What a week

Boy, am I glad this week is basically over. The cold that started just after Thanksgiving got completely full-blown, so I've been sniffling/unable to breathe without nose spray, coughing in periodic fits, having massive headaches, etc. There was much Cancellation of Stuff.

Juno is a perfect dog to have around when you're sick. Okay, who am I kidding, she is a perfect dog to have around at any time ever. She just lies quietly next to wherever I am, for as long as I feel like being there. The past few days, Kaline has been doing basically the same thing! Only he lies on me, not next to me, usually. Yesterday I actually got both dogs to lie on the bed with me. I have a teeny bed, so it was a little crowded, but very warm.

Both dogs on the couch, be still my heart.

It's been storming a bit since Wednesday, so that hasn't helped the cold any. All the dogs have been miserable going out and having to be wet (raincoats only help so much). Poor Kay will stand and shiver whenever we have to stop. I am constructing his Official Cozy Horse Coat™ in my mind, trying to make it as warm as possible. Can't have it at least until after his birthday. And I may get him a Cloudchaser to go underneath it. Because I am insane, and my little dog is wimpy.

I've been experimenting with giving Kaline more access to rooms when we're home, meaning he and Juno are not closed into the kitchen/den with me. I keep everything upstairs closed, so he can't go into bedrooms and get shoes and socks to chew, but now he has access to the dining room and the living room downstairs where he and Juno like to wrestle. It's going okay, I think. We'll see how I feel a week from now, haha!

Kaline is close to giving himself a hot spot on his right front paw from obsessive licking. I got this spray called Bitter Lime to stop him licking. Well, he hates being sprayed with the stuff and will run away, but even if his paw is soaked in this nasty stuff (I got some on my hands, then nibbled a finger, and holy shit, EW) he will lick as though it tastes amazing. Gaaah. 

In addition to continuing to work on opening the fridge, I've been focusing on hold, out, and take it with Kaline. Whenever he gets annoying at night, I grab one of the few toys left to him (blue rubber bone, Nylabone, antler, cookie ball) and we practice hold and out for a few minutes. His hold is getting very nice; he'll hold whatever it is for a pretty long time, and all I have to do is stroke his chin every once in a while to remind him to keep his mouth closed. Anne doesn't want us to work on take it too much until his hold is solid, so we only do that a little bit.

Fridge work is highly amusing. Usually on the first try, Kaline just picks up the tug and then drops it. It takes him a little bit to actually get the fridge open. Once he does get it open that first time, though, it's like he wants to make sure that first part where he messes around ineffectually doesn't happen again. I'll leave with whatever I wanted out of the fridge, and Kaline will stay over there, yanking the fridge open dramatically, letting it close and yanking it open again. Of course, the next time the whole little drama plays out again, but I think it's getting progressively shorter. It cracks me up.

Also quite funny: When I ask Kaline to open the fridge, telling Juno to stay back a little bit; then he messes up and Juno walks in and takes the tug from him and pulls the fridge open. See how it's done, young man.

There's also been unpleasant drama in the service dog world. Dani Woodson, who I am acquainted with through a couple SD groups on Facebook, was kicked out of a Whataburger in Pensacola, FL, by a police officer who refused to enforce the laws (state and federal) protecting disabled people from being forced to leave because of their service dogs. She got the whole thing on video and it's gone pretty viral.

 

Of course, when something like this gets on the news, the Whataburger FB page and the Pensacola Police Department FB page, it brings out all the stupid people. Who say things like, "I wouldn't want to sit next to a stinky dog in a restaurant" or "How do you even know it's a service dog?" or "Well, they got their food, it's totally okay for them to be kicked out because they weren't denied service". So the SD community has been rebutting the idiots. I got in there last night for a while, and it was just sending my anxiety through the roof. I watch videos like this, I read things like that, and it's like that stuff is happening to me right now. 

And without being asked, Kaline just draped himself across my lap and went to sleep. I'm extra super in love with him lately.

Rain is my least favorite weather

We had training in the rain today. It was not the most fun ever.

Kaline was (undeservedly, it turns out) in the proverbial doghouse from the time we got to training. After being good for a while, he started wrestling with the other puppy, who is much younger, in the back of the car. That crap drives me nuts, and I've been trying so hard to teach him that it's more rewarding to lie quietly right behind my seat and get fed little bits of bait. This other puppy though, will not take no for an answer. Hence, I was pissed at Kaline when I should've been pissed at the other pup. Ah well.

Sometimes it was just overcast, and sometimes we got poured on. Eventually Kaline needed the big coat. I was cold and wet and grumpy. Nonetheless, both my dogs did pretty well when I worked them. Kaline, understandably, did not want to do anything but stand in the wet grass, but when asked, he grudgingly did sit and lie down. Then when he realized we were going to play "up-down" he got more and more into it. Heeling went quite well. Recalls were interesting. He came nicely enough, but he kept looking away when I'd back up. Freddie had me pop him toward me and call him if he looked away when given the watch cue, and lo and behold, much better attention pre-recall!

Juno was my training dessert. She didn't care that it was wet and rainy and cold and shitty. She was stoked to work. We did finding heel exercises, which she is really good at and loves. I really need to do the rear-end exercises with Kaline that I did with her—it really helps, I think, with pivoting into position in many situations. I'd earlier been doing the same finding heel stuff with less experienced dogs, and trying to teach them where to be; with Juno, she sticks to you like ... something really sticky. (I can't stand the cliches that are popping into my head right now.)

We did long recalls, where she'd get going super fast and then put on the brakes so she could slide to a sit right in front of me. And then we did fun retrieving with a bumper. It's really neat to see how much her retrieving drive has increased. I just have to keep reminding myself that this didn't happen at all quickly, it took a long time.

But now, you whirl that bumper and she's amped. You chuck it and she goes for it like it's a steak or something, and then best of all, she comes lolloping back with it in her mouth and sits right in front of you, all proud of herself.

Everyone was much better on the drive from training, except of course our little troublemaker in the back who was chewing on Juno's good leash. (Looks like BLD will be getting some more of my money soon.) This time, Kaline ignored him and stuck right to his spot, gleefully gobbling up his tidbits. And once the puppy was gone, everyone else—Juno, Kaline and Lucky the Golden Achiever—crashed.

When the three of us finally got home, we had a hot shower. Yes, I know, hot water is not ideal for bathing dogs. But I don't think any of us were really up for adding more cold. So far, dandruff hasn't appeared, so I'm going to cross my fingers and just hope that we've escaped this time. Afterward, there was much group cuddling with blankets and such. Also, I apologized for Kaline for being pissed at him: little tastes of mashed potatoes and a piece of cheese.

I can't wait till he's grown up enough to have his own Cozy Horse coat. He and Juno are going to look so awesome when they match!

Other news from today: We started a new walking dog, a female yellow Lab who is the littermate of one of my absolute favorite dogs, who I unfortunately don't walk anymore. She accomplished in about two seconds what Juno still can't do: she made Kaline give her a respectful amount of space in the car. All she had to do was curl her lip a little, and he was like, "Ack! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

It was pretty hilarious to see how the dogs grouped themselves on the walk. Our new Lab and Juno walked on the outside, with plenty of space. The three boys mashed themselves together next to me—Kaline did an excellent job shouldering the other two away so no one was mashed against me. The doodle was constantly getting his head smushed between the other boys. Maybe it's the blondes! The whole squishing business doesn't happen with the Black Dogs.

Really though, it probably comes down to girls just being smarter than boys. Hehe.

Bad blogger

Yeah, it's been spotty lately and it's about to get dead for a while. On Wednesday Mom and I head to Ann Arbor, and I'm not taking a computer. It's at least felt like I've been busy lately—in the sense that I don't have much energy when the day is done. Kaline has been trying everyone's patience, especially over the weekend, probably because he doesn't get as much exercise as he's accustomed to (yes, my bad. Definitely my bad). Even when Juno and he wrestle, I still end up in trouble because Juno makes very loud wounded-bear sounds during the play. (Kaline is a very quiet player.) Also we've been watching a lot of baseball. Can't believe my two favorite teams are going to face each other in the Fall Classic!

The dogs are real quiet right now because they both have pressed rawhide. I got Juno to "start" Kaline's new one, then ended up finding his rawhide stub under the couch and gave that to Juno as an exchange. Normally she is the tidy one, and Kaline isn't, but HOLY CRAP, she is making ten times the mess with that thing that Kaline does. It's really quite disgusting, but at least no one is bothering anyone. Mom came home, saw the white gooey mess, and declared she was totally nauseated.

We had ton of rain this morning, which was very unpleasant. I hate rain more than any other kind of weather, and that includes snow. (And yes, I know about snow, I lived in Michigan for five years.) Kaline saw it from the doorway and gave me a look like, "You must be joking. I am not going out in that." He was wearing Juno's Cozy Horse coat, and when he protested about going out in the wet, he looked like a wee horse bucking and rearing. He stoutly refused to pee in his favorite spot across the street, standing there pathetically with his little hocks knocking together unhappily. I put them in the car un-emptied, and Kaline stood back there whimpering in the most gut-wrenching way.

When we got to our first walk, the only one that was truly wet and miserable, Kaline did fine. Maybe it was the addition of his friends Teddy and Bentley? Teddy, who like Kaline lacks a proper coat and shivers at the slightest provocation, was pretty much as unhappy as Kaline to be outside. But I guess anything is more tolerable if you've got buddies who are as bummed as you are. They did look cute—I have so many raincoats left over from Angel, my first dog, that I can outfit my entire pack. I even have a raincoat that fits Jett, the Swissie (barely).

So yeah, today was all walking and training. Kaline's fave new client is wee Lupo, a three-month-old Lagotto Romagnolo. Lupo is this little fluffy guy who looks like a brown and white teddy bear. Kaline holds back a bit, but they still play pretty rough-and-tumble.

I'll admit, I am excited but a little apprehensive about the Michigan trip. Mom is incredibly possessive about it, and has never let me bring Juno on said trip. So she has to be my service human, the whole time, and while she is a lot better at that than my dad is (sorry, Dad), she still sometimes doesn't get stuff, like why I am not going to wander the mall alone while she has her nails done. My anxiety goes through the roof just thinking about the things about which she'll say, "But why can't you ... ? But two years ago, you did ... so why not now?" I am going to feel totally incomplete without Juno. I went through that earlier this year, when she was temporarily retired, and boy did it suck. Being without her makes me feel like a baby, having to be so dependent on another person. I hate asking help from people; I love asking Juno.

But the good stuff: We get to spend two days, instead of one, at the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village, which is basically my favorite thing in the world. I used to be super hot on the old-car-museum part, but now Greenfield Village is my love. I think about it ALL THE TIME. And we get to do Hallowe'en Nights there on Friday (please, please, no rain). My big fear there is not so much an anxiety or panic attack, because it's very spread out and not likely to be crowded, and everyone is super laid-back and nice. I'm worried I'll have a fibro flareup and might have to use one of those scooters. Which likely won't happen but I worry about it anyway.

We also get to go to all my favorite restaurants, see my poetry professor who is a huge Tigers fan, have dinner with one of my former gymnasts who is now in med school at U of M, and oh yeah, watch the Tigers in the World Series in Michigan. That will be rather marvelous, I think. But that's another thing I can't do—I can't go out by myself at night to my favorite pub and watch the game, because it will be packed wall to wall and 1) a panic attack will inevitably ensue and 2) I will have no way to stop it quickly and will have to leave.

One thing I can, I hope, do on my own, will be visiting men's gym practice at the Newt Loken Training Center. Being in the gym is like being in a cocoon where nothing can get to you. I don't know too many of the guys anymore, and there's been a bit of remodeling, but it's still my place. When my mom called me to tell me that Angel had died, when I was a senior, I went to the gym as soon as I could, because that was the only place where I could feel anywhere approaching okay. I probably spent almost as much time there as I did in my dorm or apartment.

Anyway, I didn't mean to make this a bunch of complaints about the trip. It's going to be really awesome, I think. Just could be awesome-er with Juno, ya know?

Kaline has been busy!

Still trying to shake a really bad funk, hence the not writing. But Kaline has been quite busy doing all kinds of awesome things. Over the weekend, he did Borrone's and the Farmer's Market, as usual, but also did IKEA again. We also went to newly reopened Kepler's, which has an extremely shiny and fabulous floor—I was a teensy bit worried it might shake Kaline, but of course it didn't. Takes a lot more than a shiny floor to rattle this boy!

At Borrone's I was feeling all jangly and weird, probably because Kepler's had been so busy and in addition to all my friends working there, there were a bunch of new people too and I felt super awkward. Of his own accord, Kaline did a lap up and just stayed there until my waffle came; as soon as the waffle was gone, he was back up, and eventually started scrabbling his back feet—"Let me all the way up!" So I did, and he just leaned himself into my chest. I was so pleased with him! Not to mention, all kinds of people saw what he was doing, so their Doberman picture of the day was of a snuggler. Ambassadober!

He was awesome in the market too—by himself, he is doing extremely well. Great attention, very little sniffing around, just great. We also talked to a lady about the difference between SDs and ESAs; hopefully she'll get in contact again, because someone gave her tons of misinformation. Such as: ESAs are permitted to go on CalTrain, ESAs require special training, psychiatric service dogs are not recognized by San Mateo County, etc. I cannot stand people who give new SD people the wrong info! Starting off with a service dog is hard enough without others telling you things that are completely inaccurate. I feel so lucky that I was able to find groups where accuracy is of paramount importance and I was able to get spot-on information.

IKEA was pretty good too. We did a lot of "close" practice, because the parents were checking out all the model kitchens. It is pretty much my mom's fondest dream to remodel the kitchen, which anyone will admit was terribly set up and designed. I had a bag full of kibble, of course, so we'd go through the kitchens after Dad, and he'd have opened a bunch of drawers and cabinets at different levels. Then Kaline got to close everything! He only has trouble with low drawers, because he wants to use his feet—on a low drawer, feet are ineffective, and also I don't really want him to use his feet in the first place. High drawers were adorable, he'd push them like a seal bouncing a ball back to the trainer.

We also practiced under at different tables, settling on various interesting rugs (including one made of cowhide), sit and down stays, little recalls, etc. Kaline and I were pooped way before the parents were!

Then Monday night, Kaline got to go to his very first Major League baseball game! Normally when I go to a ballgame, I have extreme focus on the game: I get there when the gates open, I bring my scorebook, I keep score in my very detailed personal scoring system, and I basically do not leave my seat from first pitch to last pitch (unless I really have to go). So last night felt a little weird for me.

Hendrik and Sonja had invited just me, but then Sonja didn't feel well, so Dad came. We got to the park only a little while before first pitch. We introduced Kaline to our favorite ushers, Nick, Mark, Rod and Anthony, then went to the seats. Kaline was a little overwhelmed right at first. You don't think about it most of the time, but when you're with a puppy, you realize all of a sudden just how much sensory overload there can be at a ballpark. There are tons of people, food everywhere including all over the ground, it's inside but feels like you're outside (yes, I worry a lot that Kaline will have trouble with that distinction and think it's okay to eliminate in the concourse), it's loud and echoey, there's always something blaring from the speakers, etc.

But I'd brought Kaline's dinner, and that made everything okay.

He settled nicely under my seat on his cushy mat for about three or four innings. I didn't keep score, just focused on Kaline. And the Tigers game, playing on my phone, because they were about to clinch their division title. It was super hot during the day, so the night was warm and miraculously Kaline never shivered! (I brought the Cozy Horse coat for him anyway, and he wore it on the way out for visibility. ADORABLE.)

He started to get antsy after a while, so we got up and walked all over the ballpark, practicing attention and not sniffing/socializing. We did the inner ring, where we could still see the field, then did the concourse, which was louder and more crowded. Kaline was amazing. He was definitely interested in everything that was happening, but he was checking in constantly, both when I asked him to and on his own. At one point there was a huge cheer while we were in the concourse (the A's were about to clinch a playoff spot, so it was extra loud last night), and the sound was reverberating. Kaline's ears went flat against his head and he just got this look on his face like, "WHY?!" I got him to watch me, and instead of one kibble, gave him a handful. The rest of the night, when there was a big cheer, instead of wilting, Kaline would fix me with a stare: "Cheering! Where is my food?!" It didn't bother him again.

After the concourse we went to the gate where we'd come in, to see if they'd make an exception for us on the no re-entry policy. They waved us through, grinning: "You're not the only one who's needed to take a dog out tonight!" Yay. Kaline got his business done fairly quickly, and while he was out of his vest I just kind of played around with him a bit to loosen things up. Then we went back in and he was good under my seat basically the rest of the game. In the ninth I let him curl up on my lap. (He really has to curl now!)

Watching the game (sometime before our stadium circuit).

Obviously when the A's won and had their celebration, the whole Coliseum went apeshit. But Kaline now knew that loudness would get him treats, so he was completely unfazed by the whole thing. He was so great! He was a little pissed when I stuffed him into his coat at the end, but hey, people definitely noticed a bright blue and maize puppy trotting through the crowded concourse. I was very proud of my little guy.

Kaline's first "title"

Yeah, I know, CGC is not exactly a real obedience title (although apparently it will be after January 1). But Kaline has it now!

Yesterday was way better than expected, and today was way worse. We were supposed to go to a ballgame yesterday and due to various kinds of drama one of the dogs would have had to be left home all day. More drama; and then I ended up staying home with both pups while the parents went to the game. Much nicer. We had lots of walks, met some lovely children who handled Kaline's paws with no problems, had naps, did a little open-close work.

That was actually pretty funny. I had Juno open a cupboard and then asked Kaline to close it. He did it with perfect Juno-style technique: A good nudge with the nose to start, and a careful nudge with the paw to finish up. Of course, once the door was closed Juno immediately tugged it open again! And then when Kaline went to close it, she went on the other side and gleefully nudged it a little to thwart him. Then she let him finish.

The game would have probably been a good experience for Kaline, but I didn't need the stress. And we had a lovely day at home.

Then today there was tons of drama with the car. More specifically, the loan. The credit union people called me back and said they couldn't approve me not because I had bad credit, but because I had no credit score. Which is preposterous, because I have had a credit card under my name and SSN for a good eight years—which is always paid off on time. Of course, that led to a massive meltdown, but luckily I have a fantastic aunt who takes no shit from anyone and really wants me to get a proper car. Within five minutes of getting my SSN she had my credit score, which does in fact exist. So we're working on it.

The upside of the meltdown was Kaline did an excellent job tag-teaming me with Juno. Between walks he sat on me in the car, leaning into my chest and licking my neck and face. (He likes my neck. Who knows.) Juno kept checking in on me visually while we were out with the packs; once when I was really zoning out, Kaline grabbed my fingers in his mouth and "carried" them for a while, munching but not too hard, just hard enough to be like, "HEY, pay attention!" Well, I gotta admit, he did get a little carried away after a while with the munching and then I had to stop him.

Anyway, the meltdown kind of colored most of the day, but in the evening, Dad, Kaline and I headed to Mountain View for the Canine Good Citizen test put on by Deep Peninsula Dog Training Club. Then the nerves and adrenaline just took over! Kaline was thrilled as well—Labs everywhere! At first, he wanted to go play with all of them, but he settled down pretty quick.

Kaline ended up wearing a choke chain with his regular BLD leash for the test (no prong collars allowed). I don't like using choke chains because they can just tighten indefinitely, but you don't have much of a choice with AKC events. I'd never use a chain for actual training. My other option was his combo slip collar and leash, but the fabric it's made of hurts my hands if he pulls at all.

We got registered and then walked around to warm up and get Kaline's yayas out. He was pulling a bit at first, but then when I did sudden turns and rewarded him for spontaneous attention, he started working nicely for me. I was super proud of him when we were waiting in line, and a little surprised at some of the other dogs. Kaline, who is not even five months old yet, curled up by my feet and just chilled out while we were waiting. One of the Labs kept pulling hard to get to Kay (in a mostly friendly way), plus there was a German Shepherd and another Lab they were keeping away from everyone, and trying to strategize about when to run them through the tests. I was kinda like, if your dog can't be around other dogs, how does he qualify as a good citizen?

Anyway. One of the test organizers is a total Dobe person, loved Kaline, used to have what Freddie nicknamed The Doberman Drill Team. We had a good time hanging out with her. We were the fourth team through.

CGC Test

Item 1: Friendly stranger (no petting)—The evaluator shook my hand and introduced herself. Kaline sat politely next to me.

Item 2: Friendly stranger (petting)—Kaline sat, then got up, licked her arm and was politely friendly (no jumping) ... and then he almost did a crotch-burrow. Ehhh, still passed!

Item 3: Grooming—The evaluator brushed Kaline with the brush I'd brought; as usual, he really wanted to eat it. Thankfully, she understood that for what it was, a mouthy pup, not a puppy who was scared of the brush or of her grooming him. He didn't care at all when she flipped back his ears and picked up his front feet.

Item 4: Loose leash walking—We had to go out, turn left, right, and do an about turn. Even though Kaline tugged on me some between test items, he walked wonderfully for this and we had no problems.

Item 5: Walking through a crowd—I walked Kaline through a crowd of about seven people milling around. He was a little interested but not much. All good!

Item 6: Sit, down, stay—Kaline immediately sat and lay down when I asked. You can choose to leave the dog in a sit or down for their stay, but most people leave their dogs in downs because it's more stable. That's what I did, cause Kaline was definitely hyped up. He stayed while I walked 20 feet away and came back.

Item 7: Coming when called—Kaline was all of a sudden interested in the trees ... I walked in, got his attention back, then went 10 feet out and called him. He came like someone had goosed him! Heehee. He was so cute.

Item 8: Reaction to another dog—Our other dog was this adorable Clumber Spaniel (I think). We walked up, I shook hands with his owner, Kaline looked at him and took a big whiff, and then we walked on.

Item 9: Reaction to distraction—Someone dropped an enormous book. Kaline jumped a tiny bit and turned toward it at the noise. When the book didn't move again or make any more noise, he decided it was something he wanted to eat. (Don't worry, I didn't let him.)

Item 10: Supervised separation—I left Kaline with a lovely older gentleman who was actually the judge at Juno's very first obedience fun match. I went out of sight and waited for my three minutes to be up. That was the worst part at Juno's CGC test, because I was so worried she'd whine/yowl excessively and fail on the last item. Kaline did fine, so yay, he passed! How exciting! Everyone thought he was super cute with his insanely adorable face and big floppy silky ears.

When we got home, Juno (and eventually Kaline)'s new Cozy Horse Winter Warrior coat had arrived; I put it on Juno and she looked fabulous. I noticed Kaline licking his hock even more than normal (he enjoys mouthing his legs) and he looked like he had a breakout there of little itchy bumps. Heading to the vet tomorrow, of course. 

Sorry I didn't get video ... my real camera is out of batteries and we have no Double-As in the whole house at this point. Once I get batteries again I'll post a couple coat pictures, at least!