So I get this e-mail that my brother forwarded to me, and I have to do a double take when I see who it's from: my very bestest friend in elementary school!!!! Hi, Michelle!(: I have thought of her so often over the years, and just recently she had crossed my mind yet again. We haven't spoken since my senior year in high school when I went to visit my dad, and we had gotten together for lunch.

Her phone # was included, so I called her up, and we got to chat for a little while. It was impossible to ask and answer everything we had been wondering about in the short amount of time we had, so I'm sending her the link to my blog. Now she'll be able to see how glamorous my life is! {grin}

Michi...e-mail me those pics!!! I'm dying to see your girls. =)


In other news...I am having the BEST time with my two puppy classes. All of the doggie parents are working hard, and it shows! They are doing great. It is so fun to see the light go on in these puppies eyes and see them so eager to earn that next treat! It is such a pleasure to see these people work with their companions. I will never understand those who pay to take a class and then waste their time arguing with the trainer as to why nothing I suggest is working. But I'm not going to rant today. =) I am going to enjoy the fact that I have a whole class of people willing to open their minds and try.

Tip of the day: if your dog growls at other dogs, and/or people, please don't punish them. They have already told you they are uncomforatable with their body language but because us humans don't always pick up on these cues, they have to communicate more clearly. Dogs can't say "hey, my personal space bubble is being invaded and I'm getting scared" so they growl. (Some dogs have a huge personal bubble and will react to something 50 feet away.) Most people will then feel terrible that their dog is being so "mean" (or they will think the dog is being "dominant" which is rarely the case) and they will pop the leash, yell, or worse...hit their dog. Imagine this: you are standing in line at the movie theatre, restaurant, etc. The person behind you is breathing down your neck, so you step forward. They scootch up closer. You turn around and look at them, but they're clueless, so you make an attempt to put distance between you and give them the eye. They just keep on scootching up and actually bump into you several times. You all get the picture.

Now imagine you are standing there minding your own business, and some strange person comes running up to you and jumps you. You'd be pissed (unless you are one of those clueless people (; that stands as close to strangers as you can) and would most likely bark "back off you nimwit!" Now say your friend turned to you, yanked you by the arm and told you to quit being such a jerk. You'd think WTH?!?! Are you with me so far?

Here's the thing...if you punish the growl, they will have no other option but to escalate to a bite. If the bite backs the "scary person/dog" off, you have just succeeded in teaching your dog that biting works. AND-not only are they now scared at what is coming toward them, they are also scared of being punished. Double whammy.

So here's what you do. First, learn to watch your dog for signs that s/he are uncomforatable. Ears down, looking away, hiding behind your legs, whale eyes.
(More on this later.) Now, LISTEN to your dog, and give them the space they are desperately seeking. If they respond to their name well, call them and reward them for hearing you. THEN get the heck outta dodge!! Our goal here is to teach the dog that another dog/person/scary thing is their cue to look at you. If looking at you is rewarding they are more likely to keep looking to you when they are unsure. If you are watching them, you are more likely to pick up on the fact that they are in need of direction.

Okay, so it's not a tip-more of a whole page, but you get the point. If you are having a hard time with this, please find a good, positive trainer. The apdt is a good place to start. Working through issues like these require the help of a professional, and watching a tv show may not be the best way to learn about your dog. Always talk to the trainer before you sign up to see if your dog needs privates or can be worked with in a group setting. Also, find out what methods are used. If there is anything you are uncomforatable about, keep looking. There are a lot of good trainers out there, but there are also some that will charge you a mint to teach you how to scare the he** out of your dog. (Sorry, it sounds a bit like a rant, doesn't it?)

In scrappy news: the crop was a blast! Only got one LO finished, but I did get some serious shopping done, and that's part of the fun =).Will post the LO later...off to do some glamorous stuff, like find out where the heck my steam cleaner is! (Yes, it's MIA again. Broke down 1/2 an hour after I got it back...argh!!!) The good news? they put TWO special tags on it this time. That's sure to work, right? Riiiight.

One of the clients whose dog I trained recently asked me to pet sit. I thought it'd be nice to thank her with a couple photos:




Aren't they cute? The Golden's name is Pete and the Yorkie is Bridgette. Doesn't her little face look like a heart? Wish Pete hadn't come out so blurry, but he looked real goofy in all the other pics.

Now for a little doggie education/rant from your friendly trainer... ;)


Look what good dogs Sadie and Winston are being! When we sit down to dinner, this is where they know to go. Technically, they aren't supposed to be off the carpet, but Winston has a knack for testing...see his paws just over the boundary? Mmmhmmm. If your dogs drive you nuts at dinner, you can train them to stay behind a certain boundary and they can practice being good dogs. It takes a little effort the first few days, but after that, it is so worth it. One of my favorite sayings to clients is "You get what you re-inforce." If you reward the dog for staying where you want him, that's what he'll do. Simple, no? Well, it is for the dogs. :) Unfortunately, people get caught up in the idea of how the dog should do it "because he respects me." {insert eye roll here}.

Dogs have no morals. They don't know right from wrong. "But s/he KNOWS s/he did something wrong! S/he "looks guilty" when I get home!" This is one of the most common things I hear. Or, "s/he peed on my carpet/chewed up my pillow to get back at me". This is called anthropomorphism:

an·thro·po·mor·phism (nthr-p-môrfzm)
n. The attribution of human motivation, characteristics, or behavior to nonhuman organisms,animals or inanimate objects.

If the dog "looks guilty" when you come home, (a.)s/he is responding to your body language(dogs can pick up on the tiniest changes in our body language that we aren't even aware of. This makes them amazing, don't you think?), or (b.)there is a history of the owner getting angry when they come home, and their homecoming is now a source of stress for the dog. In other words, the dog relates their human's homecoming to having been punished/yelled at in the past, and his "guilty" look is more of a "calming signal". (To read more about this go to Turid Rugaas' site). I can give my dogs "the look" and they'll respond by looking guilty even if they haven't done anything. I promise you-your dog is not up all night scheming ways to get back at you or take over your household.

Unfortunately, there is a very popular t.v. show that is teaching people how to "dominate" their dogs. I find it very presumptious. I didn't get a dog to control him. I got a dog (or four :0) to be my companion. Yes, you must be a good leader, and teach your dog what behaviors are acceptable, but one needn't do it in a scary or painful way. A lot of kindness and a few treats go a long way!!!

{rant over} :)

Meeting some friends from CKMB for dinner and a crop tomorrow!!! Gotta get packing-hope you have a great weekend!

Check it out:




A scalloped edge punch!!!! I absolutely love those scalloped edges, and now I can get 'em without cutting them by hand, which is really good, because then they won't look like they were cut by a five-year-old.

In other news-
I haven't finished my mini-book yet.
I hate laundry.


Have a great day.

Happy Anniversary to Craft Critique! I just found their blog through Mugsy Boo (one of my faves) and they have some great previews from CHA. How amazing would it be to attend?!

Love looking at all the eye candy, but it must be absolutely overwhelming to see it all in person. I remember going to market in Dallas for the children's clothing store I worked at and ooh-ing and aah-ing over all the beautiful clothes. I wanted everything, and I didn't even have kids yet! I'd have a hard time containing myself at CHA. Heck, I can barely contain myself at Hobby Lobby :0 and recently, even at Mike's.

No new pics today, but I'm almost done with a friendship mini-book I'm making to cheer up a buddy of mine. If I can get it done, I'll post it tomorrow.