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The fireplace is scary!!!

My parents frequently have a fire in the fireplace at their house. Dylan has never had a problem. I also had a gas fireplace at my old duplex. We used it often to heat up our basement. Dylan never thought it was scary.

Last winter, Dylan was scared of Paul's fireplace. For some reason fire inside of Paul's house is scary when it's not anywhere else. Dylan is an experienced camper and never had any issues with the campfire either.

Last winter we'd do some clicker training and eventually I got him retrieving a ball off the hearth when there was a fire going. He'd do okay as long as I didn't let him shut down too much before doing some c/t with him for working near the fire.

Last night we went to Paul's after fire. I was thrilled to see the fire crackling when we arrived. Dylan, however, was not happy. He decided that it was safest to hide under the dining room table as far away from the fire place as possible. I decided it was time to get the clicker out again. We used our homemade target stick to help Dylan gain some confidence around the fire. Dylan doesn't quite understand that he is supposed to touch the green end. I haven't been that picky when I used it in the past. As long as he touches the stick, he gets a click and a treat! It wasn't long before he was leaning over the hearth to touch the stick - right near the crackling fire. The rest of the evening, his tail was wagging! He avoids going too close to the fire but at least he isn't hiding! Guess we'll be working on this again this winter! Hopefully one of these days he will realize that the fireplace really isn't scary!!

We had fun!

Marley wants everyone to know how much fun she had at Tanner Park yesterday. We went with our TipTail friend and got to make some new friends from Resqtails too. Marley chased and played with muffit and was a super happy girl. We were happy to have Paul and Leon join us too!! I didn't get many good pics. It's hard to get good pics of dogs that are moving. But here are a few:


Some of our new sheltie friends:
Leon is such a happy boy!!

Twist and Zoe want treats!!!

It's not his leg...

I finally had Dylan in to have his leg checked for the second time. Turns out it is not his leg; but rather his right side of his body. Thermal imaging showed he has hot spots on his right shoulder and right hip. The Chiropractic treatment showed his sternum is pulling to one side. My vet said the muscles are tight and inflamed. Hopefully getting his spine back into alignment will help and I'll also be doing some new stretches with him to stretch out his spine. I love having a vet who is in tune with this stuff and understands the needs of a flyball dog! A regular vet was crazy if I had gone in and said I think there is something wrong with his leg but I'm not really sure!

He's been having a few issues with his box turn at practice. My new flyball club has a new and different training prop than he is used to. He's been turning really wide and doing some funky stuff when he gets up on that box. So my vet ordered that he not use it for a while - at least until we see if that helps him get better. He is fine without the training prop and does a great box turn consistently when it's not there so we might as well not use it. We can't race with a prop there anyway!

The Flyball Box is fun!!

Last Night we got together with our Friends Chase, Muffit, and Cynthia to do some work on the flyball box. They came to our house this time and it's great that they did. I cleaned all the walnuts but more fell during the day yesterday so we found a small patch of grass that was mostly clean of walnuts to work on.

I stole this pic of Muffit because I think he is so cute. I hope my friend doesn't care! He's a typical frantic border collie who at 5 years old had had no training. This is pretty normal for a border collie who doesn't get to work. Or at least that's been my experience. That's why it so important that people that get this breed - understand their need for work and mental stimulation.

All the new sights and sounds at our house were very distracting for him. I'm really glad he came over there though because he did really well. He had to take a few minutes to focus then go off and check things out. He also did some VERY nice box turns when he was there.

Dylan, Chase, and even Marley got to do some box work too! I was most impressed with Spicey Love Muffit though! He is coming along so well and I hope they know they are invited to come back and use my distracting yard anytime they want too!!

Time to see the vet!

I'm happy to say that we made it through the whole month of September without going to the vet! It's a miracle and I am nearly positive it's the first month this year that I have not been in a vets office with one of my dogs!

We are going in this afternoon though but at least it's October now. Dylan's going for a Chiropractic. They are having a special today and I have been wanting to take him in because he has been limping a little bit off and on.

So I get to take off from work early and take Dylan in to see the vet. I'm happy he is going in even though it's been a week and a half or so since I have noticed him limping!

Happy Dogs!

Just found this pic again and had to post it. Reminds me of last summer when I had Zip!!!

Are they tennis balls? Or Walnuts?

I have a huge walnut tree in my backyard. It makes for a decent shade tree but it also is a huge pain when it comes time to clean the yard of leaves and walnuts. It

drips sticky stuff all summer and so anything in the yard tends to be sticky. It drops literally thousands of walnuts in the fall. Luckily it only produces nuts every other year.

I tried to clean some of the walnuts up this evening. They were falling even as I as picking them up! It seems impossible to pick up all the crappy walnuts. I was worried that they were going to hit me in the head and knock me out!

Marley, however, keeps me quite entertained. She seems to believe that whenever a walnut falls - it may be a tennis ball. As soon as she hears one fall - she runs over and pounces on it. She seems disappointed to find out that it's simply another walnut. There's already a thousand on the grass (well maybe 500 now that I did some work out there). It must really be disappointing to her that it's not actually raining tennis balls. Dylan is of course, just scared of the walnuts when they fall. He really is afraid of anything that moves!

When I first bought this house, there were 5000 walnuts. It looked like they hadn't been cleaned up in years. Now that I am through my first 2 years of owning this place, I realize that the walnut tree is just so big that it drops 5000 walnuts in the fall. I have the joy of getting down on my hands and knees to try to clean them up. They get buried in the lawn so I have to literally pat it down to make sure they are all picked up. Of course, there are already more falling so I am not sure what good all this work does. I'll have to do it again next week and the week after that. Oh and I only got about a 1/4 of the yard done anyway. I hope that 1/4 stays somewhat clean so we can do some box work out there tomorrow. We are expecting some of our friends from Tip Tail to come and do some training tomorrow evening!

Sometimes I miss being a renter. I never realized how much work it was to own a house. Now I own two and man do I hate doing yardwork. Maybe next year I will be able to afford to hire someone to do it. That's probably wishful thinking though!

WW Poor Pathetic Dylan.

He'd like everyone to believe he is deprived.

Taking it off Together Tuesday

I did great at the beginning of the week but then the lasagna happened. I lost all focus at the end of the week but pulled it together on the weekend. I ended up pulling a -2.4 lb loss. That's still more than I was two weeks ago. So hopefully this week will go a bit better. I've not been feeling well and I actually drank my first soda in two months. My hope is that the Ginger Ale will help calm my upset stomach - even though it's full of junk and empty calories. I think I may have caught a stomach bug from my nephew. At least I am not feeling like eating crappy greasy food right now!



This week our contest is sponsored by Clara who writes the Coming Back to Life! She is offering a hand made tote as a prize this week! Here is a picture! Oh it is SOOO cute and perfect for fall!



The names of this week's "losers" were dropped into a coffee cup and this week's WINNER is Julie!

Congrats to Grace for being this week's biggest loser of 3.2 pounds!! Be sure to cruise over to her blog and congratulate her!

Chris - 2 LOSS
Tammy - 1 LOSS
Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - no report
Grace - 3.2 LOSS
Leigh - 2.5 GAIN
Clara - 2.5 GAIN
Dette - 1.0 GAIN
Julie - 0.6 LOSS
Cheryl - NO CHANGE
Audrey - no report
Christy - 2.4 LOSS
Tina - 1.4 GAIN
Danielle - NO CHANGE
Jessie - NO CHANGE
Steph - no report

And welcome back CYN who is reporting no change this week.

This week's total - 0.8 LOSS!

My blog is moving.

My blog is moving...It will take a few days but it will soon be My Spoiled Mutts. Thanks so much to my friend Cynthia for helping set it up!! I'm excited to have my own site soon! Keep watching! I may still post on this blog until the other is up and running.

The nicest guy...

I had a rough morning today. I woke up with miserable allergies that didn't go away until I got to work. When I arrived here, I realized I left my lunch and dinner sitting on the kitchen counter. I have to work a long day on Mondays I pack two meals with me. Money is tight so I didn't want to go out to eat. I also didn't want my dogs to think it was okay to feast on my roasted food.

To make matters worse, I lost a bunch of data on my computer and was freaking out all morning. Stuff that could totally screw up my work life for a good couple of weeks until I restored it all.

Paul was going to pick D&M up for the day since I have to work both jobs. I asked him to stick my lunch in the fridge so at least it wouldn't be ruined. He was nice enough to bring it across town to me at work! And he brought my princess Marley with him (and Sage and Leon too). So I got lunch, I got to see Paul, and got some loves from the puppies! It was so incredibly nice of him to drive so far. He brought the dogs so he could walk them at the Dimple Dell Gulch that's not too far from my work here.

Ohhh and when I got back from visiting with Paul and the dogs, someone had restored all my lost data. All in all, the day has gotten a lot better than the way it started. I'm so lucky to have met such a nice guy who is willing to go out of his way to help me - even without being asked.

Eating Healthy

I've been trying, when possible, to make some healthy meals. I'm a horrible cook and I usually end up eating something that doesn't taste very good as a result of my attempt to cook something healthy.

I love veggies and I was a vegetarian until about a year and a half ago. So veggies are a good easy and healthy thing for me to eat. I mostly eat them raw because I don't know how to cook them.

I got this recipe from Chris but I improvised. I didn't add any peppers and I added portabello mushrooms and yellow squash and carrots and tomatoes. Oh and some whole garlic cloves too. The recipe called for salt and pepper but I don't like pepper much and I am trying to cut down on sodium so I used garlic powder instead. My house stinks but it tasted yummy so it's worth it.

Oh, and D&M always eat healthy. It's sooo easy for me to deny them the yummy treats that people offer. Yet I can't turn them down when yummy treats are offered to me. I wish someone made all my decisions on what I could eat. It really isn't difficult to keep a dog at a decent weight if you just make wise choices for them. Healthy food and small but healthful treats for training and reward is all it really takes. Exercise is good too!!

I really love raw feeding these two. It's good for them and my vet insists on it. They get some healthy kibble too since I work for a pet food company. They usually eat it in the morning for breakfast though. It's about time I start feeding some chicken now that it is cooling down. That will be nice since it's a bit cheaper than beef. My friend got some raw green tripe and she said her dogs love it. I may have to buy some one of these days but I can't handle feeding it.

Glad we all had a healthy and yummy dinner. Tomorrow is a weigh in day and I haven't had a great week so hopefully the low calorie dinner tonight will help a bit.

Relaxation Time

Dylan and I attended a Relaxation class yesterday at Four Legged Scholars yesterday. It was a really interesting course that talked about using Tie Downs to teach a dog to relax. Johanna also did a guided meditation with the people and their dogs!

During our guided meditation Dylan told me that he would like to play more flyball and that he wants me to pay more attention to him when we are just hanging around at home. He also would like me to get the living room cleaned so that we have more space to play in there.

So today I am trying to get motivated to clean. Well, I was working on paying bills etc, but now I am procrastinating by blogging. I really hate how messy my house is but I also hate cleaning!!

Icky Rash!!!

I think I may have had an allergic reaction to something I ate last night. When I got home from survivor night; I had been itching for a couple of hours. I noticed that I had red bumps all over my skin.

I don't think it was the dogs. The rash was mostly covered by clothing. I did have a dog in my lap for a while but I don't usually get a rash from dog allergies (yes I am allergic to my own babies)!

I didn't eat anything really abnormal last night. I did have some yummy fruit salad, Lasagna, Garlic Bread, and homemade Hummus. There were plums in the fruit salad and I haven't really eaten many plums in the past. I also wonder if there might have been something in the hummus?

I've also been taking a Pycnogenol Supplement to see if it will help with my allergies. I have only been taking it a few days now so I wonder if it could be an allergic reaction to that too.

I took a benadryl late last night. Man did that make it hard to get up this morning! I woke up and still had a rash everywhere. I am sitting here at work and trying not to scratch it. Whatever it is, I hope it goes away soon!!

Survivor is back!

My friends and I have been getting together to watch Survivor for years now. At first, I thought it kind of dorky. I'm not a big TV watcher and getting together for a reality show seemed a bit odd. But over the years I have come to appreciate the show and of course, the good company.

My friend has Tivo so we spend a lot of time pausing and chatting. We talk lots about dogs because he's a dog lover too. Sometimes D&M get to come with me but for the most part I leave them home. Dylan gets a little frustrated with so many dogs around and we have to keep my two baby gated into the TV room because my friend has a Blue and Gold Macaw that I can't trust them around.

Tonight the Survivor Season starts! We are getting together as usual but having good yummy homemade lasagna! I've been eating healthy all week so I can eat some lasagna tonight!! Should be lots of fun!! I enjoy having a free activity that encourages my friends and I to get together. When the survivor season ends, I feel like I don't see them enough because I can't afford to call them up and invite them to go out somewhere!!

Marley is the best medicine!

Marley is the best medicine!

We went on our scheduled therapy visit last night. Sometimes I forget how much impact a visit from a dog can have on people.

Last night we visited the same Alzheimer's patients. Many of these are the same patients we have visited for a year. I've been frustrated thinking our recreation therapist didn't really understand our purpose there. Last night, however, was different.

We had been making our usual rounds when we found a few people in the dining room. We went in and Marley and I went from one person to the next to say hello while she let people love on her. Marley likes to perform her tricks for people and the rec therapist kept telling everyone that Marley would do some tricks. She set the people's chairs up in a small circle around Marley and I. Marley did some sit ups, high 5's, and spins, and twirls, and all that. When I asked her to roll over, she did her very distinctive plop down and roll over! One woman started laughing and laughing. It was if she thought it was the funniest thing she had ever seen.

We've seen this woman before and she never speaks. She does always want to pet and visit with Marley and she's always with her roommate who appears to be her best friend. Last night, she separated herself. We visited and she made enough words for me to understand her questions about Marley. She laughed and smiled and grinned when Marley did tricks for her. She loved on her and Marley was a princess and loved every moment. Our rec therapist was amazed that this woman was laughing. In all the time she had been there, she had never heard her laugh. So we stayed and visited as long as Marley seemed comfortable. When it got time for us to leave, the woman commented that Marley seemed tired. In truth, Marley was fine, but it was a good time to leave.

Our rec therapist now wants to make a special effort to visit this particular patient. I think she now has a better understanding of the impact Marley can have on people. If my girl can provide a source of laughter, Marley really is the best medicine. We'll have a camera with us next visit so the rec therapist can take some pictures to put in People's rooms. I'm not allowed to take pictures of my baby girl when she's working but the facility sees some value in taking some pictures to put up in people's rooms to remind them of the dog that comes there to visit.

Marley is my very special girl. She has a way to know who is going to benefit from her love and affection. She's always happy to do some tricks and her Roll Over is the funniest thing I have ever seen! It takes a special dog to be a good therapy dog and Marley has proven herself to be wonderful at her job. She may never be the athlete and character the Dylan is. He tends to get a lot of attention when we are out and about. He's a strikingly handsome boy with a lot of personality. Sometimes I think he overshadows my little girl most of the time. Marley, however, proves time and time again that she's a wonderful little girl who has the ability to impact people in a very special way. Marley really is the best medicine!

WW -Dylan and the giant zucchini I found in the garden

Taking it off together Tuesday!

I didn't do so well this week! Actually, I did really poorly. I gained 3.2 lbs. I figure most of that is from eating food that can be delivered all week while I was painting. I ate pizza like 5 times!! It was yummy but it wasn't the healthiest of options. I was too busy to worry about making healthy meals and I wanted to feed everyone that came out to help me. I did eat burgers one day and chinese another. That was all during the week! Then the weekend came! And I had known that I had eated crappy all week and I used that to justify poor choices on the weekend! Godiva Chocolate cheesecake from the cheesecake factory was SOO good but didn't contribute to my goal of eating healthier! It was worth it though! I also ate out at chili's and some fast food too! Man I need to get refocused this week!

Last week we continued the contest where everyone who reported a LOSS had their name added to a drawing for a lot of 100 Mary Kay samples! The names of this week's "losers" were dropped into a coffee cup and this week's WINNER is Danielle!

This week our contest is sponsored by Ciara who writes the Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog! She is offering a hand made bracelet as a prize this week!

And check it out! We had an over all loss again this week (barely, but it's still a loss)! Congrats to Clara for being this week's biggest loser of 2.5 pounds!! Be sure to cruise over to her blog and congratulate her!

Chris - 1 loss
Tammy - 1 gain
Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - 1 loss
Grace - 2.2 gain
Leigh - 1 gain
Clara - 2.5 loss
Dette - no change
Julie - 1.4 gain
Cheryl - no report
Audrey - 2.4 loss
Christy - 3.2 gain
Tina - no report
Danielle - 2 loss
Jessie - no change
Steph - no report

This week's total - 0.1 LOSS!

We hate the bath!

Dylan despises the bathtub! He won't even come into the bathroom if I am in there getting ready! Marley is getting more and more used to it since

she has to have a bath every 2 weeks before her therapy visit. Last night was bath night and Dylan hasn't had one in a few months so I decided he needed one too. He was sure unhappy about it!

Marley has learned to do 2 shakes behind the shower curtain before she gets out. She's a pretty good girl but I can't get Dylan to shake and towel drying a dog doesn't really work well! So as soon as he jumped out of the tub he was shaking and flinging water everywhere!

I'm allergic to dogs oddly enough so having wet dog smell all over my tiny house isn't the best plan. We survived though and I even slept next to two damp dogs. Oh the joys of dog ownership! I can't bear to kick them out of my bed for the night and I didn't have time to bathe them early enough that they would actually dry before bedtime!

At least they are clean! I love soft clean dogs!!! Marley will have her therapy visit tonight and she will be all clean for the people to pet her! Dylan will smell better and will be more fun to cuddle with. That only usually lasts a couple of days around my house because I am sure the two of them will be out splashing in mud and water sometime in the very near future! Guess that it's just part of living with a two dogs!