Puppy Training Success

I have to admit that we have some pretty good puppies.  They can be full of it at times.  They can be wild.  They are puppies.  However, I have been around and owned other puppies that were much worse.  Bella and Shiloh are pretty mild.

They have been fairly easy to train.  I have been working them slow.  I want to make sure they have a command down really well before moving on.  My friend, Kris, and I consult each other on dog training a lot.  She is also a therapy dog handler and she has been showing dogs for years.  She is far more advanced than me, so I always feel honored when she asks for my opinion.

She sent me a video recently from a trainer out in California.  He trains protection dogs.  That's not really our cup of tea, but a lot of his practices apply to dogs of all specialties.  This particular video focused on marker words.  I use a high pitch "yes" followed by a treat.  Some people use clickers.  Through watching the video and talking with Kris, we discovered the importance of timing between the marker word and treat.  It makes a difference.  Kris found herself marking and treating at the same time.  I find that I am not consistent at all.  If anything, I am slow between my marker word and giving a treat, but sometimes I am holding the treat, and sometimes it's still in my pouch.  Sometimes I don't have a treat at all!  That, I discovered, is my biggest issue.  I am putting too much confidence in my dogs too quickly.  I always use a marker word, but I am not always following up with a treat.  How long do you follow up with a treat?  I suppose it varies from dog to dog.  Tanker, for example, is the kind of dog that wants to know what's in it for him.  He is even sluggish with his sits at times.  Tanker is not a dependent dog by any means.  He is not the kind of dog who cares anything about pleasing his handler.  He enjoys doing obedience, but not for the pleasure of bonding with the person on the other end of the leash.  Wes did a rally course with Tanker once, and he loved it, but if you ask Tanker to sit in the kitchen, he is not interested unless you show him the treat first.

Topher has become a little sluggish with things as well.  There is a lot going on in Topher's world.  Topher is very in tune with me.  He is my velcro dog.  He is a typical Cattle Dog and I am his master.  If I am not my best, he is not his best.  If I am incredibly happy and on top of my game, he is happy and on top of his game.  If I am irritated, he is on guard as to why.  If I am sad, he is by my side and he will do anything to keep from making it worse.  For example, I was really upset one night.  Topher was right next to me.  Bella and Shiloh were running around wild.  Bella tried jumping on top of me and Topher nipped at her.  He normally doesn't do that.  I have been upset quite a bit lately over some things that happened with friends.  My mood is reflected in Topher.  I have been going through treats like crazy with training the puppies and I quit using them for a while.  Topher became sluggish with responding to me.  Not only does he sense my mood, he knows that the puppies get on my nerves at time, and if that extra motivation is not there in the form of a treat, he is not always going to follow through.

If my two more experienced dogs aren't clear on what I am asking them, I can't imagine the mixed signals I am sending the puppies.  Command, marker word, treat.  Command, treat.  "Am I going to get a treat or not?  What am I working for?  Is this really worth it?"  I can't imagine any obedience training is worth it to them at four, almost five months old. 

Given that history of my mixed signal training, you can only guess how excited I was today when I reached this milestone with Bella.  Bella loves to dig holes.  What is more exciting than being leg deep in a hole full of dirt and worms?  When I was a child there was nothing more exciting than that.  I can't blame her for wanting to dig.  It is fun!  I am not crazy about the holes in my backyard.  When she was digging today, I yelled out from the back deck, "Bella, COME!"  She picked her head up and ran to me.  I was ecstatic!  No treats involved or anything.  Of course, I praised her and gave her a treat inside.  For a almost five month old puppy to choose between digging a hole or following the command "come" is a big accomplishment to me.  This happened not once, but twice today! 

Topher is really funny.  He has gotten good with "shake" and "high five".  He has gotten so good at it that he will do it in any position.  He was laying on the bed this morning on his side.  I put my hand next to him and said, "Topher, shake."  He did not lift his head.  He did not blink.  He slowly lifted his paw and put it in my hand.  I was so excited about it that I wanted to show Wes.  Once again, on the second try, he did not lift head.  He just slowly placed his paw in my hand while laying on his side.  No excitement about it.  I think he was wondering why we were having to meet each other once again while he was trying to rest.  A therapy dog's work never stops, I suppose.  He sure made me smile this morning.

My goal for the upcoming week is to be more aware of the signals I send to my dogs.  Am I always giving the verbal and hand commands at the same time?  Am I using marker words and treating?  Am I using the same tone of voice?  The only thing worse than an untrained dog is a trained dog that is too confused to know what's going on.

My other goal is to not let people bother me.  I cannot get down over what other's say to me.  My purpose in life is bigger than that.  Why do I let it get me down?  I must continue moving forward while looking up.

Wes started a psychology class this week.  I am as excited about it as he is.  I took this class ten years ago in college.  I remember some of it.  I loved it.  I loved every psychology class I took.  Wes was a psychology major, so he is excited as well.  I plan to review some of his notes with him.  It will help us both with the work we do volunteering in the psychiatric units with the therapy dogs.  We both love people.  We love helping people.  We anticipate great things to happen as we move forward in doing so.

The best news that we got today is that Wes' ANCA came back negative.  That is one less thing going towards a diagnosis of Wegener's.  Keep your fingers crossed that his rheumatology appointment brings good news too.

My Dream

I think that the day that the Air Force realizes that Wes is the best Airman in the entire force, they promote him to 4-star General, and we have more money than we know what do to with, I am going to buy a place in the DC area on several acres, open my own training facility, rescue dogs from high kill shelters, and train them to be service dogs and/or therapy dogs for people with disabilities, including mental disabilities. I will donate the dogs to those people for free. I will have several kennels and will train multiple dogs at a time.  I will open a camp for disabled people to come and learn how to work their new dogs, free of charge.  I will make them feel loved.  Their new dog will help give them confidence to do the things that they were once limited from doing. 

I love dogs.  I think animals have the potential of helping people more than any doctor, therapist, or nurse can.  I love how dogs do not judge you for who you are or what you've done in life. 

I love helping others.  If I ever felt a purpose in my life, that is it.  I want to die knowing that I made a difference.

That is my dream.

Welcome Back

Welcome back to my blog.  I have been too scatterbrained to write lately.  So much has gone on and I have had a lot on my mind.  Sometimes I wonder how I make it through the day everyday without a complete meltdown. 

If you follow me on Facebook, you know a lot of what has been going on in our lives.  Wes was diagnosed with Lyme Disease after being bitten by a tick in Alabama when we were delivering clothes to tornado victims.  After his initial round of Doxycycline, he was still having a lot of problems with it.  He went to an Infectious Disease Doctor at National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda and he started him on a second round of Doxycycline.  Wes feels horrible.  We don't know if it's the effects of the Doxycycline or the Lyme Disease, or a new potential diagnosis....

Wes had a CT scan of his lungs done because a nodule had been spotted on his right lung on an X-Ray.  The CT Scan found a second nodule on his left lung.  That nodule is highly suspicious for Wegener's Granulomatosis.  Wegener's Granulamatosis is an autoimmune disease that attacks your vessels.  The disease starts out with problems in the upper respiratory tract, and then usually the lungs are affected next.  Wes has had upper respiratory symptoms for years, even to the point that he almost had surgery on his septum in Spokane, but he didn't because we were getting ready to move to Maryland.  He didn't have it once we got to Maryland because he was very busy with work and training.  Wes has chronic sinus infections and nose bleeds.  Sometimes he has difficulty breathing because of it.  That is usually the first symptom of Wegener's.  Wes' aunt has  microscopic polyangitis.  It is a sister disorder of Wegener's Granulamatosis.  Wegener's Granulamatosis can also affect the skin (Wes' chronic butterfly rash on his face), the kidneys (kidney failure), the nervous system, etc.  Wes had a small amount of protein in his urine.  I am hoping it was a fluke thing.  I am pretty stressed out about it, not to mention the digestive problems.  Wes has had problems with that for years as well.  He has had two large bowel obstructions in the last two months.  That's not normal for a healthy 29 year old man.

Wegener's Granulamatosis used to be a guaranteed death sentence.  It wasn't until the 70's or 80's that doctors started treating it with a combination of steroids and chemotherapy that people started living longer with it.  I have been doing a lot of research.  Because I have worked in nursing for years, I have a lot of friends who are nurses and doctors.  I could not get through this without them.  They have been so much support for me and Wes.  Wegner's Granulamatosis is such a rare disorder, that many of them don't know a lot about it.  Luckily I have great resources through them though. 

We are waiting for one blood test to come back.  Wes was tested for ANCA antibodies.  They are the antibodies produced by the body in Wegener's.  We were told though that a positive ANCA doesn't necessarily mean he has Wegener's, and a negative ANCA doesn't rule out Wegeners.  It's just one more piece to the puzzle.  Like all autoimmune diseases, there are a certain number of set criteria that must be present for the diagnosis to be made.  So far Wes has at least two.  The rheumatologist will make the final determination of which pieces fit the puzzle.

Now that's off my chest, let me move onto the things people come here to read about:  The Foster Zoo.  First, the puppies are getting BIG!  Bella is 37 pounds and Shiloh is 36.  They are only 4 months old.  They will be 5 months old on July 15th, one day before I turn 29.

Wes asked what I wanted for my birthday.  Nothing.  I want to take the dogs to do therapy dog work.  That's all.  There is one other thing I want to do, but I am not going to write about it until I do it.

Neo went to his new home.  It was nothing short of perfect.  The guy works with Wes.  He is single and lives in an apartment on his own.  He wanted a cat to go home to everyday.  We met him at Andrews AFB and Neo rode off to his new home in a nice new Camaro.  Neo is off to live the Bachelor life, which is what he deserves. 

Topher was sure glad to see Neo leave.

Topher rode in the back and Neo in the seat on our way to Andrews.

Topher moved to his seat once Neo left.  "I am a HAPPY BOY!!!"

We took Tanker and Topher with us because we had been requested to do therapy dog work at a homeless shelter in Alexandria.  We were really excited.  We had been recommended to volunteer there by a highly regarded therapy dog friend.  We had talked to the social worker and had it all set up to be there by 2:00.  When we got there, nothing was set up for us.  The employee working had no idea we were coming.  She didn't know where our forms were at first.  She acted like we were a disservice to her.  The residents had no desire to see the dogs.  We were really disappointed.  I have yet to e-mail the social worker back, but I need to.  It's not worth our time to drive to Alexandria if nobody wants us there.

Since we were up that way, we stopped by a friend's house in Arlington and visited.  It was great to see them.  Seeing them made the day worth it.  Topher and Tanker got lots of hugs and kisses.

I trained the puppies some last week.  Honestly, I have had too much on my mind to do a lot with them.  It's such a stess reliever to me, so why am I overwhelmed with it?  I am frustrated with myself over that.

I used my new Cutco scissors to cut up chicken jerky.  Those scissors can cut through anything.  You can cut through a penny with them.  Seriously, you can.  The guy we bought them from showed us.  The Zoo Crew works hard for cut up chicken jerky.

I have been working on "down" with the puppies.  They are doing well with it.  I am glad I taught them "wait" first before anything.  It has proved to be very useful when training four dogs all together at once.  I can tell one puppy to "wait" while I work with the other.

Everybody in a "down"

Bella is "waiting" her turn to be told to "down".

We have gotten a few storms.  One storm last week brought a lot of wind.  Several limbs came down in the yard.  The puppies thought they were gifts from above.



Bella and Shiloh dug holes in our newly mulched yard.  Shiloh likes to go out and lay in them.

I like to take pictures of bugs while the dogs play outside.  Wes calls these Charlie Brown bugs because they are the same color as Charlie Brown's shirt.

Because traffic is so bad around the Nation's Capital during any holiday, we are not going anywhere for the 4th. 

There was one thing we wanted to do, but we didn't get tickets for it, so we are just staying home.  We will go to the Aquia Harbour parade and festival tomorrow.  Aquia Harbour always puts on a nice parade.  All of the clubs and organizations participate.  They also do a boat parade on the river.  It is neat to watch.  We may even take the puppies because there will be lots of sounds, smells, and sights to learn.  It just depends on how hot it is tomorrow.  We may go to Fredericksburg to see a couple of friends in their 4th of July events tomorrow.  It all depends on how Wes feels and how hot it is.

Today, everybody is resting up for the holiday tomorrow.

We have been busy eating ginormous strawberries from Costco and working on my indoor garden.  Just when I thought I didn't have a green thumb, I actually paid attention to how big my plants have gotten.

A Day of Celebration

Today was a day of celebration.  Promotion results came out for Technical Sergeant and Wes' name was on the list.  This was the promotion Wes had been studying so hard for all year.  Wes has been in the Air Force for less than ten years, so this is quite an accomplishment. 

The Air Force promotes in order of line numbers.  Wes' line number is 4,921.  He predicts he will sew on in December or early in the new year.  In the mean time, he is taking some college classes.  He thought it through and he has to miss a testing cycle before testing for Master Sergeant.  He thinks he may test for Master by the following year, and he plans to get a jump start on studying for it.  Wes never ceases to amaze me.  I told him to not think about it and just enjoy the day.  Nope.  Wes was busy planning out the future.  

Out of the 34,257 people who tested this year, only 8,545 were promoted.  Out of the 1,256 people who tested in his career field, only 363 were selected.  I am pretty proud of Wes for being one of them.  Wes scored higher than 70% of the people who tested on the PFE and higher than 68% of the people that tested on the SKT.  He made TSgt with 8 points to spare.  He said he actually scored better on the tests last year, but he missed promotion by a couple of points.  Either way, he did excellent.

Gosh, Wes has come so far.  It seems like just yesterday when he was getting on that bus to head to the airport and ship out to Lackland AFB for Basic Training.  I remember bursting with pride the day he graduated.  That was in 2002.  He was 20 and I was 19.  Those are the fond memories I will always hold close to me.  Watching him grow from a young Airman straight out of Basic and Tech school into what he has become today has been the greatest joy of my life.  I'm not proud to be an Air Force Wife.  I am proud to be HIS Air Force Wife.

We had this coffee mug made at Lackland AFB when Wes graduated from Basic Training.  That pendant that I am wearing is an Air Force pendant that Wes bought me at graduation.  It matches his Air Force ring.  He wanted us to match.

 I remember moving to our first duty station, Fairchild AFB.  We chose to live on base because Wes was an Airman First Class and our housing allowance was not very high.  We moved next door to two Tech Sergeants and I remember being in awe that they even talked to us.  They ended up being our best friends.  I remember Wes being invited to a birthday party for the son of a guy he worked with.  He was a Staff Sergeant.  Wes was an A1C.  I remember telling our neighbors that we got invited to the party and "the guy is a Staff Sergeant!"  I look back at how silly I was, but how much respect I had for people of higher ranks.  Now Wes is one of those.  Our next door neighbor is a newly retired Colonial.  Our neighbor across the street is a Colonial.  One of our friends is Brigadier General who just retired.  We got to go to his retirement ceremony at the Pentagon and we were honored to be around people of such great importance.  They have all been so nice to us and have mentored us in one way or another.  They have all inspired us to be our best.  Now Wes is becoming one of the guys we've always looked up to.  This Air Force life has been a rewarding journey filled with lots of cool adventures.

Wes was in the shower when promotion results were released.  He had left his phone on vibrate and neither of us heard it.  When he got out of the shower, he saw that he had several missed calls.  He knew what it was about and he was anxious to call back the people he worked with.  When he called, I overheard a guy say, "Congratulations, Wes."  The stress and tension just melted off of Wes' face.  A whole new look of relief came over him.  Wes stood tall and proud for the rest of the day.

Wes' commander called Wes to congratulate him.  That made his day.  He received an e-mail from an old Pro-Super from Fairchild who is now a Senior Master Sergeant.  He looked Wes' e-mail up to congratulate him.  That made him feel really good.

We had an interview with the Volunteer Coordinator at Mary Washington Hospital about volunteering with Topher and Tanker in the hospital.  We really enjoyed talking to her.  We have to attend hospital orientation on July 11th and Wes has to get his TB test done.  We have to take Topher and Tanker up there to have their badges made.  Then we are free to work our dogs at both Mary Washington Hospital and Stafford Hospital.

I treated Wes to a special lunch at Amy's Cafe down by the river.  Located in Historic "Port of Falmouth" in Falmouth, Virginia, Amy's Café resides in an historic three story brick tavern building dating back to the 17th-century. The inviting interior reveals exposed bricks and wood beams.

Historic Falmouth was founded in 1727 as a trading center for the Northern Neck. The Hunter's Iron Works foundry of Falmouth was an objective in the Virginia Campaign of 1781. The Army of the Potomac camped in Falmouth from November 1862 to June 1863, and then moved to Chancellorsville and Gettysburg.

Located only a few feet from the banks of the Rappahannock River under the Falmouth Bridge, Amy's Cafe is a wonderful place to have a peacefully quiet and relaxing meal. You'll want to take a little walk before or after dining to enjoy the river views and other historic dwellings and sites in the immediate vicinity.  (http://www.amyscafefalmouth.com/)

This was a really neat place to have lunch.  The really cool thing about Amy's Cafe is that they are dog friendly.  They allow well behaved dogs to dine in the seating out on the deck.  I really love where we live.  There are so many dog friendly places here.

Wes and I chose to order the crab cake sandwich with sweet potato fries.  We normally wouldn't choose such a fatty meal, but it is one of their famed specials and we just couldn't resist.  It was a day to celebrate.

We could not celebrate Wes' big day without a brainfreeze, so off to Bella Cafe we went for dessert.

I needed some fertilizer for my flower beds, so we went to Wal-Mart next.  I've been wanting to get ferns for my front porch and I was hoping Wal-Mart would have some for cheaper than Lowes or Home Depot did.  The Wal-Mart in Stafford is currently being upgraded to a Super Wal-Mart and their lawn and garden department is not stocked with many plants.  We ended up going to Lowes and Home Depot.  Lowes had ferns on sale for $9.99 a piece, so I picked up four for our front porch.  You have to have ferns on a front porch with rocking chairs.  I also picked up a Daisy Gardenia for $6.00.  I was going to plant it in Blondie's Memorial Garden on the side of our house, but when I got started, I realized that bed is pretty full with bulbs and flowers already.  I decided to pot it in a clay pot and put it on my front porch instead.  It is little and only has one flower right now, but it smells so good!

My mom mailed me some wildflower seeds that she got from her flowers last year.  I planted them in Blondie's Memorial Garden (which I didn't take a picture of).  I also sprinkled fertilizer down in my front flower garden.

We had to move the rocking chairs off the front porch until we can sand them and refinish them.  They are 20 years old and some of the finish is worn off of them.  Now that I will be watering ferns, I don't want to get them wet with the wood exposed.  Wes said it will take a couple of days to refinish them.  They are currently sitting in our basement until we get them done.  We can't wait to sit on our front porch with a glass of iced tea and a good book.  It is very peaceful being surrounded by nature.

All of the ivy and other plants I had growing in the front has been cut back and lime has been put down.  The soil was too acidic and they weren't growing well.  By cutting everything back and applying lime, it should all grow back thicker and fuller.

While we worked in the front, Shiloh and Bella watched through the fence. 

Bella is howling.

At the end of the day, we were exhausted.  We showered and decided to go to bed early.



A day of celebration.  A day of fulfillment.  A day to appreciate the things we've been blessed with.  The perfect day to spend with the one we love most.

Small Steps = Big Success

I am in no rush to get these puppies trained to be therapy dogs.  They are well behaved and I would rather take it slow so that they know everything rather than rush through it all.  We are having fun at the same time.  I feel this is important for my pack structure.  When it becomes all work and no play, the dogs take life too seriously.  As of now, I have four well balanced dogs.  No fighting.  No dominance issues.  No being jealous of each other.  They can't take their therapy dog test until they are a year old anyway, so there is no hurry.

I have been working on sit, wait, and come for the month and a half that we've had the puppies.  I wanted them to be completely proficient at it before moving on.  Tonight was the ultimate test.  I put all four dogs in a sit and a wait.  I put all their food down and didn't release them until I took a picture.  They did really well.  I did have to remind Shiloh and Bella once or twice, and even once picked up the food and started all over, but in the end, they did it.

I am very proud of them.

Topher is shaking his paw really well now.  He knows the word "shake" and will offer me his paw before I put my hand down to grab it.  I started working on "sitting pretty" with the puppies.  They are really good at it, but only with me holding a treat over their nose.  Boomer was excellent at "sit pretty."  (He was our foster dog.)  It's a cute command to teach.  People really ooh and aww over your dog when he can sit pretty.

I also started working on "down" with the puppies.  I have to separate them for this one.  Otherwise they are both trying to get the treat.

Other than that, I did nothing today.  I am exhausted.  I don't know why.  I just am.  I went outside and played with the dogs for a while.  I took some pictures using the macro option on the camera on my phone.  This will be my new obsession.  Not that taking pictures isn't already a passion of mine.  I have taken about 1200 of them on my phone this month.  What can I say?  I love my life and like to document it.

I don't know if this is a mom bug carrying around her baby bug or if these bugs are being intimate with each other.  I hope it's the mom and baby option.  If not, I apologize for taking an X-rated photo.  Either way, they are cool looking bugs.

It was pretty warm outside today.  We played outside anyway.

Tanker cools off by the air conditioner.

Shiloh lays and chews mulch.

Topher plays it cool on the deck.

The puppies always come in and lay on the air conditioner vent.

Shiloh decided she needed to work out her jaw muscles and carried one of my weights around this evening.

Wes went for a HIDA Scan today.  He will find out the results next week.  Tomorrow, we have an interview with the volunteer coordinator at Mary Washington Hospital.  We are excited about that.  Promotion results also come out tomorrow.  Wes is nervous, yet he feels confident.  Regardless if he makes it or not, he will always be the best in my eyes.