Wednesday, March 30, 2011
New Furniture
My mom has been talking about getting new furniture for some time now - she says since I'm older and haven't eaten anything (furniture related that is) in some time she thinks that it is "safe." The other day she brought home a pouf that she puts her feet up on. I LOVE that pouf. I like to rub my face on and even lick it. My mom thought it was pretty funny and caught me on camera. Hope it makes you laugh too.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Fourth Chopperversary
Four years ago today I adopted Chopper. That's the short version - the long version is, well, much longer.
Probably four and a half years ago I decided that I wanted a dog. I had bought a beach cruiser and it had a basket and I wanted a dog that would fit in the basket - a nice small dog. I didn't want to pay five hundred dollars or more for some tiny dog when there were plenty of other dogs at shelters and in rescues that needed homes. Rescue groups always seemed to ignore me every time I approached them so that wasn't working out. I spent hours on Petfinder looking at dogs. I just couldn't seem to find the right one.
My birthday falls around St. Patrick's Day so four years ago I decided to have a St. Patrick's themed party. I had friends over, there were green drinks, lots of green drinks and general merriment. The only problem was that I had planned on going the next day, however, to a dog adoption festival sponsored by the Best Friends Animal Society at a park in Burbank. Well, being a trooper, and despite not feeling so hot, the next morning I sucked it up and headed out to the adoption festival with a friend.
We roamed around the fair looking at dogs - again some of the rescue people ignored me. We looked at some of the dogs from animal shelters but no dog seemed to catch my interest. We even headed over to the cat section to take a look (I did not want a cat) and when we came back and were about to call it a day some guy grabbed my arm and said "hey how about this dog?"
I turned around and there was a lady holding a dog on a leash (this is important later) with a funny little collar on. He was gorgeous. But he was a little bigger than what I was looking for. The man said he was a black and tan coonhound and that he was not going to get any bigger. After the guy left the nice English lady said that he was 32 lbs and was very sweet. His name was Chopper. (The dog already weighed 43 pounds I found out at the vet the next week and the vet said he would "fill out" some. He's been 70 pounds for a few years now.)
We went off somewhere quieter so we could get to know each other. While the lady told my friend that the last dog she had had that day had been adopted after two people fought over him. I knew that meant I better decide about this pretty dog soon or someone else would snatch him up. But the dog ignored me. He would look at everyone else or wag his tail at people but seemed not interested in me. While I was getting to know him we heard bits and pieces of his story - which wasn't much. He had been turned in that day at the West Valley Animal Shelter and they had brought him to the fair because he was so handsome. One person said he had had a child with him who was crying and someone else had said that this was the second time he had been brought to the shelter.
He was very calm though around all those other dogs and people (that didn't last too long) so it seemed like it could work. I told him that if I adopted him he would have to wear whatever outfits I put on him. He didn't protest so I took that as an agreement to the deal.
As soon as I said yes things happened very quickly. It turns out that the shelter people don't take credit cards - only cash or a check. I didn't have the $43 to pay for him or my checkbook (I almost always have my checkbook now). As it turned out my friend had her checkbook (she almost never has her checkbook with her) so she wrote the check for Chopper and said he could be my birthday present. She then disappeared (she was checking out another dog who ended up peeing on her). There was some paperwork to fill out and I got a coupon book for Petco. The lady who took the check said to me "if you decide you don't want him don't bring him back because he's already been here before." I got the message. The next thing I know they handed me Chopper on a shoestring. The nice leash had disappeared and they handed me this giant dog on a shoestring. We took our coupons and headed to the car. My friend snapped a picture of us.
Well the first car ride was interesting - first of all he didn't make a peep (also not normal for Chopper) and he threw up. (I don't throw up, I don't like throw up but as it turns out this dog would end up throwing up a lot - I'm over it now.) After we made a pit stop to clean up the car we headed to Petco where we used the coupons to get some leashes, a stuffed toy, a squeaky toy, some treats, some food and signed up for a doggy training class. (Buying food was traumatic as the adoption coincided with the big food recall so they were literally pulling food off the shelves as I was trying to pick out food). Finally at Petco the dog decided he liked me and paid some attention to me - I've been buying his love ever since.
He did well his first night home. It was a Sunday so I went to work the next day and left him alone. (Based on future events I would never trust a dog this soon again.) I went home at lunch and he had not done anything naughty (this also wouldn't last too long). For about a week I had the perfect dog - then he figured out that I wasn't going to give him away and the real Chopper came out - we spent a few months spraying books with bitter apple spray, leaving the house throwing treats and spraying him with a squirt bottle so he didn't try and bolt, and a host of other fiascoes (which included him locking me out of my apartment, him almost getting run over and other "fun" stories). All in all though I like the Chopper I have now - in the words of Huey Lewis I'm happy to be stuck with him.
Probably four and a half years ago I decided that I wanted a dog. I had bought a beach cruiser and it had a basket and I wanted a dog that would fit in the basket - a nice small dog. I didn't want to pay five hundred dollars or more for some tiny dog when there were plenty of other dogs at shelters and in rescues that needed homes. Rescue groups always seemed to ignore me every time I approached them so that wasn't working out. I spent hours on Petfinder looking at dogs. I just couldn't seem to find the right one.
My birthday falls around St. Patrick's Day so four years ago I decided to have a St. Patrick's themed party. I had friends over, there were green drinks, lots of green drinks and general merriment. The only problem was that I had planned on going the next day, however, to a dog adoption festival sponsored by the Best Friends Animal Society at a park in Burbank. Well, being a trooper, and despite not feeling so hot, the next morning I sucked it up and headed out to the adoption festival with a friend.
We roamed around the fair looking at dogs - again some of the rescue people ignored me. We looked at some of the dogs from animal shelters but no dog seemed to catch my interest. We even headed over to the cat section to take a look (I did not want a cat) and when we came back and were about to call it a day some guy grabbed my arm and said "hey how about this dog?"
I turned around and there was a lady holding a dog on a leash (this is important later) with a funny little collar on. He was gorgeous. But he was a little bigger than what I was looking for. The man said he was a black and tan coonhound and that he was not going to get any bigger. After the guy left the nice English lady said that he was 32 lbs and was very sweet. His name was Chopper. (The dog already weighed 43 pounds I found out at the vet the next week and the vet said he would "fill out" some. He's been 70 pounds for a few years now.)
We went off somewhere quieter so we could get to know each other. While the lady told my friend that the last dog she had had that day had been adopted after two people fought over him. I knew that meant I better decide about this pretty dog soon or someone else would snatch him up. But the dog ignored me. He would look at everyone else or wag his tail at people but seemed not interested in me. While I was getting to know him we heard bits and pieces of his story - which wasn't much. He had been turned in that day at the West Valley Animal Shelter and they had brought him to the fair because he was so handsome. One person said he had had a child with him who was crying and someone else had said that this was the second time he had been brought to the shelter.
He was very calm though around all those other dogs and people (that didn't last too long) so it seemed like it could work. I told him that if I adopted him he would have to wear whatever outfits I put on him. He didn't protest so I took that as an agreement to the deal.
As soon as I said yes things happened very quickly. It turns out that the shelter people don't take credit cards - only cash or a check. I didn't have the $43 to pay for him or my checkbook (I almost always have my checkbook now). As it turned out my friend had her checkbook (she almost never has her checkbook with her) so she wrote the check for Chopper and said he could be my birthday present. She then disappeared (she was checking out another dog who ended up peeing on her). There was some paperwork to fill out and I got a coupon book for Petco. The lady who took the check said to me "if you decide you don't want him don't bring him back because he's already been here before." I got the message. The next thing I know they handed me Chopper on a shoestring. The nice leash had disappeared and they handed me this giant dog on a shoestring. We took our coupons and headed to the car. My friend snapped a picture of us.
 |
| The first picture ever of me and Chopper. Contrary to popular belief I was not trying to choke him just get him to look at the camera - he's gotten much better at this now. |
Well the first car ride was interesting - first of all he didn't make a peep (also not normal for Chopper) and he threw up. (I don't throw up, I don't like throw up but as it turns out this dog would end up throwing up a lot - I'm over it now.) After we made a pit stop to clean up the car we headed to Petco where we used the coupons to get some leashes, a stuffed toy, a squeaky toy, some treats, some food and signed up for a doggy training class. (Buying food was traumatic as the adoption coincided with the big food recall so they were literally pulling food off the shelves as I was trying to pick out food). Finally at Petco the dog decided he liked me and paid some attention to me - I've been buying his love ever since.
He did well his first night home. It was a Sunday so I went to work the next day and left him alone. (Based on future events I would never trust a dog this soon again.) I went home at lunch and he had not done anything naughty (this also wouldn't last too long). For about a week I had the perfect dog - then he figured out that I wasn't going to give him away and the real Chopper came out - we spent a few months spraying books with bitter apple spray, leaving the house throwing treats and spraying him with a squirt bottle so he didn't try and bolt, and a host of other fiascoes (which included him locking me out of my apartment, him almost getting run over and other "fun" stories). All in all though I like the Chopper I have now - in the words of Huey Lewis I'm happy to be stuck with him.
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| Chopper's first night at home - he looked very serious back then. |
Monday, March 14, 2011
Phydough: A Food Truck for Dogs
A few weeks ago after my final Scent Discrimination Class my mom surprised me by taking me to a food truck just for dogs called Phydough (pronounced like Fido). Now my mom has bought into these trendy food trucks and I can't complain as I usually get a tidbit of whatever she has ordered but their is never anything just for me. (I would like to state that I have tried for years to get my mom to go to food trucks when we pass them on our walks but not until they got trendy did she cooperate. Just saying.) But this was different - it was all for DOGS.
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| Chopper with his new favorite truck! |
Phydough had lots of options. You could get cookies, ice-cream or an ice-cream sandwich. And you could also take cookie dough home so that you could make it later. Well my mom loves me so she got me a little of everything. We got a peanut butter bacon ice cream sandwich to eat on the spot. Yummy! My buddy Mumble got the same thing but he didn't seem to like his as much so I got to eat some of his too. Double Yummy!!
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| Chopper's ice-cream sandwich and his bag of goodies to take home |
Then we got some cookies to take home with us. My mom got me a red velvet cookie, a peanut butter bacon cookie dough too.
We also got the cookie dough to take home - we haven't made it yet but it can go in the freezer so the next time I have company over I will have something to serve fresh from the oven.
I would give this place four paws up for all the great options they had for a dog like me (and the stuff was delicious) and I think we would go back again. My mom did spend $20 this time (it was a celebration after all) but you can pick up an ice-cream sandwich of some cookies for just a few bucks.
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| Waiting patiently to eat his ice-cream sandwich, which he could have easily reached (he tried a few times). |
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| More waiting. |
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| Finally eating his ice-cream sandwich!!! |
Friday, March 11, 2011
Monkey and Me
My mom has come up with a lot of nicknames for me over the last few years but the only one that ever stuck was "Monkey." I even answer to it. She says that if we ever have to go into the witness protection program that she can change my name to Monkey and then I can go with her. She's odd like that.
Anyway when she was in San Antonio she found me a stuffed cowboy monkey. He has a squiggly tail that I can shake him by and he's a great nap buddy.
Anyway when she was in San Antonio she found me a stuffed cowboy monkey. He has a squiggly tail that I can shake him by and he's a great nap buddy.
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| Monkey and Me taking a nap! |
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Scent Discrimination: The Conclusion
So a few weeks ago we had our last day of scent discrimination and it got a lot harder. As a surprise my friend Mumble and his mom came to see me finish my class and even took some pictures to share of me in action.
First, the trainer made us do a quick review - easy peasy. My mom asked how he knew we weren't just trained to find the boxes and not the smell even though we were sniffing even the blank boxes (thanks mom for the vote of confidence) but the trainer assured my mom it would get hard (personally I wanted to relax a little).
Next, he hid the boxes all over the Zoom Room - behind the agility equipment, behind a bucket - he was trying to fool us. But we were too smart and we found those boxes (let's remember that my turkey hot dogs were in the boxes so I was highly motivated).
After a few rounds of hide and seek he made it really hard for our last turn. He took away the boxes and the treats and just left the scent. (Personally I think we missed a step there because now there was no box and no treat - how about just get rid of the box first?)
Anyway this was a little hard, especially since he had a table fool of treats and boxes and scents next to him - I tried to "find" that stash first but my mom made me keep going. The idea was that I would find the scent and then my mom would put the treat down after I sat, letting her know I had found it. But I was hungry and I got distracted by her having the hot dogs and paid no attention to the scent so my mom got rid of the treats and I had to find the scents and then get a "high five" for a reward. I was able to find two of the scents pretty easily but the third was hidden under the "box" that we use in Agility and while I eventually got on the box my mom thinks maybe I didn't actually find that scent. (I'll let you in on a secret - I knew where that scent was the whole time but I was trying to draw out my turn and make a very dramatic ending when I eventually found it.)
After the class Mumble and I celebrated with a little trip. I'll share more on that later.
All in all I had fun in this class and they are talking about doing a Scent Discrimination Class Two - sign me up. In the mean time we are talking a break from training for now because my mom had to go out of town for work but we are thinking of doing an Obedience Two class next (maybe then I won't have to wear that stupid Gentle Leader anymore).
P.S. My mom has video of the last class but we couldn't get it to upload - we'll try again in a few days!
First, the trainer made us do a quick review - easy peasy. My mom asked how he knew we weren't just trained to find the boxes and not the smell even though we were sniffing even the blank boxes (thanks mom for the vote of confidence) but the trainer assured my mom it would get hard (personally I wanted to relax a little).
Next, he hid the boxes all over the Zoom Room - behind the agility equipment, behind a bucket - he was trying to fool us. But we were too smart and we found those boxes (let's remember that my turkey hot dogs were in the boxes so I was highly motivated).
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| THis is me when I found the treat behind the big blue container! |
After a few rounds of hide and seek he made it really hard for our last turn. He took away the boxes and the treats and just left the scent. (Personally I think we missed a step there because now there was no box and no treat - how about just get rid of the box first?)
Anyway this was a little hard, especially since he had a table fool of treats and boxes and scents next to him - I tried to "find" that stash first but my mom made me keep going. The idea was that I would find the scent and then my mom would put the treat down after I sat, letting her know I had found it. But I was hungry and I got distracted by her having the hot dogs and paid no attention to the scent so my mom got rid of the treats and I had to find the scents and then get a "high five" for a reward. I was able to find two of the scents pretty easily but the third was hidden under the "box" that we use in Agility and while I eventually got on the box my mom thinks maybe I didn't actually find that scent. (I'll let you in on a secret - I knew where that scent was the whole time but I was trying to draw out my turn and make a very dramatic ending when I eventually found it.)
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| My dramatic ending! |
After the class Mumble and I celebrated with a little trip. I'll share more on that later.
All in all I had fun in this class and they are talking about doing a Scent Discrimination Class Two - sign me up. In the mean time we are talking a break from training for now because my mom had to go out of town for work but we are thinking of doing an Obedience Two class next (maybe then I won't have to wear that stupid Gentle Leader anymore).
P.S. My mom has video of the last class but we couldn't get it to upload - we'll try again in a few days!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Back from Vacation
Well my mom had to go to San Antonio for work last week so I had to go on vacation too and the end of this week she has to go somewhere else for work so more vacation time. She promises to help me get some posts up soon of my last scent discrimination class (we have pictures!) and my visit to Phydough - a food truck for dogs (more pictures).
I also want to show you the presents my mom brought back from San Antonio - I'm resting for my photo shoot later.
I also want to show you the presents my mom brought back from San Antonio - I'm resting for my photo shoot later.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Dog Treats
For the past year I have been trying very hard to use all the dog treats in our house before we buy new ones. Now it is not that I have a year's worth of treats in my house I have just not been very good about sticking to this rule. I will inevitably find myself in some sort of dog or pet store with some new treat Chopper has not had and think he needs to try it.
If I travel somewhere and there is a treat that I haven't seen before I will buy it for him. When I visit my parents' in Pennsylvania there is a store called Brandt's Mill that has these hard sausages for dogs that he LOVES and I can't find anywhere else so I will inevitably come back with at least a dozen of those after every trip. (Chopper is well aware of this fact and will raid my luggage when I come back from Pennsylvania.) Also I seem to get lots of samples of different dog foods and I will use those as treats as well.
Since October though I have been sticking to this rule pretty well and there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel. I like to empty Chopper's treats into big glass jars all around the house and there are no treats left in storage at this point and only the treats in the jars. When we finish all the treats we are going to celebrate with a shopping trip to the local pet food store and spend the $25 gift certificate a co-worker gave me for Christmas (they know I love my dog) and go to town. We have our favorites - freeze dried liver, dried chicken strips, Zuke's, and a few others which will likely make it into the cart. I'm sure I will be supplementing the gift certificate though.
Since we will be starting from scratch though the possibilities are endless!!! Do you have any treats that your dog would recommend?
Since we will be starting from scratch though the possibilities are endless!!! Do you have any treats that your dog would recommend?
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