. My attitude with Maddie is different - I view her as a fundamentally good dog who needs me to teach her. It makes a world of difference.

Update:

We got two rugs for Maddie at Target - a bright green one for Nora's room and a tan one for other places in the house. I'm not sure yet how to teach her to go to her rug and I don't want to do anything that might undermine what we're going to learn next week, but I did decide that associating good things with the rugs was an ok thing to start on now, so I gave Maddie her new bone on the rugs. She seems to have decided that she prefers the green one (that's my girl!).

When life gives you snow ... make a snowman!

We've been wanting a little Spring getaway, so when I got an email for Dog Lovers weekend "Up North", we decided to go. It was chilly - 4 below this morning (yikes!), but still fun and Maddie had a ball (photographic evidence below).

I do want you to also know that there are, indeed, people weirder than us. This weekend there was an outdoor wedding at the same resort. Yesterday. Minus 4. Outdoor wedding. Wow. I don't even know what else to say about that.

Aside from the cold, it really was a lovely weekend. Here's my favorite non-dog photo, taken on the drive back this afternoon. This is Lake Superior. Isn't it gorgeous? With good boots, a hat and a warm pair of gloves, it really wasn't bad out at all. We really need to get those snowshoes we've been talking about so we have a fun family winter activity.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Gone to the dogs

Today I went to the Pet Expo with my friend J and had a great time! The best part was meeting Winslow the Berner and his person at the therapy dog booth. I've always thought that Maddie would be a great therapy dog but unfortunately I've lacked the commitment to get us certified. Now I really think that we should do it. I think we'll repeat obedience II starting in March and then work on her CGC (canine good citizen certification) and TDI (therapy dogs international). I don't know if we'll have time to do much work once Nora comes home, but maybe we could get into a kids' reading program or something that we could do as a family. Even if that doesn't happen, Maddie and I will get to spend some time together and do more training - that alone is a good thing, especially with a little one coming soon. :)

Puppet play

A while back, I read in Bright From the Start that puppet play is a good attention builder for young children. Since then, I've been looking for a puppet for Nora.

We've seen a few, but none seemed soft enough, cute enough, expressive enough ... until today at Borders where I found a Folkmanis baby dutch rabbit puppet. Rob and I named her "Dutch" because she's a dutch rabbit. Yes, I know "Dutch" is a boy's name, but the rabbit looks like a girl and we thought "Duchess" would be too hard to say, so "Dutch" it is.

Maddie really likes her. I think she thinks Dutch is a puppy or something because Maddie sniffed her, then nuzzled her, then gave her kisses. Rob thought that Dutch might look a little too much like a dog toy, though, so now she lives in Nora's room, three shelves up and well out of Maddie's reach.

Beware of Dog

There was a horrible story on the news here not too long ago about a 7 year old boy who was killed by the family dog - a pit bull who was kept chained in the basement (what??!! who would have a "pet" who needed to be kept chained inside the house??). In any case, the parents deserve some credit for realizing that the dog needed to be kept from the children. The poor little boy apparently went downstairs to pet the dog or something. When the father realized what happened and went to help, he got bit himself and shot the dog. My heart hurts for everyone involved.

I know, that all pit bulls aren't vicious and that people play some role in shaping their behaviors, but I also know that Maddie likes to carry things around in her mouth because she's a retriever. It's what she was meant to do, it's nothing we taught her. Certain characteristics are part of any breed and it seems to me that breeds originally developed as guard dogs or something like that will be naturally more aggressive than breeds developed for sport or companionship. If you have a dog bred to be a guard dog, you need to be willing to make an extra effort to work with him to become a good companion.

I also think we all need to realize that this didn't necessarily have to be a story involving a "dangerous" breed. All dogs have sharp teeth and strong jaws and little kids can be annoying to them I'm sure. I've seen our little neighbor, A, stick her finger in Maddie eye and up her nose (she was in that learning body parts phase and was teaching Maddie some of hers). If someone did that to me, I might want to bite them.

There's an article in the current issue of Parents magazine about kids and dogs. I couldn't find it exactly in magazine format online, but you can read most of the content here. They describe four commands that the family dog should know. Here's our report card:

1. Go to your spot.
This order gives your dog a place to go when things get chaotic. Put [her] crate or bed in a quiet spot. Toss a treat into it, and tell the dog, "Go to your spot." Teach the kids to leave the dog alone when [she's] in [her] spot.
Our grade: C. Maddie knows "lie down" and is reliable with it. She also has a favorite spot behind the kitchen table, but we have not taught her to go to a spot. She really wants to be with us and because she is part of the family, we don't want to send her to another room (that would feel like punishment to her, don't you think). Probably what I should teach her is to go lie down in a spot that I point to, so she could be out of the way but still in the same room.

2. Leave it.
This command keeps your dog from pouncing on dropped food or a child's favorite toy. To train: With the dog on a leash, put a dog treat on the floor and say, "Leave it." The second your pet stops trying to get the treat - and especially if [she] looks up at you - quickly give an even better treat from your hand (like cheese or a tidbit of chicken) and say, "Good dog!"
Our grade: B. Maddie is decent at this, but she did grab an apple turnover out of my friend B's house last Spring (she dropped it when I told her to drop it, which was good, but what I really want is for her to not grab it in the first place). She will leave something on the ground if I tell her to "leave it", though. We did teach the command pretty much the way the article describes too, but Maddie's great reward is bits of hot dog.

3. Off.
The last thing you need when you're carrying a baby is Bowser jumping up on you. Teach your dog "off" by never, ever touching [her] when [she] jumps up on you - don't even push [her] away. Instead, turn your back so [she] drops on all fours. Then , bend down to pet [her]. Our grade: C. My girl is really happy to see us after we've been apart all day. I think she knows that she's not supposed to jump, but there is a lot of frantic wiggling, whining and - sadly - mouthing (she does it softly, but it's still her mouth on my hand). Lately I've been ignoring her when she has the "crazies" and then pet and gush all over here when she calms down and greets me properly.

4. Wait.
If you're heading outside, keep your dog from getting overly excited. Put [her] on a leash, open the door, and tell [her], "Wait." When [she] relaxes, release [her] with a cheerful "Okay!" and let [her] go through the doorway.
Our grade: A-. It might have been a solid A, but we don't always use this when going outside. We do use "wait" often on the stairs, though, and it's perfect for that. "Wait" for us is a temporary thing - she knows to stay alert because we're going to call her soon (unlike "stay" where she might as well take a nap). I love this when I have my hands full and want to get up or down the stairs without tripping over the dog. Obviously it will also be great when trying to carry a baby up/down the stairs.

In case these so-so marks are giving you a less than favorable opinion of my furbaby, I should say that Maddie is a very good girl. Our less-than-perfect grades have everything to do with my inconsistencies in training, nothing at all to do with Miss Madness. We need to do more before Nora comes home - "Off" and nice walking on a leash are probably the two things that are most important for us.

Just for kicks I thought I'd share the first picture I ever saw of Maddie (her breeder emailed this to me after they did the "puppy matching"). It was love at first sight.

Lots of ladybugs... so where the heck is Nora??

Thank you SP for the great box of ladybug stuff! It's a ladybug board book, a plush ladybug book, a duck in ladybug rain gear, a ladybug sun catcher ... that's a bunch of ladybugs. Ladybugs are supposed to bring referrals, so what gives?? ;) SP, I agree with what you said in your note. I don't think that ladybugs have any special power either, but they do make me think of Nora. You know I love books and that sun catcher is going to look awesome in my kitchen window. I would put it in Nora's room, but she's got shutters.

On another ladybug note, today we received the new Young Explorers catalog (what can I say, I buy a lot of educational gifts for our nieces and nephews) and it had this:


Apparently I can now grow my own lucky ladybugs. Heh, heh, heh!

P.S. SP, thank you also for the pet treats. Maddie could use some zen. If our pet store had those, I'd have absolutely bought them just for the box. She (Maddie), btw, loves those little cat treats. We had the bottle on the counter and she keeps looking at it. Cat treats must smell really good to her. Poor Abby is going to have to keep an eye on them.

Busy busy busy...

Happy belated 4th of July! I'm sorry to have been away from the computer for so long. We've been having a great time with our house guests (five members of Rob's immediate family). We did a bunch of fun stuff - carnival, canoe trip, zoo, birthday party.

The pinata was fun - j and H helped decorate and our neighbor M came over to help break it open. Here's the finished product - the passenger is one of those moose gift card holders from Caribou. He was a perfect fit.
Maddie was also a great sport at the birthday cookout. Not only was she very sweet with j and the neighbor kids, but she also donned an official family canoe expedition bandanna and gamely modeled some of the birthday headgear. I love this dog. It was a very fun weekend, but the house is seeming very empty this evening!

Define success...

True to our word, we did rent a canoe yesterday. We put Maddie in her doggy life vest, had her jump in the canoe and pushed off. She absolutely refused to sit down for me, so Rob did what any good father would do - threatened to pull over the canoe. Maddie spent the rest of the paddle sitting in the back with Rob. She was ok. She didn't love it and she really didn't understand why she couldn't stand up, walk around or get a drink from the lake while we were moving, but she didn't hate it either. She loved the part where we pulled up on an island and she got to go swimming. Canoe camping is probably not going to happen any time soon, there's just too much of a risk of her dumping us out. We'll keep trying though and eventually we'll get there.


Other parts of our trip did go well - camping and cooking were both good, including the walleye and carrots cooked in foil on the campfire (yay!). It was very nice to eat real food and not rely on pb & j all weekend! We also had several very nice long walks and spotted some interesting wildlife including a doe and her fawn this morning. Deer aren't unusual where we live, but we don't often catch a glimpse of a fawn. It was a great weekend and will be very do-able with Nora (all except the canoeing). In fact, I saw a couple of families tent camping with toddlers so it can't be all that crazy of an idea.

Even though canoeing with Miss Madness didn't go as well as I'd hoped, I'm still rating the weekend a success.

Here's a moment of camping zen:

Thank you Secret Pal!

Thank you very much to our Jan DTC Secret Pal! It was Mother's Day in May, so this month's gift was all about me (mostly). She sent bath beads, facial masks, candles, a bib that says "I Love My Mommy" and treats for Abby and Maddie. Thank you SP!!

Maddie will be bringing her new bone on our weekend road trip. It should keep her busy for a while in the car, so really it's a gift for all of us!

Spring is here!

Tonight after work I bought some of my annuals. I just decided this afternoon that I was going to get plants. You wouldn't believe how much it improved my day just thinking about it. Tomorrow evening I'm going to plant.

See Maddie "helping"? She's that way.

Jan DTC Secret Pal - Revealed!!

HUGE thanks to Kim R for being our Jan DTC secret pal! I think that Kim must be channeling my thoughts because she sends exactly the kind of stuff that I would buy myself. The pig plate was especially weird, because I came very close to buying the same plate myself about three days before it came in the mail.

This month's theme was bath time for baby (or something like that) - Kim sent a very cute hooded towel and wash cloth set, farm animal bath squirters, baby bath products (including California Baby calming bath wash!) and a swimming stingray and lobster. The lobster, by the way, is a HOOT.

There were also marshmallow peeps (claimed by Rob, of course) and Panda bookmarks (claimed by me, of course).

... and a chewy bone for Maddie! The picture is of Kim's pugs, Caesar and Louie. They are Maddie's new best friends. She's never met them, but anybody who'd get you a bone and not eat it themself first has got to be special!

Thank you so much, Kim!!

*** Update ***

Maddie LOVED her bone - it lasted about 5 minutes, including time spent deciding where to eat it! Isn't she cute??

Walking the dog

It is a lovely Spring day today - 64 ° and sunny! - and Rob has gone into the office, so I decided to take Maddie on a walk. Oh my goodness. We have a lot of work to do before Maddie can walk with a stroller. She pulls, she's distracted by wildlife (especially squirrels - which she chases) and she doesn't pay attention to me like she should.

We have a gentle leader from our obedience classes, so we started off using that. That experiment lasted about 4 blocks, then I switched the leash over to her regular buckle collar. She needed a lot of correction at first, especially when she spotted a squirrel, but by the end of our walk she was at my knee where I wanted her. She was even good when we passed people she knows and when our neighbor Mason (who's about 7 or 8) passed us on his scooter.

I called Rob when we got home and we've made a pact to only walk Maddie on her leather lead (not the flexi) and really work on her pulling and squirrel chasing. If she doesn't improve, I won't be able to take her on walks with Nora and that would make me sad.

A Sad Day

Today we said goodbye to a good friend...

Our Missy lost her five month battle with kidney disease this morning at 16.75 years of age. Stinky, we'll really miss you and all your sassy, dog-like ways. You've been a great friend and companion to all of us. Someday we will see you on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge. Until then, I know you'll have a good time with Tyler, Cody and all the other furkids who are waiting for their people to join them. God bless you little one. I love you.

Xin Nian Kuai Le!

Happy Chinese New Year!!

The photo above is a picture of the CNY greeting cards that I ordered from our local FCC group. If my secret pal is seeing this, it will probably give away who I am, but oh well, there was only one month left anyway!

Our original plan was to make a Chinese dinner and watch A Chinese Tall Story on dvd. Unfortunately, Maddie came down with a stomach bug on Friday night and threw a bit of a wrench in our weekend plans. Poor thing threw up at least 10 times between 10:30 pm and 3:30 am. We took her to the vet the first thing Saturday, then spent the rest of the day watching her and trying to get her to drink Pedialyte. She's better today, so we spent the afternoon doing all the things we didn't get done yesterday. We'll probably still watch the movie, but Chinese food isn't going to happen unless it's take out.

This breaks my heart - please help

...but I know that I am a good dog and I just want to go home.

I'm sure by now everyone has seen the Pedigree adoption drive commercial. If you haven't, you can view it here. This is a truly outstanding commercial - I cry every time I see it (Rob would tell you that "cry" is an understatement, I SOB), but more importantly it has moved me to action.

I went to Pedigree's website and donated food to a shelter near our home (only $9.99 for each 22lb bag of Pedigree and they match donations if you order through their site!). And now I'm telling you, so you can do the same. Or, if you'd prefer, you can also donate to the ASPCA or the Humane Society of the United States. I wanted to adopt a shelter dog, but have been told that three pets is enough for now.

I should probably add that Maddie does not eat commercial kibble. We lost our two previous dogs to cancer and after doing some research I concluded that it was not the most healthful choice for Maddie. It is a convenient, economical option for a shelter situation, though, and I give Pedigree a lot of credit for their efforts in this area.

Yes, it is MEGA MAIL MONDAY!!!

Mega Mail Monday is BACK!!! Today, in addition to the heap of catalogs, we received a package from our Jan DTC Secret Pal. It was such a great surprise - she remembered everyone!!

Chocolates for Rob and me:


Treats and toys for the pets (it was upon opening the cat toys that Rob said "Who is this person? She is really nice!" I have to agree, she is really nice!)


And two hats, pink tights and a soft blankie (fleece on one side, satin on the other) for Nora:


Thank you so much Secret Pal! You are the best! Merry Christmas!

Cold toes, warm heart

Cold Toes. We did keep our weekend camping appointment. It was sort of funny, we stopped at the park office to register on Friday and the young woman working there called me by name. I thought she either had telepathic powers or a really excellent memory, but in reality we were THE ONLY CAMPERS and we were IN A TENT. We must be crazy. It was actually fun as long as we kept active. Yesterday we hiked with our mountain goat dog, Maddie, most of the day, not because we wanted to walk that much, but because it was too cold to just sit and read or play cards. This morning when we woke up there was a frost and it was 24 degrees - yikes! My toes are just beginning to thaw.
Warm Heart. When we got home, there was a package from our new Dec DTC secret pal. This month's theme was children's books. Our pal sent three board books, which will be so great for little, paper-tearing hands. The first one is called My Peekaboo Fun, which is a lift-the-flap book about opposites and colors. It has a lot happening on every page, I think it will be really fun to read with Nora - she can learn shapes, colors, animals, opposites! The second is called You're My Little Love Bug which has not only a sweet poem, but music, lights and a place for Nora's picture! Last, but certainly not least, is Hippos Go Berserk!, a hilarious Boyton numbers book about a lonely hippo whose party gets a little out of hand. I can't even do it justice. It's very funny. My favorite is the little beast that arrives with 6 of the hippos. He shows up on several of the pages wearing a big grin and creating mischief.

Family Fun

I've decided that tent camping would be a fun family activity. Since we aren't really campers, we're trying to find some good spots nearby and get in a little practice before attempting it with Nora. Rob and I have camped twice in the past month and have another reservation for late this month (I'm a little afraid that we might get a taste of winter camping with that one!) . Gradually we're figuring out what we need to make this work - for example, we now have a screen porch and better cookware and are looking for a bigger tent (our little 3-man dome barely fits the two of us and the dog).

Speaking of Maddie, this is working out great for her. Lots of walks in the woods and an endless supply of squirrels to chase. Doesn't she look at home in the wilderness??

Spend much time on the computer?

After spending an embarrassing amount of time on the computer, I finally hit the wall. I don't know if it was life, work or general weariness with the "wait" - or some combination of all three - but I've had ZERO interest in any of my online China waiting family stuff for several weeks.

This is Gaily (aka Abigail) and my laptop. As you can see, she spends more time "on" the computer than I do!