Life Saver

With this new "post surgery" body, there are some things I'm learning I have to do in a different way. For example, I have to bend at the knees to get something off the floor, rather than bending at the waist. Putting on lace-up shoes is a bit tricky, but I'm getting better.

I was worried about taking care of Biscuit- not being able to pick him up, play with him, etc. Luckily he is a good leash walker (this from a dog who 6 months ago wouldn't walk at all!) so that's taken care of. But I can bend down to pick up toys and throw them.

But, I have this:

It's called a "chuck-it" and it is a life saver! It's kind of like a slingshot for a tennis ball. You can pick up a tennis ball without bending over (also nice bc then you don't have to touch a slobbery ball) and "chuck" it. It goes soooo far!! Biscuit loves it and every time I even look at the chuck-it he gets excited.

We have been playing in the back yard a lot and having tons of fun. It's also good because it wears him out without wearing me out. Once I trust him a little better, we can go to the park where there is more room and I can really launch the ball. Until then, the fenced backyard will do :)

I love how happy he is! This dog is the greatest EVER

Biscuit's graduation!

When I first got Biscuit, I knew he would need some sort of training. Since I've helped my mom a bunch with her dogs, I consider myself pretty well informed but some more information never hurt. Plus, I wanted Biscuit to meet and socialize with other dogs. So I signed up for a dog training class at PetSmart.

It was a pretty interesting class, mostly because it was me and Biscuit and some old hippy dude named Chuck and his dog Roscoe. But it did help Biscuit become more socialized. I want to take the class again (you can re-take it for free) but won't be able to this summer with my surgery. Maybe we'll try again in the fall to see if Biscuit can learn any more tricks. Right now he can "sit" and "wait" but that's about it.

But here is a picture from his "graduation" from dog school:
Isn't he so cute? I love how he's smiling for the camera. Happy Graduation Biscuit!

Everything I need to know...

Ever heard the expression "everything I need to know, I learned in Kindergarten" ?? Well today I realized the same is true if you change it around a little bit to say "anything you do is like teaching Kindergarten."

Biscuit had his 2nd dog training class tonight. We're taking the class at Petsmart that is designed for dogs over a year old, but who have had no formal training. The first night, he was the only one who didn't poop on the floor. Success! Tonight's lesson was about sitting, and he didn't do so well. We have a lot of practice ahead of us this week.

But all night long, the instructor was talking about how it's not a bad thing to "bribe" the dogs by using treats. He talked about using positive reinforcement to get them to learn good behaviors. Taking away temptations to avoid bad behaviors. Basically, everything I learned last year in my first year of teaching Kindergarten. I was laughing quietly to myself when finally the instructor asked me why I was laughing. I explained that it seems to me that training a dog is really no different than training a 5 year old.

It takes a lot of work and a lot of patience. It also takes learning what motivates your student (person or dog). Biscuit doesn't really like treats, so I've got to find something else to entice him. Last year I had a student who had horrible behavior and didn't really seem to be motivated by anything other than the computer. So guess what? We used computer time as a reward for positive behavior. And it worked! It's all about finding what works for each kid (or dog!) and putting that to practice.

At the end of the day, my kids are exhausted from working so hard. And so is Biscuit:

Seriously, could he be more precious? My kids do a similar thing at about 2:30 every day.

Latest home purchase

Since I knew I was getting Biscuit (formerly know as Chip), I knew I would need to spruce up my home cleaning closet. I had a broom, Swiffer, and a few cleaning products. But anyone who has a dog that spends any time inside knows, that would not be enough. So I headed to my favorite place in the world to see what I could find.It's a little hard to see in the picture, but this is the Libman Freedom Spray mop. It is the coolest thing! You fill the reservoir with whatever cleaning product you would like (mine has regular Pine-Sol and water), then the trigger sprays it directly on the floor. It's like a Swiffer wet jet, but the pad is removable, reusable and washable AND you get to use whatever cleaner you want. So fun! I know, I sound like a total weird-o raving about this spray mop. But seriously, it is so easy to use and gets the job done.

This leads me back to sweet little Biscuit. I woke up at 5:30 this morning and was trying to go back to sleep when I was thinking "do I smell dog poo?" YUP. A bark and a few minutes later, I stumble downstairs to see that Biscuit has gotten himself out of his crate and pooped all over the place. I was sort of relieved because he hadn't pooped since he had gotten home and I was a little worried. But then that feeling was soon overtaken with a "what the f! how do I clean up all this poop?" feeling. Luckily I just whipped out my Libman spray mop and all is well! And I'm prepared for the next time. In the time being, Biscuit's crate has now been wired shut so he can't escape :)

**disclaimer: I was not contacted/compensated in anyway by Libman for this review