Away from hounds (Away from home ;-)

Rick got me a great anniversary present... a trip home to visit my family and friends in Michigan.  I'm there now, and I am trusting him with the care of my beloved hounds.  We'll see how it goes!

Last night, JoJo slipped out of her collar on their midnight walk.  Scary!  All is well, however.

Rewards

I have been trying to find healthy treats that are appealing to the dogs that they can swallow in one gulp while training.  Let's just say, it's been a very tough road.

Zuke's = not interested
NB or Wellness Bites = not interested enough and pricey
Cheese = gassy and messy
Peanut butter = messy

I am just not into hot dogs.  Lots of people rave, but I just can't do it.  Nor am I cook, or willing to cook, to have dog treats.

So, I started up again with trying Nothing In Life Is Free (NILIF) and this morning, it worked great!  I waited until the dogs were super hungry for their breakfast, and then they would have done backflips... for kibble!

I'm so happy.  They're tuckered out, fed, and happy.  Plus, JoJo now knows "leave it," "take it," "shake," "bow," "down," "which hand?," a much more solid "sit," "stay," (sitting and down), the beginnings of "heel" (finish right), and "finish" (finish left).  Kibeth reviewed all the basics, her "shake," and "other paw" tricks, and learned, "finish."  I'm really proud of her.  She flips out when we learn something new, but she got over it much quicker.

Looking at my morning schedules, we can do this every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, perhaps Saturday, and Sunday.  (They get kibble for breakfast only.)

I <3 NILIF.

Central Bark

We went do the dog park this afternoon!  Here's some cuteness...

 Me with JoJo & Kibeth

Rick kneeling with Kibeth & JoJo

The girls had a great time playing, smelling, exploring.  No zoomies today, either.  I was disappointed, so was Rick.

 JoJo playing with a shepherd mix.

 JoJo being greeted by a rottie puppy.

 I'm so impressed with this shot.  They're in-step!

Even better, I'm so proud of Kibeth.

Kibeth started out super withdrawn, shy, and uninterested.

Now she's a social butterfly, and appreciates JoJo's company.

 Oh the smells.  They were intoxicating!

 Proof of the social butterflyisms of Kibeth.

She approached this guy from a trot at least 30 feet away.

He really enjoyed treating her to some hip scritches.

I love my hounds.  I'm so proud of them.  The only issue today was when Kibeth put an obnoxious bull dog puppy in his place.  It looked and sounded scary, but she was a good Mom, and the little guy was uninjured, up and being nosey in other dogs' business.  It's also very nice to have someone to go with to the dog park.  Rick is an excellent photographer and travel buddy.  I love sharing these experiences with him, and I think he enjoys the outing, too.

I can't wait to really get into training again!  Perhaps we'll finally get some formal classes in starting in January.  Either way, it hit me that I can only expect another two years from Kibeth.  Where does the time go!?  Gotta take advantage of what we have left.

FYI, Kibeth has a corneal ulcer from a scratch she got on her left eye during our walk the other day.  I met our new California vet, Dr. Driscoll.  He's wonderful, the cost was reasonable, and overall, a very pleasant experience.  Only complaint was the receptionist girl... rather at the end of her capabilities.  Anyway, it'll be about $100 to have the zit thing on Kibeth's right side removed.  I'll probably end up doing it when I'm all set up violin-studio-wise out here.  Oh, and JoJo went along for the ride.  She was very vocal, kind of whiney.  She does that when she's unsure, I think.  Otherwise, she was very well-behaved.

Yay California!  You know you live in a dog-friendly state when a great dane walks into the apple store at a local mall. ;-)

Oh yeah, btw... We're on facebook!

You can view Granted Wishes Greyhounds on my facebook page here.  Like us, please!  I want to connect to as many greyt-hound owners as possible.

California

As the link indicates with pictures, I have moved to a beautiful spot in Southern California (SoCal).  The hounds love it here, and I don't regret the big move one bit.  It's a bit scary getting enough students and work to make enough money to afford to live out here (rent is a whopping $1,380 a month; that was the cheapest/best I could find!), but it's going according to plan so far.

We recently found a local dog park.  This park is FREE, unlike in Michigan where I had to pay a membership fee.  It's quite nice, but small in comparison.  All the dogs we met were friendly, though one had definite guarding issues of its owner.  Pictures to come when we go tomorrow morning.

So, why the big move to California?  I left friends, family, and successful work for my boyfriend, Rick.  When did this happen?  May 25, 2010 we FINALLY became an official couple.  He was my roommate's fiance in college my freshman year.  That whole soap opera affair is finally over, and he broke up with her in February of this year.  Upon accepting that it never would have worked despite his best efforts, we grew closer and closer until he finally realized (as I had known for years) that we would be great together.  I was right... we are.

We drove over from Michigan (see enclosed link) over a period of 3 days.  Day 1 we arrived in Olathe, KS after 14 hours.  Kibeth and JoJo did fairly well.  We stopped every few hours for a potty break/stretch.  Kibeth was antsy:  panting, slobbering, restless; but only at the beginning.  Once we got going, she did settle down after about 30-45 minutes and nap with JoJo.  JoJo wins queen of travel -- she was perfect.  The 2nd day, we drove to Albequerque, NM.  We stayed at La Quinta, and that was our first experience in a hotel.  Much to my chagrin, both girls settled in instantly after a moderate walk and slept well.  JoJo on the bed with me, Kibeth on the dog bed we brought along.  Day 3, we drove over mountains and through the desert to reach our final destination at last.

Kibeth and JoJo love Rick.  He's awesome if he drives my Vue with them in tow.  They like how he drives much better -- he's super careful and gentle.  It's so wonderful to have someone to go with on walks with the girls, and especially to the park, where he can photograph us.  He's getting into photography as a hobby, and possibly has a side job.  These photos I'm going to be posting will be fabulous for sure. ;-)

I'm open to suggestions for getting an online, public photo collection going.  Maybe even some videos.  iPhoto has a link to flickr.  Any good?  Google has Picasa, which Rick uses.  Is that better?

Once I am stable income-wise and my credit card is paid off (I have 0% interest to survive the move transition), I fully intend to enroll in obedience and agility classes for JoJo.  Kibeth hates car rides, so we'll see how she does going to/from the dog park before I make her endure regular car rides to/from class.

JoJo celebrated her 7th birthday on September 19th.  Kibeth just turned 8 on October 26th.  Gosh they're getting so old!  You'd never know it though.  This December, I will have had 5 glorious years with Kibeth.  She's so hard to bond with, I can never tell if she really likes being with me, or just getting to do the stuff we do.  JoJo is serving as my Emotional Assistance Dog (EAD) beautifully, and I'm beginning to use her as my service dog.  If I have a panic attack while we're on our evening walk (as I sometimes do, unfortunately), she will let me brace against her to make it home if I'm a bit wobbly on my feet.

So that's what's going on.  Sorry for the hiatus, it is now over.  Just a bit more scenery for today:

Here are the mentioned links to my photo albums in order:

Where we live, and the Peters Canyon Trail right by our apartment complex.

The drive from Michigan to California.

Cuteness of Today

Queen Kibeth

Ellie & JoJo

The gang chillin'

And the infamous JoJo tongue face

Hiatus

Well, hello.  I've been away for a while due to a drastic change in my life.  A guy I met who was my freshman year of college roommate's fiance finally broke up with her, and we've gotten together!  Ricky lives in CA, though, and this long-distance thing is very hard for both of us.  Now that things are settling down, I hope to come back to the intensive dog training scheme I'd been planning on.

The girls will do lots of obedience work, and learn a few tricks.  Kibeth loves to fetch her pink ball outside and her tugger inside, and we're getting some great retrieves and even a few "drop it"s.  JoJo has discovered the wonderful world of stuffies, and plays outside like a maniac with her pheasant.  My hope is to use these fun activities in our training everyday.  I also want them to learn lots of tricks to make them welcome house guests if/when we move out to CA to live with Ricky and his Mom (just until he and I can afford our own place).

Our walks have been dampened (and pretty much haulted) by the heat/humidity.  Neither dog appreciates a very long walk in the hot and humid summers here in MI.  I will try to make evening walks, when it's cooled off a bit, more of a routine in our schedule.  There's no hope of me getting up early when my boyfriend is 3 hours behind, and we usually talk until midnight his time.

My friend's pit bull, Howie, is the first APBT to get his lure coursing title.  Anyone have any experience lure coursing greyhounds?  I'm tempted to give it a try...

New Feeding Schedule

Morning:  breakfast RMB
Afternoon:  lunch Preference (greens) with Cosequin
Evening:  dinner RMB + egg dessert

An egg a day keep dandruff away?  We'll find out!

Kibeth, the Genius

I got Kibeth a "puppy dog" stuffed animal (pretty decent sized) at Walgreens the other day.  It was only $7, as compared to the $20 it would cost at PetCo for a comparably sized toy.  Today, for the first time, I called it her puppy as she was holding it in her mouth.  I said, "Do you have your puppy?"

Then tonight, Kibeth looks at me from behind the couch, where I'm sitting.  She looks at me expectantly, as though the puppy will materialize for me to throw.  Being sick, I didn't want to get up and go to my bedroom (where I know it is) so I lamely told her to, "Go get your puppy!"

By golly, she turned, trotted off to the bedroom, and a few seconds later, returned with puppy in mouth!!!!!

Jackpot of treats (that just so happened to be handy) for that. I <3 my dogs.  Greyhounds are geniuses!  They're just quiet and sneaky about it.

Funny Laying Down Poses

I just couldn't resist capturing a few funny laying down poses my hounds come up with.  You'd think I don't provide them enough dog beds (there are 6, including mine).

Kibeth, I hate to break it to you... You MISSED!

JoJo, dear, that's MY bed.  You can't take your half out of the bottom middle.

Kibeth, is that actually... comfortable?  Put your ear down.  You look like a doberman.

Now, someday kids, you will learn to share the big green bed.

I want them to put some weight on.  We're working on it.  I see too many ribs when they're laying down.

For Jen

This is Michigan snow, my dear.  That Georgia stuff is... lame. =P

Yep.  We walk at least 4x a day in that stuff.  It comes up to mid-calf, but that pile from the plow is about 3.5ft tall.  My girls are both from down south, so they don't particularly like all this cold, snowy, wet weather.  At least they have their leopard coats!

Congrats

To the greyhound who won best of the hound group on the Eukanuba dog show tonight!

Wishing for motivation.

Well, I had all these wonderful plans prepared.  Then life hit.

Speaking as a person with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), I can honestly say that it has the ability to interfere with my life to an extent that it takes out all my energy to anything but school, work, and practice.  I'm hoping I'll be able to recover some of myself now, and get going on training.  Stay tuned!

Personal Problems

Due to some personal issues that have gotten out of control, my "doggie goals" will have to be put on hold for the time being.  Stay tuned for further updates!

New Year's Resolution

I've finally settled on a set of resolutions (regarding my hounds) for 2010.  They are as follows:

• I shall always walk my dogs at least a little bit every day (unless it's below 10 degrees outside -- they don't want to go out in that) I'm at my parents' house.  (We already walk at least 4 times a day at my apartment.  I don't know why it's so hard to continue the pattern at home, but the back yard is so much easier and I'm REALLY busy.)
• We shall always have at least one training session a day.
• We will enroll in a clicker obedience class.
• We will become CGC certified.
• We will become TDI certified.
• Lindsay will test and pass JoJo on all things necessary for being my psych service dog.
• We will discover agility and rally obedience.
• We will go to the park at least once a month over the spring/summer/fall seasons. (Over 40 degrees.)
• Kibeth will train for obedience competitions.  (Rally-O too?)
• JoJo will train for agility competitions.
• I will either make, purchase, or get assistance from Dad in making agility equipment that conforms to competition standards for us to practice on.
• I will get Ellie (my parents' bc x lab) back to a healthy weight if I have to fight tooth-and-nail, or do it single-handedly.  She WILL be under 50 pounds by 2011!

Future dog goals:

• Rescue a greyhound puppy straight off the track to raise as my agility star.
• Foster greyhounds for REGAP.
• No longer need a service dog.
• Become more involved with REGAP in helping the greyhound cause.
• Compete in obedience, rally, and agility for sure.  I don't know about freestyle, but I'd like to try!

Doggie Website

I made my own website today.  I want to have an easy reference for my preferences on kibble, raw, training, adoption, rescue, etc.  Find it here.  It's a work in progress, but I'm kind of excited.  One of the outlets for my pentup need to socialize post-graduation will likely be a larger commitment to REGAP.  Having this website will expedite my ability to help people looking to adopt, having recently adopted, and anyone in need of general guidance.  This way, I can just direct them to my blog and website, rather than spending hours each time emailing back and forth.

Thanks to Never Say Never Greyhounds for the inspiration!  Again... =D

Giving Back

Due to a very generous donation of a fellow greyhound lover (Never Say Never Greyhounds) I am now given a track to follow regarding my hounds' training.  The clicker obedience class for beginners I was going to take filled up before my application arrived. =(

I am awestruck by this person's generosity, and plan to pay it forward.  She only requested that I make a donation to SEGA (which I plan to do) and/or buy a greyhound puppy calendar or 2 (I will get one to use for wall art).  This won't happen until after my credit card rolls, but that is in the next few days.  However, I saw an ad for the ASPCA the other day, and they said that for just $18 a month, you can sponsor the care of an animal.  I plan to donate $10 a month to REGAP (my local greyhound rescue, where I got JoJo) and $10 a month to Best Friends' Dog Town.  That's totally doable for me, and I hope it makes a difference.  I encourage anyone else to consider something like this.

Before/After Dental

Sorry, the quality's not the best.  It's a picture by computer of a printed picture.  You get an idea, though.  Hopefully, this was our last dental!

JoJo was perfectly fine except for some moderate gingivitis.

Kibeth has 2 cavities, but neither required pulling the tooth yet.  Otherwise, she only had some plaque, discoloration, and mild gingivitis.