The GPC became the CGC on Sunday morning, as four dogs received their Canine Good Citizen Certification. Those honored included a black Goldendoodle, Ziva, a cream Goldendoodle, McGee, an Airedale Terrier, Morgan and finally a Chocolate Labrador Retriever, Bella. In order to be recognized as a Canine Good Citizen, a dog and its owner must show proficiency in ten areas which relate to good behavior, obedience and good grooming habits. It had been a long process for these pups, three separate training classes, each six weeks in length, spanning almost seven months. Their hard work paid off in the end.
The day started out gloomy. An overcast morning with occasional sprinkles dotted the landscape of the terrain and the emotions of those involved. Most of the participants arrived early, about ten minutes before the scheduled start of the test at 10 a.m. The woman administering the test, a different pet trainer than the one these pups had been working closely with over the last several months, explained the process and had the owners fill out more paperwork. It was explained that the paperwork previously filled out was only for PetSmart records and not for the CGC. This news of more paperwork brought a round of groans from the weary owners and an exclamation from one, "I forgot my glasses and I have old eyes!"
Once the paperwork was filled out completely, the dogs were then allowed off their leashes to play and burn off some energy. This exercise lasted about five minutes and then the leashes were put on and it was time for business.
The test started quickly, if you weren't paying attention, you would have missed it. In the blink of an eye, three items were done. Accepting a Friendly Stranger, Sitting Politely For Petting, and Appearance and Grooming were completed in one quick round. The administrator said she would knock out a few of them at the same time. She did not lie.
The next stage of the test involved Sitting on Command and Staying in Place and Coming When Called. The administrator called for a volunteer to go first. The participants looked at each other, nervous energy written across their faces, then the Chocolate Lab Bella and her owner stepped up. It took a moment to get the lab calmed down enough to sit in place. At one point, the administrator even walked over and attempted to get her to sit and stay. At that point, this scorekeeper put an "F" on the scoreboard and was waiting for the retest. However, the owner of the lab did not panic, composed herself and her dog and quickly knocked out both sections, completing half of the test. The other dogs followed suite.
Quickly on to the next section of the test they moved. The administrator knocked out Reaction to Another Dog and Reaction to Distraction together. The administrator walked around the room with her dog, a 10 year old Husky as the testing dogs sat in place and did not move. Then the administrators daughter ran around the room while the administrator made whooping noises, again none of the dogs moved. Just like that, seven items were complete.
The class was then moved outside of the enclosed room to the isles of the store itself. The next item was Walking on a Loose Leash. The administrator told the participants what the course would be like, then took them all on a practice run and told them that she would follow behind. During the course of the walk, you were able to correct the dog if it attempted to pull on the leash. This last minute addition probably saved many dogs from failing this portion of the test. As the dogs were making their way through the course one by one, the owner of the Chocolate Lab nudged me and pointed at the ground where her dog had just been standing. I could faintly make out a paw print left behind in perspiration. Whether this was from the dog's energy or if she was feeding off the owner, this was a sure sign of the stress the participants were feeling.
Once the loose leash walking was complete, the administrator quickly gathered her "crowd" for the next test subject. Walking Through a Crowd consisted of the dogs walking around the administrator, her daughter and the dog's original trainer, Sarah, without straining on the leash or jumping on the crowd.
After the completion of the Crowd section of the test, the administrator gathered the dogs and their handlers around and commented that she was very impressed with all the dogs to this point. She then commenced on the final step in the test, Supervised Separation. Simply put, the dog has to be able to be handled by another person without the owner present for three minutes. The dog must remain controllable and not whine for the owner.
All four dogs took their turn. and once the Chocolate Lab returned the test was complete. The administrator then told us, that while she was walking Bella, the lab, around the store her daughter noticed that someone had put something in his pocket and was about to walk out of the store without paying. As a store employee and the administrator approached the man, Bella sniffed at his pocket, distracting the man and eventually pulled out the merchandise he was attempting to shoplift. It appears the Canine Good Citizen program has more rewards than just well behaved dogs.
They then headed back inside the classroom where the administrator congratulated everyone on the completion of the test and said that while one retake is allowed if a dog was to fail a portion of the test, none of the dogs needed it. She said that she will not pass a dog unless she is confident that the dog has earned it, since the dog ultimately reflects her once they are in the real world as a Canine Good Citizen.
After eighteen classes, months of practice, and countless hours of frustration these dogs have proven to their owners that they are worth the title which they have worked so hard for. They are truly Canine Good Citizens. Congratulations Ziva, McGee, Morgan and Bella!
Monday, July 23, 2012
The Trailer for the Bella Movie
But we took some really great short clips of her interacting with new things. We gave the clips to Sawyer and he has made this trailer of the upcoming Bella movie…
If you are interested in Smizzle Smith Productions or would like to acquire Sawyer’s services you can visit his website.
Thank you Sawyer!!
Friday, July 13, 2012
ChewToySaga (Chewbacca, Get It?)
We know that we have a chewer on our hands. If I had any type of foresight, I would have pushed to name her Chewie, skipping the whole Harry Potter theme and going on to another beloved franchise. Needless to say, I did not pass the entrance exam to the Psychic Network and am not employed by Ms. Chloe. In all honesty, it's probably better that way.
We still have a problem on our hands. You know about the baseboards and what our darling Bella has been able to accomplish when trusted alone for a little while. Now, as she has gotten older and we have taken her to get some of her excess energy out, she has been a lot better about not chewing the baseboards. She will still get bored when we're downstairs. Her toys and I, therefore, have developed a special relationship.
There's the Nylabone, which is just a big hunk of plastic if you ask me. It's not just plastic though, it's a quality chew made in the U.S.A. and can keep her entertained for hours. In fact, just as I started writing about the Nylabone Bella picked hers up and brought it over to the couch and started to chew on it. The one she's currently working on has a notch in the middle that we can stuff treats into. The first time we did that it took her about half an hour to get the treat out and finish it. Now that's she knows what it is, it takes her about ten minutes to finish the treat.
The next go-to time killer is rope bones. She loves rope bones. We've had to move her up to the large rope bones just because she was going through the smaller sizes too quickly. I found what I thought was a badass, thick rope bone with tennis balls on each end. I thought it was the find of the century, or at least the past nine months and could not wait to see how many hours she would get of pleasure from it. She destroyed it in less than ten minutes. Chassie picked out a thick rope bone that's going on a few days. She's definitely been limited in the amount of time that she's allowed to chew in one sitting. If we allowed her free-reign, I think any rope bone would last no more than thirty minutes. Breaking it up, I think we've gotten a good 30-40 minutes of chew time in the last three days and still have more to give.
Then there's the elk antler. The elk antler is something that is relatively new to both Chassie and myself. She discovered them while shopping at Weber's, a specialty pet store here in Fairfax. She asked one of the employees what a good chew toy would be. This was at the time when the baseboard situation was at its peak. The employee recommended an elk antler and said that her labs are occupied for hours with them. Chassie looked them over, considered it and then purchased it. It was an expensive investment, nearly twenty-five dollars for one, but well worth it. We didn't give her the antler right away, in fact it sat in our cupboard for nearly two weeks. When we did, she was hooked. I'm not sure how long the first one lasted, but it was well worth a second one.
Since these antlers are quite expensive, we began to search for something cheaper. Chassie purchased one from Dr. Fosters and Smith online. She bought the large, expecting about the same size as what we were buying from Weber's. It was about a fourth the size. Around this time, Chassie shows me a Facebook post from my sister about finding a good, quality antler since her dogs are going through them quickly. Our search continues, but we continue to go to Weber's in the meantime.
Last weekend, we did a serious search on the internet and found a few places to buy antlers in "bulk" and save a few dollars. We decided on Yellowstone Antlers. They are naturally harvested from the Rocky Mountains, which were two important factors- a U.S. product and naturally found. The minimum purchase was 2 pounds, so we decided to order them up. On Thursday of this week we got the shipment in the mail. It was three antlers, two large and one massive. It came out to about fifteen dollars an antler. We gave her the first of the antlers this evening.
So far it seems like a great deal. She's had the antler for about an hour and has given it up twice. Once because she told me she had to go to the bathroom. We went outside, good girl. The second was because she pushed it underneath the couch, which I did not realize. This was when she grabbed the Nylabone. There was just a third time, another bathroom break. As we returned, she immediately picked it up and took it back to the couch to enjoy. How long these will last is the real question. When we have a good answer, we'll let the paying public know.
We still have a problem on our hands. You know about the baseboards and what our darling Bella has been able to accomplish when trusted alone for a little while. Now, as she has gotten older and we have taken her to get some of her excess energy out, she has been a lot better about not chewing the baseboards. She will still get bored when we're downstairs. Her toys and I, therefore, have developed a special relationship.
There's the Nylabone, which is just a big hunk of plastic if you ask me. It's not just plastic though, it's a quality chew made in the U.S.A. and can keep her entertained for hours. In fact, just as I started writing about the Nylabone Bella picked hers up and brought it over to the couch and started to chew on it. The one she's currently working on has a notch in the middle that we can stuff treats into. The first time we did that it took her about half an hour to get the treat out and finish it. Now that's she knows what it is, it takes her about ten minutes to finish the treat.
The next go-to time killer is rope bones. She loves rope bones. We've had to move her up to the large rope bones just because she was going through the smaller sizes too quickly. I found what I thought was a badass, thick rope bone with tennis balls on each end. I thought it was the find of the century, or at least the past nine months and could not wait to see how many hours she would get of pleasure from it. She destroyed it in less than ten minutes. Chassie picked out a thick rope bone that's going on a few days. She's definitely been limited in the amount of time that she's allowed to chew in one sitting. If we allowed her free-reign, I think any rope bone would last no more than thirty minutes. Breaking it up, I think we've gotten a good 30-40 minutes of chew time in the last three days and still have more to give.
Then there's the elk antler. The elk antler is something that is relatively new to both Chassie and myself. She discovered them while shopping at Weber's, a specialty pet store here in Fairfax. She asked one of the employees what a good chew toy would be. This was at the time when the baseboard situation was at its peak. The employee recommended an elk antler and said that her labs are occupied for hours with them. Chassie looked them over, considered it and then purchased it. It was an expensive investment, nearly twenty-five dollars for one, but well worth it. We didn't give her the antler right away, in fact it sat in our cupboard for nearly two weeks. When we did, she was hooked. I'm not sure how long the first one lasted, but it was well worth a second one.
Since these antlers are quite expensive, we began to search for something cheaper. Chassie purchased one from Dr. Fosters and Smith online. She bought the large, expecting about the same size as what we were buying from Weber's. It was about a fourth the size. Around this time, Chassie shows me a Facebook post from my sister about finding a good, quality antler since her dogs are going through them quickly. Our search continues, but we continue to go to Weber's in the meantime.
Last weekend, we did a serious search on the internet and found a few places to buy antlers in "bulk" and save a few dollars. We decided on Yellowstone Antlers. They are naturally harvested from the Rocky Mountains, which were two important factors- a U.S. product and naturally found. The minimum purchase was 2 pounds, so we decided to order them up. On Thursday of this week we got the shipment in the mail. It was three antlers, two large and one massive. It came out to about fifteen dollars an antler. We gave her the first of the antlers this evening.
So far it seems like a great deal. She's had the antler for about an hour and has given it up twice. Once because she told me she had to go to the bathroom. We went outside, good girl. The second was because she pushed it underneath the couch, which I did not realize. This was when she grabbed the Nylabone. There was just a third time, another bathroom break. As we returned, she immediately picked it up and took it back to the couch to enjoy. How long these will last is the real question. When we have a good answer, we'll let the paying public know.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
The CGC Practice Test
On Saturday we had our third Advanced Training class with Bella. This was our third class but we missed last week because of the Derecho. Since we are not following a curriculum we didn’t miss much. This week we ran through the CGC test items. Essentially we had our first practice CGC test.
Want to guess how we did?
Want to guess how we did?
1. Accepting a Friendly Stranger-PASS
2. Sitting Politely for Petting-PASS
3. Appearance and Grooming-PASS
4. Out for a Walk (Walking on a loose leash)-FAIL
5. Walking Through a Crowd-PASS
6. Sit and Down on Command/Staying Place-FAIL
7. Coming When Called-PASS
8. Reaction to Another Dog-FAIL
9. Reaction to Distractions-PASS
10. Supervised Separation-PASS
We got 7 out of 10. Unfortunately to pass the test you need 10 out of 10. So we failed.
Sarah believes Bella will pass. She told us to concentrate our efforts on walking with a loose leash (using her collar and not the harness). If we can master that she believe we will pass #8 (reaction to another dog). If Bella walks next to our side then we would have more control and she would listen better when we are telling her to “leave it” at the other dog.
Bella has previously been very reliable with the staying in place (# 6). But on Saturday she just wanted to be close to Dave, so she followed him when he walked away.
Our homework: at least two walks a day using her collar and focusing on loose leash. This is the key to passing the test and is the most coveted command of all dog owners.
And in case you are wondering when the test will be…it is scheduled for Sunday July 22, 2012. Two weeks to go!
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Get a Room
Dogs use their tongue a lot. Bella has a tendency to use her tongue very frequently. We've noticed that she has a tendency to lick Draco's ears when they are together. It's either a grooming thing or a submissive thing, or both. It's okay at first, but then it gets excessive and now has gotten to the point where we try not to let her lick his ears at all. It's quite disgusting in fact, as Chassie has pointed out.
On Saturday, at advanced training class, I noticed her interacting with her tongue in another way. In our class, there are four female dogs and one male dog. The male dog, McGee, is a very lazy dog. If he's not asking for or receiving attention, you can bet that he's laying around. We were out on the floor of PetSmart practicing greeting another dog or loose leash walking or some other activity. McGee was laying on the ground, waiting his turn. Bella was panting next to him and then laid down herself. They were within inches of each others face and then the tongues came out. They just licked each other's mouth like they were best friends. I've never seen that before and they went at it with a ferocity I didn't know was possible in dogs. If this was a grooming exercise, then both dogs had a really clean mouth after that.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
The Epic Conclusion You've Been Waiting For
We can't trust Bellatrix yet. She's still a puppy, staring nine months in the face but not yet there. While Jeff and Krista were gracious enough to entertain us, we put her in the crate overnight. Said crate was in our room with Draco. We heard Bella whine and whimper for the first few minutes, we would call out to her, comforting her, but I swear, before I fell asleep I thought I heard Draco whimper. It may mean nothing. It might just mean that he cares about her.
Sunday was another challenging day. We didn't know if we had power, we were faced with the unknown, the uncertainty of making a decision and facing it being wrong. Allowing Bella to play with everyone first thing in the morning proved too much to handle for us. We decided that we had to put her back in her crate while the other dogs were allowed to recuperate from the morning activity. Chassie and myself went to get breakfast for Jeff and Krista and ourselves, talking about what we were going to do. We didn't necessarily decide that we were going to go home that afternoon but it was almost a forgone conclusion. We returned to their place with breakfast, let the dogs play for a little while, again deciding Bella was too much for everyone involved...
Ok, you deserve some type of explanation: The foster puppy Jeff and Krista had taken in is seventeen weeks old, his name is Sherman (though I had to dub him the Sherminator), he's a Platt Terrier. He's got some energy, likes to play with Bella, but a little more advanced than she was at that point though. He will hold it to pee outside. Bella loved to play with him. They were two peas in a pod until she started to get a little rough. Kayla, the German Shepard, acting as the momma-dog, would then come over and break things up. It's good to have a schoolyard monitor and that's exactly what Kayla is. Play time is over and we move the dogs inside. Let me say that again, Play time is over. Bella does not understand that. She thinks if another dog is around, they must want to play with her. This is one of our biggest problems with her. She walks around, waiting for something to happen and when nothing happens, she takes it upon herself to make something happen. She walks around, nudging and bumping until someone engages, good or bad. If she makes it through the gauntlet of dogs that are sleeping on the floor, she pursues the issue to those that are on the couch. The couch, guess what... it holds the humans who don't necessarily want puppy breath in their face.
To illustrate the point: Saturday night, she had to be separated from the other dogs. As I arrived at the house, the dogs got a little bit excited. Eventually, they all calmed down, all except Bella. We took a break, going to dinner and returning a few hours later. Most of the dogs only had a little bit of energy left. Except for Bella. She continued to press the play button while the other dogs had turned off for the evening. Jeff and I eventually went downstairs with her to their basement. She was interested in sniffing out the entire basement before she decided she could lay down. When she did lay down it would be for no more than two minutes at a time. I truly think she has ADD for dogs. Finally she laid down between us for fifteen minutes, then we decided it was bed time.
Back to Sunday, we put her in her crate a few times throughout the day. She barked each time we did, something she rarely does when we put her in her crate in the basement of our own house. We put her up in her crate just so we didn't wear out Jeff and Krista, we may need them for another favor later.
At 15:00 we decided we would head back home, wish for the best and brave the elements if the worst remained. We went to some stores in the Leesburg area, hoping to find ice. Three stores down, no ice to be found. It was closing in on 16:30 before we actually left. The hottest part of the day. I'm not going to lie, I was a little concerned.
I took Bella home in my car. I buckled her into the seat belt with one of these pet seat belts, which actually works very well. (Again, if I wrote reviews...) She was in the front seat. She laid down almost the entire time, panting. We made it to the first toll booth on the toll road and as I rolled down the window, she sat up, but quickly returned to her position on my arm rest. She panted the whole way home, but I had the funny feeling that she was happy. Granted, I did sing to her most of the ride... good thing she has no idea what pitch and tone mean.
Chassie had Draco in her car as we pulled up to our house to find that power had been restored. We entered the house to find the A/C and lights on, almost as we had left them on Friday night. It was a surreal moment, finishing the circle we had started. The dogs, while on leash were calm and almost as happy to be home as we were. Maybe, just maybe, they are starting to get it. We want them to be friends, we've been asking them to be friends. She's had her chance in the past couple of days to meet other dogs and annoy them.... it's time for her and Draco to be able to just hang out.
Sunday night they did nothing but sleep. Draco hardly moved from his bed in the upstairs level and Bella alternated between sleeping on the couch next to me and the floor by my feet. It was quite the relaxing evening.
We had already decided to take Bella to Doggie Day Care on Monday. Since I don't have to work until noon on Monday's, we figure it would be perfect to drop her off sometime in the morning and Chassie can pick her up on the way home, this way we get the discounted rate since she's not there for eight hours. We called on Saturday evening, scheduling for me to drop her off at 10 o'clock. The goal was to wear her out. It worked. She slept almost the entire evening again.
Tuesday we kept her normal schedule, which is a walk in the morning, into the crate from about eight thirty until Chassie returns home around four. They then go on a walk and play in the basement before putting her into her playpen until I return home. Normally, she jumps up to greet me, not this time. As I walk up to the gate which confines her, she looks up from the floor, her eyes the only thing moving. The weekend of adventure has completely worn her out.
Wednesday was the big day, the Fourth of July. Preparations were already in place to keep Draco as calm as possible. This basically meant giving a dose of UltraCalm to him in the early afternoon. We then broke out the baby pool and hoped that Bella would learn to play in the water. At first she was again tentative, circling around the outer edges of the pool. Occasionally sticking her muzzle into the water, lapping up a drink or blowing bubbles with her nose. After a few minutes, I decided to press the issue, much like the previous excursion. I picked her up and placed her gently into the baby pool. She stood there for a second, much like last time and then proceeded to walk around the pool. We were able to get her to sit and lay down in the pool. After she laid down, she immediately got up and jumped out of the pool. We put her back in and she again was able to lay down and allow me to gently pour water over her with my hands. It was another improved performance on her part.
Chassie and I then went over to a friend's house for a barbecue around four o'clock. We were there for about three hours and toward the end I started to hear fireworks being set off. It was time to return home and give Draco another dose of UltraCalm. I took Bella out of her crate and she and I hung out in the basement for a while before Draco came downstairs, wanting to be away from the explosions. I could occasionally hear loud bangs, but nothing I would consider a crazy display of fireworks. Bella would perk her head up and wander over to the basement door, as if to say, "What is that noise?"
Draco kept insisting to enter the room, scratching at the baby gate. I allowed him to enter and almost immediately he laid down between the couch and the table. Bella sniffed at him, cleaned his ears like she loves to do and then left him alone. He laid by my feet for the rest of the evening. She laid next to us, not bothering him at all. I was able to pet both of them at the same time.
Now, this may not have been the epic conclusion that you were waiting for or expecting, but it was a monumental step in the progression of these two dogs.
Sunday was another challenging day. We didn't know if we had power, we were faced with the unknown, the uncertainty of making a decision and facing it being wrong. Allowing Bella to play with everyone first thing in the morning proved too much to handle for us. We decided that we had to put her back in her crate while the other dogs were allowed to recuperate from the morning activity. Chassie and myself went to get breakfast for Jeff and Krista and ourselves, talking about what we were going to do. We didn't necessarily decide that we were going to go home that afternoon but it was almost a forgone conclusion. We returned to their place with breakfast, let the dogs play for a little while, again deciding Bella was too much for everyone involved...
Ok, you deserve some type of explanation: The foster puppy Jeff and Krista had taken in is seventeen weeks old, his name is Sherman (though I had to dub him the Sherminator), he's a Platt Terrier. He's got some energy, likes to play with Bella, but a little more advanced than she was at that point though. He will hold it to pee outside. Bella loved to play with him. They were two peas in a pod until she started to get a little rough. Kayla, the German Shepard, acting as the momma-dog, would then come over and break things up. It's good to have a schoolyard monitor and that's exactly what Kayla is. Play time is over and we move the dogs inside. Let me say that again, Play time is over. Bella does not understand that. She thinks if another dog is around, they must want to play with her. This is one of our biggest problems with her. She walks around, waiting for something to happen and when nothing happens, she takes it upon herself to make something happen. She walks around, nudging and bumping until someone engages, good or bad. If she makes it through the gauntlet of dogs that are sleeping on the floor, she pursues the issue to those that are on the couch. The couch, guess what... it holds the humans who don't necessarily want puppy breath in their face.
To illustrate the point: Saturday night, she had to be separated from the other dogs. As I arrived at the house, the dogs got a little bit excited. Eventually, they all calmed down, all except Bella. We took a break, going to dinner and returning a few hours later. Most of the dogs only had a little bit of energy left. Except for Bella. She continued to press the play button while the other dogs had turned off for the evening. Jeff and I eventually went downstairs with her to their basement. She was interested in sniffing out the entire basement before she decided she could lay down. When she did lay down it would be for no more than two minutes at a time. I truly think she has ADD for dogs. Finally she laid down between us for fifteen minutes, then we decided it was bed time.
Back to Sunday, we put her in her crate a few times throughout the day. She barked each time we did, something she rarely does when we put her in her crate in the basement of our own house. We put her up in her crate just so we didn't wear out Jeff and Krista, we may need them for another favor later.
At 15:00 we decided we would head back home, wish for the best and brave the elements if the worst remained. We went to some stores in the Leesburg area, hoping to find ice. Three stores down, no ice to be found. It was closing in on 16:30 before we actually left. The hottest part of the day. I'm not going to lie, I was a little concerned.
I took Bella home in my car. I buckled her into the seat belt with one of these pet seat belts, which actually works very well. (Again, if I wrote reviews...) She was in the front seat. She laid down almost the entire time, panting. We made it to the first toll booth on the toll road and as I rolled down the window, she sat up, but quickly returned to her position on my arm rest. She panted the whole way home, but I had the funny feeling that she was happy. Granted, I did sing to her most of the ride... good thing she has no idea what pitch and tone mean.
Chassie had Draco in her car as we pulled up to our house to find that power had been restored. We entered the house to find the A/C and lights on, almost as we had left them on Friday night. It was a surreal moment, finishing the circle we had started. The dogs, while on leash were calm and almost as happy to be home as we were. Maybe, just maybe, they are starting to get it. We want them to be friends, we've been asking them to be friends. She's had her chance in the past couple of days to meet other dogs and annoy them.... it's time for her and Draco to be able to just hang out.
Sunday night they did nothing but sleep. Draco hardly moved from his bed in the upstairs level and Bella alternated between sleeping on the couch next to me and the floor by my feet. It was quite the relaxing evening.
We had already decided to take Bella to Doggie Day Care on Monday. Since I don't have to work until noon on Monday's, we figure it would be perfect to drop her off sometime in the morning and Chassie can pick her up on the way home, this way we get the discounted rate since she's not there for eight hours. We called on Saturday evening, scheduling for me to drop her off at 10 o'clock. The goal was to wear her out. It worked. She slept almost the entire evening again.
Tuesday we kept her normal schedule, which is a walk in the morning, into the crate from about eight thirty until Chassie returns home around four. They then go on a walk and play in the basement before putting her into her playpen until I return home. Normally, she jumps up to greet me, not this time. As I walk up to the gate which confines her, she looks up from the floor, her eyes the only thing moving. The weekend of adventure has completely worn her out.
Wednesday was the big day, the Fourth of July. Preparations were already in place to keep Draco as calm as possible. This basically meant giving a dose of UltraCalm to him in the early afternoon. We then broke out the baby pool and hoped that Bella would learn to play in the water. At first she was again tentative, circling around the outer edges of the pool. Occasionally sticking her muzzle into the water, lapping up a drink or blowing bubbles with her nose. After a few minutes, I decided to press the issue, much like the previous excursion. I picked her up and placed her gently into the baby pool. She stood there for a second, much like last time and then proceeded to walk around the pool. We were able to get her to sit and lay down in the pool. After she laid down, she immediately got up and jumped out of the pool. We put her back in and she again was able to lay down and allow me to gently pour water over her with my hands. It was another improved performance on her part.
Chassie and I then went over to a friend's house for a barbecue around four o'clock. We were there for about three hours and toward the end I started to hear fireworks being set off. It was time to return home and give Draco another dose of UltraCalm. I took Bella out of her crate and she and I hung out in the basement for a while before Draco came downstairs, wanting to be away from the explosions. I could occasionally hear loud bangs, but nothing I would consider a crazy display of fireworks. Bella would perk her head up and wander over to the basement door, as if to say, "What is that noise?"
Draco kept insisting to enter the room, scratching at the baby gate. I allowed him to enter and almost immediately he laid down between the couch and the table. Bella sniffed at him, cleaned his ears like she loves to do and then left him alone. He laid by my feet for the rest of the evening. She laid next to us, not bothering him at all. I was able to pet both of them at the same time.
Now, this may not have been the epic conclusion that you were waiting for or expecting, but it was a monumental step in the progression of these two dogs.
Friday, July 6, 2012
The Derecho Which Brought Us Together
This post was written before Dave's "Derecho (June Watershed)". But Dave beat me to the publish button. So here is another point of view of Friday's Derecho...
Unless you have been lucky and living under a rock the last couple of days, you should all know about the rare Derecho which hit the DC area on Friday. A Derecho is a fancy meteorologist term for a line of thunderstorm which have uncharacteristically strong winds. It blew through the greater Washington DC area at 65 mph with wind gust over 90 mph. And in true DC fashion we want to name this Derecho. There is a poll for the best Derecho name on the Washington Post blog, my favorite is: Derechonundrum. (click here to see the other contenders and to vote)
Unless you have been lucky and living under a rock the last couple of days, you should all know about the rare Derecho which hit the DC area on Friday. A Derecho is a fancy meteorologist term for a line of thunderstorm which have uncharacteristically strong winds. It blew through the greater Washington DC area at 65 mph with wind gust over 90 mph. And in true DC fashion we want to name this Derecho. There is a poll for the best Derecho name on the Washington Post blog, my favorite is: Derechonundrum. (click here to see the other contenders and to vote)
“How did this crazy storm bring you together?”
And maybe some of you are asking,
“Who is ‘we’?”
Let me explain. Draco is not a fan of thunder, lightning or fireworks. So you can imagine July is his least favorite month. So when Doug Kammerer, from NBC4, kept interrupting the gymnastic trails to tell us about this storm we gave Draco some Ultra Calm.
Just before the storm hit Draco came downstairs and asked to come into the living room (it is gated to keep Bella from going upstairs un-chaperoned). Typically this would be difficult because Bella would want to play with Draco and Draco wouldn’t want to because he would be scared of the approaching storm. We let Draco in and Bella just grabbed her rope bone and jumped on the couch to chew. Draco laid down next to the couch by Bella and to wait out the storm.
Dave and I looked at each other then at the pups and smiled. This is what we have been waiting for, all of us together in peaceful bliss. Soon enough though it sounded like the world was coming down outside. And even though we lost power and sequently the AC, we were a happy family just like Dave and I had always dreamed.
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