Just Dreaming...

Hello! Treasure here! Ellie says that I make really creepy faces when I am dreaming, and she took a video to prove it! What do you think?

I am home!

Hello... Treasure here. I am home from the vet, and everything is ok! The tooth is gone, and I am resting right now. The right side of my face is a little bit swollen, but that should go down within a couple of days!

Thank you all for your support!

Trip to the vet...

Hello... Treasure here. I have to go to the vet on Thursday morning to get a broken tooth removed. I am really not looking forward to it. I would really appreciate your support. Wish me luck!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Silly Snow and Christmas Present Show-and-Tell!

Hello! Treasure here. It has been snowing off-and-on for the past few days. It has mostly all melted away today, though. I am so glad! I really HATE snow. This is a picture of me last year in the snow, just so you can see how horrible it is:

Do you see my disgusted face? Now look at these pictures of the boys in the snow for comparison:

I just don't understand how they think it is fun! Can somedoggy please tell me how snow can be fun?

Anyway... I just wanted to show you a few things we got for Christmas!

I got a brand-new coat! I absolutely LOVE it! I got so excited when I opened it, and figured out what it was! 

The boys were way too busy romping around in what little snow we have left to pose for a picture, but Rocky got the T-Rex, and Amp got the ball! Rocky loves the T-Rex, and he carries it around with him all of the time. He named him "Rex" for short. 

Amp hasn't quite figured out what to do with the ball yet, though... but he loves to carry stuff around with him when he gets the zoomies, so we will try to get him to run around with it and take a video!

We also got a couple of yummy bully sticks each, and a new kong toy each. What an awesome Christmas!

What did YOU get for Christmas?

Random pictures of us!

Hello all! Treasure here. Things have still been pretty hectic here lately. Ellie is getting so busy with her  grooming business that she had to stop teaching dog training classes! She even took on a grooming apprentice! She is kind of disappointed about the training classes, but she says that she can still teach us new things at home for practice, and to have some fun.

She wants to be able to help me post more often here, and she says she will see what she can do. In the meantime, here are some random pictures of us!

Here we are posing nicely for the camera-machine on a log at a campground!

Ellie wants me to tell you to pay no attention to the state of the grass... look at Amp's face instead! :)

 Here is Rocky waiting patiently for Ellie to move the toy so he can chase it!

The boys!

...aaaaaand me.

What We Do When Home Alone...

We finally got a new camera-machine and a new computer that can handle video! 

This is the first time that Ellie has taken video of us while nobody is home. This is the first video we have ever edited, so go easy on us! :)

By providing your dog with something to do while you are gone, you can prevent boredom and mild separation anxiety problems. A bored dog will find something to keep themselves entertained... and it's not always something that humans approve of.

Do you want to know how you get a dog to stop digging up the yard?

Give us an appropriate place to dig! Instead of suppressing the behavior, let us dig to our heart's content in a digging approved area! Sandboxes work great for this!

Here is a video of Rocky and Amp to demonstrate... with a guest commentary by yours truly. ;)

(Please ignore the human commentary. They don't know what they are talking about.)

If we have an appropriate outlet to get our energy out, we are usually much better behaved!

If your dog had an online dating profile...

...what would it say? 

Here is one for Treasure:



Screen name: Mamasgrrrl07
Age: 5 years
Breed: Dachshund
Hair color: Red Dapple/Piebald
Eye Color: Blue
Body Type: Average
Status: Spayed

Hey boys! My name is Treasure. I am a fiery little redhead dachshund with a passion for blankets. If there is a blanket on the floor or couch, you can almost always find me under it. I just loooove being warm. So if you are looking for a cuddle under a nice, warm blanket... I'm your gal! Some of my other interests include: trick training, staring out open windows, long walks by the canal, playing with kong toys, eating raw meat, and rolling in worms! I also love puppies, and will adopt any little abandoned pup I see! I have three adopted chihuahua children, that have all found great homes! So, if you like blankets, worms, and puppies... and think you can keep up with me... send me a message!

Puppy Pictures of Me!

As requested, here are some puppy pictures of me! These are from when I was about 4 months old!

Training at the Park and Fun Outing!

Hello! Treasure here. I want to tell you about what we did yesterday. Ellie says that it is really important to train us doggies in a variety of different settings. Just because we know how to 'sit' in the living room does not necessarily mean that we know how to 'sit' outside. In her training classes, the human students used to tell her all the time, "But, Max can do this (sit, down, stay, etc.) at home! I think he's just being stubborn and ignoring me." What most likely happened is that they didn't train Max in different environments, so he was either distracted, or he didn't know that 'sit' means 'sit' and 'down' means 'down' wherever or whenever they are. Training us doggies in a variety of different settings and places will help us to know how to do these things anywhere and anytime!

So, to help us with this, we went to the park across the street from our house to practice! It is important when doing this for the first time, that your human chooses an area that is not very distracting... like your backyard, or maybe a different room in the house that you don't normally train in. If you are used to training in your living room, then you suddenly go to a very crowded pet store, it will be much too distracting for you and your human, and you won't be able to focus very well! You should slowly add in the distractions one at a time to set both of you up for success, and so you don't get frustrated!

There were a couple of human adults, and a few human children at the other end of the park yesterday. We chose the most distant corner from them, so we could still hear them, but they weren't so close that we would be too distracted.

(Please forgive the picture quality! We didn't have our good picture-machine with us yesterday!)

When training somewhere new to you, you should always start with things you already know how to do very well. Start with the simple things, so that you can get used to the new environment while you do things that are very easy for you. Also, if you know how to 'stay' for 30 seconds at home, maybe do it for only 10 seconds in the new environment, and work up from there. Set yourselves up for success! Succeeding builds confidence!


Check out how focused Rocky is on Ellie's face! He is learning to ignore distractions!

High-five:

Devin even took a turn with me. Ellie wants us to be able to listen to Devin as well as we listen to her. So it is important for us to work with him so that we get used to it! This is Devin asking me to do a 'twirl', which is a circle in a counter-clockwise direction. My ears look funny!

This is me focusing on what he wants me to do next (actually, I am focusing on the treat in his hand... shhhhhhh!):

We got a couple of nice rewards after our training session! The first one was more for the boys. They got to play with the fox on a stick at the park. I don't understand why they like chasing that thing so much! (Amp is on a long-line, because he likes to wander off sometimes even when playing with the fox. This makes him easier to catch!)

The next was an outing with our humans! Ellie later told me that this was part of our training too... to get us used to going different places and seeing new things.

Ellie says that going different places like this is good for our mentals. Also, it is part of something she calls "socialization", which is something she feels needs to be done throughout our whole lives so we don't forget!

We had such a fun day! I hope we can do it again soon!


Dog-training blooper: (supposed to be a high-five)

Wordless Wednesday!

What the vet said...

Hello, Treasure here. Last week, I went to the vet because of a broken tooth. Well, I am here to report that the tooth has to come out! Oh no! The vet said that it doesn't have to be done right away, but it would be best to do it soon. He said that the "pulp" is exposed, and that means that it is really easy for yucky bacteria to get into the roots and gums. Ewwwwww! I am really not looking forward to having the tooth pulled out. I'm pretty attached to it, you see...

In other news, the vet said that he likes the raw diet I have been eating, and that I seem very healthy. That's good! He also noticed that my eyes look a little bit... different. Ellie has been saying that since I was a very small puppy! He rushed into the back room and brought a book all about doggie eyes and different things that can be wrong with them. He showed us a picture that looks a lot like my eyes. Ellie doesn't remember what he said it was... something about the iris being deformed, and "fixed" in one place, so that my pupils don't expand and contract as easily as most doggie eyes. He was really excited about the discovery, because he loves looking at different types of eyes. He even tried to take pictures of them, but he didn't have a very good picture machine, and the lighting was bad in the room. So, he requested that we email some pictures to him. Ellie tried a few times to get good pictures, but in the end, she had to find some old pictures. They aren't the clearest, but hopefully you can see enough to notice that my eyes are different.

Well, Ellie let the vet know that I am really sensitive to sunlight. I'm always squinting in bright light. After the vet heard this, he recommended that I get some doggles to protect my eyes! I don't have them yet, but Ellie is going to get me a pair sometime soon. We will be sure to take pictures!

Wordless Wednesday: Homemade Treat Dispenser

Broken Tooth = Bad Day

Hello... Treasure here. Ellie noticed last night that my breath was smelling a bit... different. So she checked the inside of my mouth. I am pretty used to this, because she checks my mouth at least a few times a month. Usually more. Well, I am sad to report that one of my teeth is broken! There's some yucky tarter stuff built up on that side because I'm not using it as much to chew my food. I am on a raw diet, you see, so my teeth are usually in tip-top shape. Just so everybody knows... if you do the raw diet correctly, it does NOT cause broken teeth. Ellie says that this was just a freak accident. She didn't notice it right away because I'm not acting like I am in any pain. Here are pictures of both sides of my mouth to compare:

So now I have to go to the V-E-T. Ellie says that he is going to look at my teeth and make me feel better. I hardly ever have to go to the V-E-T to be checked out, because I am a very healthy dog due to my raw diet. I have only been twice before in my 5 years of life. Once for my puppy check-up, and the other to get spayed. (whatever that means) But, I have been to the office a few times before without getting checked out, so that I can get used to being there. It's not so bad... but I would much rather stay home. Oh well.

Taking Turns!

Hello! Treasure speaking! Tonight in our training session, we started learning a better way of taking turns! It is important for use to learn how to take turns really well so that we don't get into fights over the treats, and so that we don't distract the working dog while they are learning something new! It was difficult for us to just stay on the couch because it was such a big space, and we were confused as to where each of us were supposed to be. So, Ellie thought that maybe it would be more clear to us if she gave each of us an assigned bed to stay on while the working dog is training. Here are some pictures of our progress! We look kind of sad in these pictures, but we are really not! (Ellie says please don't mind the clutter in the background!)

Wordless Wednesday

It's been a long time!

Hello everybody! It has been a really long time since I have posted anything! Ellie and I have been really busy dog training, grooming, and just generally having a good old time! There is one other thing that has been keeping us really busy. I have a new family! That's right... Ellie met a wonderful man human and got married!

Doesn't she look so happy? My new human's name is Devin, and he is a dog lover. In fact, I have two new dog brothers... Rocky and Amp! I struggled a little bit at first, but Ellie introduced us to each other slowly, and on neutral territory to make it easier for us. Now I love to play with both of them!

    

                                                                                                     

This is Amp. He is mostly long-haired dachshund, but he has a teeny tiny bit of chihuahua in him. He is about a year old, and he's full of energy! He reminds me of me when I was that age. Ellie says that he might make a good canine freestyle partner, because he has good focus on her, and tries to stay by her left leg while training... even though she has not taught him how to heel yet. He didn't really know much of anything before he met Ellie, but now he knows sit, down, stay, wait, recall, leave it, twirl (counter-clockwise circle), spin (clockwise circle), hand targeting, over (jump over legs), through (go under legs), and is working on loose leash walking. He is also learning how to chew on appropriate items, rather than pens, cardboard, plastic, and shoes. He is really good at getting me to play with him. Before I moved here, I had a hard time being in the mood to play... but Amp is an expert at inviting me to have a good romp. Ellie says I have started to act like a puppy again!

This is Rocky. He is a beagle mix of some sort. If any of you have any good guesses as to what else he might be, we would love to see them! He is about four years old, and has tons and tons of energy! Two long walks a day doesn't even come close to tiring this guy out! His excess energy comes out in anxiety, which causes Ellie some trouble getting him to focus while training. She has been trying to work on confidence building exercises with him with clicker training, and seems to have made a little bit of progress. Ellie wants to turn him into a frisbee dog, because he catches things really well! Although, he seemed to be a little bit afraid of the frisbee when she introduced it to him a couple of days ago. She'll work on it though, and get him to really like catching it! Before he met Ellie, he knew how to sit and lay down, but that's about it. Now he knows leave it, recall with very low distractions, stay, twirl, hand-targeting, watch me, shake, high five, roll over, over, and wait. Now he is working on loose-leash walking. He used to pull really really bad. So bad that Devin would have to wrap the leash around his hand several times to even keep a grip on it. Now he only pulls occasionally, and he will stop as soon as he realizes that he is doing it. Major improvement! He has a really hard time focusing, and will sometimes just wander away right in the middle of a training session... even with high-value treats, and his favorite toys as rewards. He is getting better, though.

Edit: Here are some more pictures for your viewing pleasure:

I will try to post updates on all of our progress with training! I would love to hear from you all!