I still haven't recieved the collar from Cesar Millan's website yet. I'm hoping that it'll arrive tomorrow! Since Thursday, it snowed for 3 days on and off, so there's snow on the ground once again. On Friday, everything was ICY including the mailbox! I couldn't open it, and couldn't lift the flag at all because there was like 1 inch of ice all around it. It was all frozen, and there were alot of icicles hanging off my front door's awning that I bumped my head into cuz they were like 20 inches long! All the phone lines, cable lines, and etc were all hanging low from the ice.
Then on Saturday, the sun came out and melted most of the ice off except for the snow on the ground. Every step I made, it would crack into blocks which was cool cuz I liked the way it felt (crunch crunch).
Of course, Petunia was so happy to be outside in this cold weather! Pulling me like crazy as usual. I almost slipped but didn't fall down, whew. It was very cold, I forgot my scarf and my ears hurt! I walked with Petunia for 15 minutes which is an improvement from 10 minutes. I truly hope that with the new collar, I can start walking for half hour like Cesar suggested!
Today, Petunia made a breakthrough! She did NOT jump on my sister or on her kids at all. Yay! I'm so proud of her!
Abby and I are both trying to train her to "stay" and to "give" whatever she has in her mouth. She's still a puppy, so she's chewing EVERYTHING she finds. If she knows that she have something in her mouth that shouldn't be there, she will NOT come to me when I call her name. Just like a toddler sometimes, if they found something "forbidden" and then will run away from mommy. That's exactly what Petunia does when I see her chewing something!
Let's see if the collars arrives tomorrow!! Please, please do!!!
Monday, March 10, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Cesar's Way
I read the book, "Cesar's Way" by Cesar Millan and I really liked it. He started the book by explaining where he grew up, how he learned about dogs, and how he got where he is now. Then he started to explain about dogs' psychology, and about how dogs function in a pack with one pack leader. We, the owners, should be the pack leader but often the problems that Americans have with their dogs is because they're not being the leader but letting their dogs do whatever they wanted!
First, I have never heard of him till last October, when I went to visit a good friend of mine in Maryland. She bought his book, and his DVD and asked me to watch the the DVD with her. I was pretty impressed with what I saw because Cesar was able to fix the problems within the hour!
His most important advice for the owners was to exercise the dogs by taking them out for a long walk, preferably 30-45 minutes. He said that it's very calming for them, however some people substitute exercise with playing fetch, tug-a-war, or whatever but it doesn't work because playing is excitement. Also during those walks, the dog must be either behind or besides the owner because that shows his/her position as the pack follower while the owner is the pack leader.
Now with that said, Petunia is still hyper as ever. She still jumps on me, and she gets all excited when she sees other dogs or people on our walks. We haven't mastered the proper way to walk yet, as she's still pulling me and always in front of me. It drives me crazy! I have already tried 4 different kinds of collars, but they all fall on the base of the shoulders and bottom of the neck. According to Cesar, that's their strongest point which is why it's so easy for them to pull their owners!
On the days that it snows, Petunia is even more hyper because she LOVES the snow. She pulled me across my backyard for like 5 feet when I fell down. She is able to pull my weight! I have a scab on my knee from several weeks ago and it's still hurts when I kneel down to do something.
Today, there was NO snow, no ice on the streets or sidewalks, nothing that could cause me to slip or fall. I thought that it would be a good day to train her to walk properly but again, she pulled me like crazy. It was not enjoyable at all, I was fed up!
I decided to go back on the website of Cesar Millan's and order his collar, because if that 5Th collar doesn't work then I'll have to hire a personal trainer or something! I truly hope that this special collar will work!!!!!!!!
When it arrives, I'll let you know if it really works.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Barely online!
The previous owners sent me some pictures of Petunia when she was such a little puppy, so cute! I have no idea when these pix were taken, or how old she was in those pix. She's 7 mo. now, and we got her on Feb. 1st. Her birthday is in July. She is not that small anymore, she's already 5o lbs now. I can barely stay online for more than five minutes because of Petunia! She is still a puppy, but according to the several books that I've been reading, she's now starting her teenager years.
For example, I just typed the first 2 sentences above and before I was able to type the word, "teenager", I was interuppted by Petunia. She came to me and nudged her nose under my arm. That's a big improvement, she usually jumps on me and scratch my arm! I'm trying to teach her that jumping on people is not acceptable, ever. I wasn't sure what she wanted but then at the same time Abby asked me for lunch. I decided to just toast bread instead of grilling them to make grilled cheese sandwich for her. While I was in the kitchen, I turned on my camera to see if it's working. At the exact same time I said to Petunia to sit so I could take a picture of her, the toaster popped up. She was startled. Now she is nervous every time I say "sit"! Poor thing.
I'll give her few minutes and try "sit" again and hopefully she'll be ok with it.
I was able to take few pictures of Petunia, the first time ever since Feb. 1st! My camera is acting up and will turn on only if it wants to. Now it won't turn on for me to upload those pix for this blog. However, you still got to see some pix from the previous owner. I got a few more from her and I'll add them in the next blog or so.
I gotta go -
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Brief Hiatus
Hey there,
Sorry about the 15 days' hiatus, I've been busy! First of all, we got a new puppy! I saw a post on the "freecycle" website in my town. A lady was giving away a 6 months old black lab.
We wanted a puppy eventually, but I was planning on getting one in the spring. I talked to a friend of mine at Gallaudet, who got a new puppy last summer, about training him to use the bathroom, etc. She told me that she had to watch him very closely, and take him out every 45 minutes, then every one hour and continue to add to the time as he was able to hold it in longer. When I learned that I would have to do the same thing in the beginning, I decided to wait till spring time so that I wouldn't have to take the puppy out so often in the cold weather.
Well...guess what, I am going outside every hour now and it's pretty cold up here! Today was actually warm for me at 37 degrees with snow on the ground. Several days ago, it was at 18 degrees with wind chill making it feel like zero degrees. I did not like going out every hour during those days, but I had to! It also has been snowing for few days but not today, the snow is still on the ground. Abby have already sled in our backyard for 3 days straight. She LOVES it. The puppy loves being outside in the snow! She's so wild, running around and eating snow. Labs are originally from Canada which is what I just learned recently from another friend of mine.
I knew that I had to get her because labs are known to be the best kind of dogs for families with kids. I used to babysit for a family who had a black lab and she was so wonderful! I've known her for 6 years, and she never barked, growled, or bitten anyone. When Abby was a baby, she crawled over the dog's whole body while she was sleeping but she didn't care. Then when Abby was learning to walk, she accidently stepped on the dog's tail, her head would pop up to see what was happening but then just get up and move to another place to sleep!
Now I am noticing the something about our new puppy! She likes to follow me EVERYWHERE and I feel bad for her when I'm in my cleaning frenzy bceause I'm going back and forth all over the house, 2 story plus the basement. I have 2 bedrooms, an office, game room which is also our homeschooling room, living room, kitchen, the hallway/foyer and I have to count that one because it gets messy with all the gloves, boots, and whatever I dump there when I come in the house like mail, etc., basement, laundry room, and the guest room.
The guest room used to be simple with a bed and a futon but now it's our "dumping" room because our puppy likes to CHEW! Everything that she will chew, we have to throw them in the guest room to keep them out of her reach.
She likes to chew cardboard, stuffed animals, plastic toys, shoes, our 2 rugs, wood, pencils, pens, crayons, basically anything that she's forbidden to chew,...she wants them! Our guest room is now filling up with all these things listed above!
I already bought her 2 KONG toys which are supposed to be something that dogs can't destroy. I read the reviews on those toys and many dog owners raved on how wonderful they were because they lasted long, their dogs spent hours chewing on them, and so on. Guess what, our puppy doesn't chew on them for hours, only for 10 minutes! She also have many toys like rope to play tug-a-war with us, balls to fetch, a bone to chew on but she's interested in it only for a short time, few others, and squeaky toys too.
She's really cute, she loves to play alot so we go to the basement and she runs around playing fetch with us. She is just a big baby! I am unable to upload pictures. Something is wrong with the features on this blog!!!
On another note, I'm homeschooling Abby and preparing her for the test coming up in April. In the state of WV, the law for homeschooling is to inform the school board with a letter (notice of intent) in the beginning of the school year. Then on June 30th, we are required to provide test scores, or a portfolio summary for the school board. Originally I wanted to do a portfolio but I haven't found a certified teacher to review Abby's school work. So I went ahead and paid for the test which costs $35.00.
During this process, I learned that there are 75 kids in our county who are being homeschooled. I thought that was a big number for this little town! Especially since I haven't met very many homeschooling families. There are only 10 kids in Abby's PE class that meets once a week. Last semester, there were 18 kids but some of those kids commuted from Pittsburgh or nearby areas, not from our town.
I think I am more nervous about the test than Abby is! I explained to her about taking a test, and she said "Mommy, that's fine. It will be easy, I will do just fine." That's a great positive attitude!
I better get going, I am planning on painting a portion of our living room wall with a special paint that will make it turn into a chalk blackboard. I am looking forward to using it for homeschooling on school days. Then whenever my nephew and niece, or friends' little kids comes over, they can play with chalks on that wall!
Keep warm!
P.S. please excuse my misspellings because the spellcheck is not working!
Sorry about the 15 days' hiatus, I've been busy! First of all, we got a new puppy! I saw a post on the "freecycle" website in my town. A lady was giving away a 6 months old black lab.
We wanted a puppy eventually, but I was planning on getting one in the spring. I talked to a friend of mine at Gallaudet, who got a new puppy last summer, about training him to use the bathroom, etc. She told me that she had to watch him very closely, and take him out every 45 minutes, then every one hour and continue to add to the time as he was able to hold it in longer. When I learned that I would have to do the same thing in the beginning, I decided to wait till spring time so that I wouldn't have to take the puppy out so often in the cold weather.
Well...guess what, I am going outside every hour now and it's pretty cold up here! Today was actually warm for me at 37 degrees with snow on the ground. Several days ago, it was at 18 degrees with wind chill making it feel like zero degrees. I did not like going out every hour during those days, but I had to! It also has been snowing for few days but not today, the snow is still on the ground. Abby have already sled in our backyard for 3 days straight. She LOVES it. The puppy loves being outside in the snow! She's so wild, running around and eating snow. Labs are originally from Canada which is what I just learned recently from another friend of mine.
I knew that I had to get her because labs are known to be the best kind of dogs for families with kids. I used to babysit for a family who had a black lab and she was so wonderful! I've known her for 6 years, and she never barked, growled, or bitten anyone. When Abby was a baby, she crawled over the dog's whole body while she was sleeping but she didn't care. Then when Abby was learning to walk, she accidently stepped on the dog's tail, her head would pop up to see what was happening but then just get up and move to another place to sleep!
Now I am noticing the something about our new puppy! She likes to follow me EVERYWHERE and I feel bad for her when I'm in my cleaning frenzy bceause I'm going back and forth all over the house, 2 story plus the basement. I have 2 bedrooms, an office, game room which is also our homeschooling room, living room, kitchen, the hallway/foyer and I have to count that one because it gets messy with all the gloves, boots, and whatever I dump there when I come in the house like mail, etc., basement, laundry room, and the guest room.
The guest room used to be simple with a bed and a futon but now it's our "dumping" room because our puppy likes to CHEW! Everything that she will chew, we have to throw them in the guest room to keep them out of her reach.
She likes to chew cardboard, stuffed animals, plastic toys, shoes, our 2 rugs, wood, pencils, pens, crayons, basically anything that she's forbidden to chew,...she wants them! Our guest room is now filling up with all these things listed above!
I already bought her 2 KONG toys which are supposed to be something that dogs can't destroy. I read the reviews on those toys and many dog owners raved on how wonderful they were because they lasted long, their dogs spent hours chewing on them, and so on. Guess what, our puppy doesn't chew on them for hours, only for 10 minutes! She also have many toys like rope to play tug-a-war with us, balls to fetch, a bone to chew on but she's interested in it only for a short time, few others, and squeaky toys too.
She's really cute, she loves to play alot so we go to the basement and she runs around playing fetch with us. She is just a big baby! I am unable to upload pictures. Something is wrong with the features on this blog!!!
On another note, I'm homeschooling Abby and preparing her for the test coming up in April. In the state of WV, the law for homeschooling is to inform the school board with a letter (notice of intent) in the beginning of the school year. Then on June 30th, we are required to provide test scores, or a portfolio summary for the school board. Originally I wanted to do a portfolio but I haven't found a certified teacher to review Abby's school work. So I went ahead and paid for the test which costs $35.00.
During this process, I learned that there are 75 kids in our county who are being homeschooled. I thought that was a big number for this little town! Especially since I haven't met very many homeschooling families. There are only 10 kids in Abby's PE class that meets once a week. Last semester, there were 18 kids but some of those kids commuted from Pittsburgh or nearby areas, not from our town.
I think I am more nervous about the test than Abby is! I explained to her about taking a test, and she said "Mommy, that's fine. It will be easy, I will do just fine." That's a great positive attitude!
I better get going, I am planning on painting a portion of our living room wall with a special paint that will make it turn into a chalk blackboard. I am looking forward to using it for homeschooling on school days. Then whenever my nephew and niece, or friends' little kids comes over, they can play with chalks on that wall!
Keep warm!
P.S. please excuse my misspellings because the spellcheck is not working!
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