Day 11: The "Meet-Cute" (9/21/13)

Miss Dyl was back at outdoor class on Saturday, and got to go right to class rather than having to walk a half hour worth of laps before starting.  The trainers decided to just throw her into the fire and see how things went.

They went ok.  The first 20 minutes or so, we could no even get her attention - she so badly wanted to meet the other dogs.  Eventually, we were able to get her to focus on us (sometimes) and sit.  By the middle of class, she was allowed to "meet" March, one of the trainer dogs.  She did well with it - they smelled each other, but didn't seem to care too much either way about the meeting.  This was apparently good news, and now the trainers know she's not trying to eat the other dogs.

This was the first time she was really allowed to participate in class, so we were thrilled.  Things were still pretty messy - she still had a hard time focusing consistently, but she was able to take a few treats eventually.  By the end of class, she was consistently sitting while in a circle of other dogs.  Great news all around.  We'll see how tonight's "socialization" class goes.

Day 4: Dyl's First Day of School Take 2 (9/14/13)

Yesterday was a big day for the girls. Dylan had her first outside class, and Nala got to learn some new moves on her walk.

We arrived early to class and one of the trainers came to meet us.  He asked that we didn't get too close to the class so as not to upset the other students, so we practiced a leash technique with her for about an hour. It was slow learning, but she really started to get it near the end!!

Similar to our first day, she wasn't fully invited to join the class. Her peers were so smart! Sitting and rolling over with 15 strange dogs around?! We can't wait until she's at that point. She did get to sit and observe class, and she did ok. Fewer monkey sounds, more excited whining. Once she calmed down, we also got her to work on sitting and focusing while dogs walked on either side of us. HUGE progress from Monday.

We even got invited to join the pack walk at the end of class (and at the back of the line)!! She did ok...but she lost all of her leash manners when she had to be last in the pack.

We also learned about 2 helpful products that we picked up after class: a martingale collar and a kong. Dylan loves her Kong. She hates the collar.

Miss Nala also had a big day. She learned the focus cue (which was big since she's what you might call an old dog) and had a great walk on a loose leash!

They both enjoyed a long rest with their new Kongs, and mom and dad took a long nap, and had a.nice date. Training is hard!

Back for more: The Chronicles of Dylan

Anyone who actually reads this mess is caught up on my life since 2008, so the only purpose of this post is to begin a real-time log of training our newest little turkey, Dylan. 

She's the new sister that we just rescued for our original pup, Nala.

Obviously, we have a type: small, female, brindle pit mixes with white necks and bossy personalities.  Since Nala is 4, and actually pretty well behaved, we thought adding the new gal would be fairly easy.  It wasn't, and they had a few squabbles.  So, we put little Dyl in training class.  So begins my log of her training and Nala's adjustment to her new sister.  I'm hoping that we can look back on our progress whenever we get discouraged, and feel better about where we once were.

Day1:  Dyl's Assessment and First Day of School (9/11/13)

We walked Dyl over to class, and she did ok on her leash until we got to downtown Kirkwood.  She became very distracted by all of the people and dogs.  We walked her over to the trainer, and she was sweet to him, but then a dog walked by and she started making her "monkey sounds" which are a combination of a whine, a bark and a gargle.  Good tricks, Dyl.  We walked her around the park, and learned how to walk her properly and keep her from pulling as much.  We walked by a few dogs and she pulled and whined.  Needless to say, she was not invited to indoor class, so I suppose the title is a misnomer.

We were invited to outdoor class on Saturday to further assess her.  He also suggested that she spend more time in her crate, which is a relief honestly.  That means we don't have to constantly monitor the girls when they are inside, and we can make every interaction a good one (good play time outside, good walks together when we can, and only let them play together when Nala "invites" Dylan).

Nala doesn't seem to mind having Dylan in the crate either.  She likes getting more of our attention again, especially since we're training her too.  She's learning to walk on a loose leash and generally be more attentive to our commands (sit/stay/focus/you can't sleep in bed with us anymore, sorry). 

So there's day 1.  Here's hoping things improve by day 30!

the real world:midtown

first off, i am quite thankful that MTV has not in fact decided to tape that show that i love/hate so dearly in the town i now call home

second off, yes. i moved. i am no longer an inhabitant of athens and i no longer breed squid. i have moved to the city of atlanta right at the corner of and i quote: "gay and gay". additionally, i got a job as a "consultant". i know, how ambiguous, right? it's cool. you can further specify it with my title within the "consulting" firm: associate. WHAT IS THAT??? i'm still figuring all of that out, dont worry, i'll update you as i learn. for now, whats important is that my readership has likely tripled as at least 4 of my fellow "consultants" now read this blog.

on to more important things. i miss mason and kitti. there is a nice kitti that lives behind me that is kind of stray/kind of belongs to my neighborlady. not sure the relationship there, but hes called gimpkitti. anyway, we play sometimes, but he's entirely too fat to come inside my house, so it's kind of an open relationship. not because he is fat. it's an open relationship cause he's not really mine. we just play sometimes.

i was thinking about getting another kitti of my own. i think that might solve my problems, but apparently "consultants" travel, and its hard to have a pet since i have no roommates. which furthers my problem. the reason i need a pet is that when im alone in my house i tend to talk to myself. when one has a pet, it is slightly justified because there is another being in the esablishment. my fake tulip does not count.

so then i thought about getting a fish. this would be great, but the only fish i have ever owned acually belonged to my mother and she named him after the teacher that my brothers and i had for directed study. useless course, but fun. mr. barry [the fish, not the man] was also useless, but he was pretty and my brothers and i thought that it was weird to have our teacher on my mom's desk in her office, so we called him 'fish'. who were we to judge? we once had a gerbil named david.

regardless, i think i need a fish so people dont think im crazy. plus, it might remind me of my squiddies. i miss them too. not the shrimp though.

oops

also, in case anyone DOES read this, it wasnt yuengling that died in April. that was dr. quinn medicine woman.

sorry for any confusion that this may have caused

aha! back...

Soooo fer the summer i am breeding the squiddies still, and also washing the dishes in the lab and also working retail. busy you ask? kinda. but when i'm bored, i'm REAL bored.

The squid are doing alright I guess. Yuengling recently passed on, thus leaving me with none of the original crew. In her memory, I would like to name the rest of the squid names of beer. i already have a PBR, Red Stripe and Hoegarten. Please submit additional options via comment. Please note, I will have approximately zero Bud products and/or light beers [this includes imports]

The dish stuff is kind of funzies i suppose. I also get to do real scientist stuff like watch Dr. Stabb dissect Yuengling and remove her light organ and I make media with acid and bases and all. Makes me feel like if i had passed chemistry with a few more flying colors i might have made it in pharmacy after all. alas, i got a real job anyway.

old navy is just about the same as it was last summer except sean is a little crankier sometimes. that ok though, cause i think maybe i am too. we have perhaps the most irritating soundtrack there EVER. EVER. congrats universe. you win.

i move to my SWEET apt in july. sorry to be so excited about it, but it really is sweet. and i spent today deciding where i want to travel in the fall. i'm hoping to end up on the project in virginia or perhaps a new on in New Jersey. regardless, i think i want to be on the road at first. flying is kind of intimidating, and i want to get used to it, esp with mike in new york.

additionally, this week the most precious puppy stayed with me. his name is lyle and he belongs to ashley's roommate katie. he was perfect and very small and made me miss kitti very much. in case i didnt already mention this to my faithful blog readers, i lost kitti to kittiHIV. it was pretty awful and i dont think that i will be ready for another pet for awhile, but when i am, i may steal baby lyle :)

alright, enough, no one reads this mess anyway

fer funziez

happy last week of school! the squid arent being all that interesting lately, so there is very little to note. does anyone need a turtle?

also, tripziez! hoorah