A few photos

Elsie got spayed a couple of weeks ago. She is doing well and it took her about 12 hours to get back into the swing of life. She seems to be healing very well but I am keeping an eye of what seems almost a tiny bit of swelling where the stitches are.

Behind our house is a big and fascinating bluff. So, on Sunday, I spent a while on the bluff with Elsie and my brothers. She's to the point where she can often go off leash. Elsie doesn't really listen when other dogs come around but hopefully some trips to the dog park might help her get comfortable with other dogs. I let her run around off leash and played a little bit of search and rescue with her.

Here are a few pictures I took of her:

Elsie is a super interesting dog. I love her to death and I think she would be a perfect dog if she didn't have a couple of bad habits. But past that!

Elsie is fun. She will chase a laser for half an hour and go back and forth dozens of times. I will try to post a video here.

This is my new favorite picture of her:

Wait? Better of leash?

One of the biggest frustrations running this summer was Elsie's continous pulling. I don't mind the pulling so much when I am just going for a casual late evening walk. But running in the heat as well as being pulled along? Very frustrating.

To me, teaching Elsie to heel has been one of the biggest trials out of all of training, along with barking and come. Sometimes, I just give up and allow her to pull and play around. She really isn't that bad, though. I just find it hard to stop every two steps and correct her.

However, though I still need to perfect her in the command of heeling, I still found out something interesting. Allowing Elsie to run next to me without holding onto the leash I found she didn't stray to far and was easier to correct then usual.

Today, again, I tried this. She was mostly very good until we came up to Jack (I think he is a pitboxer.)

Anyways, I shall have to try and figure out which way works better. I went running both last night and this afternoon and found her much more easy to handle.

I know I have been terrible about keeping up.....

To tell the truth, I don't have much to say. But I love to have Elsie around every day!

I thought she had grown out of chasing ice cubes. But I was wrong. That is one of my favorite games to play with Elsie; because no matter how many ice cubes Elsie has, she always wants another and playing on a wood floor is awful fun!

I like to take Elsie for late evening walks as that is both the most peaceful and nicest time to walk.

Elsie is over a year old now. Her birthday was last Sunday. I cooked her liver (yes, she is spoiled). I found out that Elsie is highly motivated by liver... very motivated. She is entirely target trained and is no longer nervous about the hurdles. I haven't practiced much with them but I need to!

I plan to make training gates and a dog walk.

Elsie is always so hyper in the evenings that I cannot really tell how much she has progressed with the command "heel" but she does well when I take the time to enforce "heel".

Anyways, I don't have much to say.... and math is waiting!

So, Adios for now!

A G I L I TY

Dog agility is an interesting past time. One that has recently become interesting to me. Last year I was probably more infatuated with Barrel Racing, because instead of Elsie, I owned Spirit.

But now..... I plan to teach Elsie dog agility!

I started with "Target Training". Essentially I taught Elsie to run to an old Ice Cream lid.... And the purpose? Well, its hard to explain but Target Training has to do training gates, which I haven't introduced to LC yet- and also has to do with agility obstacles like the dog walk.

Anyways, Elsie is target trained which I am happy about and she is progressing in jumping hurdles.

The PVC piping hurdle was made by Older Brother.

So for a birthday and Christmas gift I am getting an agility course made, home made. The jump above is adjustable and has a knock off bar.

I also need to tackle the moving wait.... essentially where the handler keeps walking while signalling the dog to stop abruptly... kind of hard to teach............

I left Elsie home while I went with Mom and Dad and brothers for a 2 1/2 week trip. Elsie almost seems calmer....... and easier to train.....

I am teaching her "Nose" (another form of target training) and of course refreshing and teaching basic commands.

On January 15th, Elsie should be a year old!!!!!!

Plan to keep updated... may ;)....

Just a couple photos from hiking :D.

Don't Feed Dogs.......

I decided to do a post on what dogs should NOT be eating. Most of these I just discovered.

Chocolate is probably the most know "DON'T feed that to dogs" food. But there are several other foods that dogs should not have a lot of.

Avocados: Yes, avocados might sound a little weird and not even probable to end up in a dog's mouth. Avocados have something in them called "persin", this is not toxic to no-allergic humans, but it can be to dogs. Persin is not just in the fruit either, it is also contained in the leaves, seeds, and bark of the plant.

Onions and Garlic: A dog should not have a lot of onions or garlic in any form. Too much onions and garlic can cause lose of red blood cells which can cause anemia in dogs.

Caffeine: Caffeine can cause rapid breathing, muscle tremors, fits, and bleeding. Probably not a good idea......

Grapes and Raisins: Sometimes I used to feed all of our dogs grapes. I did not have a clue that they could potentially harm dogs - even if given small amounts- but they can. Grapes and raisins can cause kidney failure and just small amounts can make a dog sick.


Macadamia Nuts: Just of few of these can make a dog ill. Poisoning symptoms might include paralysis of the hindquarters, vomiting, and muscle tremors (to list a few).

Candy and Gum: Some candy, toothpaste, baked goods, diet food, and gum contains xylitol, as a sweetener. Giving this to a dog can cause a drop in blood sugar and potentially liver failure.

Fish: Dogs should not be fed and excessive amount of fish (in any way).

Chocolate: Chocolate is a pretty commonly know object that dogs are not supposed to eat. This includes all kinds of chocolate - even white. Unsweetened baking choc. dark, and choc. mulch are the most dangerous to a dog.

A few of the perhaps less dangerous "not to feed your dog" includes milk, raw eggs, and other dairy products. Elsie and Poimein sometimes get milk, and do not appear upset by it. However, Skia, are female German Shepherd, does not do well on milk. Our male German Shepherd does get some bones. He is not affected by them. But Skia can become very annoying if given too much of things like that (pacing in and out of my room... in the middle of the night!).

Also to be included, if you don't have any dog food and can't make it to the store rice with chicken broth can make a tasty meal!

~Western Belle