LJ loves this rough game. He shakes his head real hard back and forth. Some dog raising books say you should NEVER play tug with your dog, but contrary to popular belief, Tug-o-War can be a great training tool for your dog. Especially if your dog is one that has a supposed "locking jaw". BTW, that's a myth. American Pitbull Terriers do not have a "locking jaw". What happens there is they do have a very strong jaw, and they simply don't want to let go. Therefore, it is essential to train your dog to "drop" or "release". LJ gets all hyped up when someone plays Tug with him, just like the dog in the YouTube video link above, and he stops immediately when we say "Drop!"
OH, and I forgot to report that LJ's histiocytoma dropped off on Monday. Now his ugly wart is gone!
It is still foggy outside! Usually it has burned off by now.
Some more links on the "locking jaw" myth:
Pitbull Fact vs. Fiction
Dogwatch: The Locking Jaw
THE REAL PITBULL
Until next time.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
LJ Plays Tug
Labels: LJ
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Happy 2nd Birthday LJ!
Labels: LJ
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday, Little Jihad,
Happy Birthday to you!
We love this boy so much. Here he is when he was less than a month old.
And now you can see how he has grown... still thinks he is a lapdog. Sitting on dh's lap just like when he was a tiny puppy. LOL.
Dh bought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers for Valentine's Day. He brought them to work for me yesterday, when I was having another meltdown. Sheesh.
Happy Valentine's Day!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
My Pooch is Okay, Whew!
Labels: LJ
Poor boy, he does not like car rides. When I get the leash out, he loves the idea of it; but once we're on the road for a couple of miles, he's trembling like a leaf and trying real hard to get in the front seat onto a lap, someone's lap, anyone's lap!
When I was the main driver, my dear husband half-heartedly tried to keep him out of the front seat, and LJ knew all he had to do was push real hard and he'd get his way.
It was less of an issue when I was driving, since dh doesn't mind having a one hundred and four pound dog sitting on his lap, and can keep LJ from lurching into my lap when his anxiety level rises.
But since I'm not the one driving, and I can't tolerate a one hundred and four pound dog sitting on my lap for fifty miles, he stays in the back. He was trying to get up with us to the front seat with all his might, and he packs a lot of might behind those one hundred and four pounds of solid muscle, lemme tell you.
So we got to work early this morning, when no one was there yet (as usual). I walked him around a bit so he would know where he was at, then we went back to my office and I shut the door to keep him in with me. He did really well when my door was closed. I had to leave my office without him a number of times, and my absence caused him a great deal of anxiety to where he was whining and trying to get my attention but I ignored him until he laid down. A couple of times I corrected him with a "tsss" ala Dog Whisperer. He met a LOT of new people today. Probably thirty or more. He did so wonderfully and everyone loved him. One of my coworkers threw her arms around his body and hugged him, she said he was so lovable. I am truly blessed to have a wonderful pooch like this guy.
He is not 100% comfortable with meeting strangers, as most people like to go patting the top of his head, which Cesar Millan (The Dog Whisperer) says you shouldn't even do to a dog you are meeting for the first time. You should act aloof, like you are part of the popular crowd and let the dog approach you, rather than advance toward the dog. But LJ did wonderfully with all the attention.
Here are a few pictures of him being a good boy. We even worked in my boss's office for about an hour, and he'd laid down quietly and waited for me to be done. He is just incredible.
My mother-in-law had hoped to meet up with us today, to get a child-sized picnic table that dh had built for his niece/mil's granddaughter. She came with us into the appointment at the vet's office. I will definitely thank her for that as she was a wonderful distraction. I have not been in vet's office many times, and at least half of those few times have been very stressful.
Like when LJ was sick with parvo. He had one set of vaccinations, when he was neutered. I learned that sometimes dogs can contract parvo, when they receive vaccinations.
He was neutered at the vet's office where we went today, when he was 10 weeks old. The vet says he weighed 20 pounds at that time, and asked us if we'd like to weigh him on the scale, as he was pretty sure he'd gained some weight since then, hardy-har-har. No kidding, doc. ;-)
He weighed in at 104.2 pounds. Our electricity meter reader calls him, "...a pitbull on steroids."
The doc says he has what is called a histiocytoma. He gave us several options, and told us doing nothing was perfectly fine. We are going to wait a couple of weeks and see how it goes. He told us we could have the tumor biopsied, which would cost a couple hundred dollars, shoot some cortisone into the tumor to see if we could get it to shrink, put over the counter Cort-Aid onto it, have surgery to remove it, which would cost $300 to $400, or do nothing. He did say the thing could go away on its own.
Alternative Medicine for Pets
Gross Picture but this site says these growths will go away within about three months
About.com
I asked the vet if he looked in good condition and the vet says he looks like an athlete, very muscular. One of my coworkers was saying he was fat because you should be able to feel his ribcage slightly. Well, I don't know about this boy being fat. He's pretty active.
Off to bed. I'm one very happy lady, thrilled that my pooch is okay. Whew. He loves sleeping under the covers, snuggled along the length of my body. He's so warm. I love him so much. You know I haven't loved a dog this hard since I was ten years old. In fact I didn't think I'd ever love a dog this much ever again. But this boy just stole my heart. And I'm doubly blessed that my dh loves this boy as much as I do.
Until next time.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
"Just Because" Flowers
Labels: LJ
I had a rough day today.
I worked with my boss first thing this morning and we were talking and I told her my dog has a growth that was a little bump like a mosquito bump and within a couple of weeks it has grown to the size of a dime and about 1/3" tall. I told her I didn't know what to do about it.
She said, matter of factly, that I needed to have it checked out. She said, quite logically, that it might be benign and easily removable right now, but if we wait too long it might turn into something worse. I agreed with her and said she was right. She shared with me about her brother's two dogs that he had lost to cancer. We continued to work together for another half hour or so, and I was feeling a deep sense of unease inside. When I finally got back to my office, I closed the door, sat at my desk and cried. For you see, this dog of mine means a lot to me. He is the first dog I've loved this hard since I was ten years old (34 years). I am truly one of "those people" that I used to think were off their rockers loving their dogs so much. I don't know what it is about him, but he is just so lovable, and to top it all off, he's an American Pitbull Terrier, the one breed of dog I swore I'd never own. We fostered him from the age of 3 weeks, and he will turn two on Valentine's Day. He is hands down, the BEST dog I've ever had the pleasure of owning. He's intelligent, good natured, happy, loving. He's a wonderful dog.
I called my friend who gave him to us to foster. Well, actually I emailed her first, and she was very kind and soothing to me. She gave me her favorite vet's number and encouraged me to have the lump checked out. So I made an appointment for Thursday.
The upside to this is I get to bring my dog to work for the day! My boss was very impressed when she met him about nine or ten months ago. I brought him in and I sat down, and he laid down right at my feet and went to sleep. She said he was very mellow and a good (and huge!) dog. She said most people who come to her house with dogs, the dog runs all over sniffing everything, but not my LJ. He just laid down at my feet (because I asked him to) and went to sleep.
I asked if I could bring him in for the day, and my boss asked me what else had I planned to do with him? Later in the day I thanked her for her words of encouragement, and she said she couldn't let anything happen to that big lug of a dog.
About 2:30, my boss called me up to the front desk. I got up there, and this beautiful bouquet of flowers had been delivered for me. From my sweet hubby. And the card said, "Just because".
I hope my pooch will be okay, and my husband is a keeper.
Until next time.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
LJ Sits On The Stairs
Labels: LJ
He likes to sit on the stairs like this. He cracks me up.
Until next time.
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Dog Greeters
Labels: dogs, Just Stuff, LJ
This is what it looks like when we come home every day... well, when it's still daylight out. All our dogs gather at the gate to greet us. They have all learned to stay inside the fence when the gate opens.
I'm cleaning today. Working on the living room. And feeling a bit melancholy today. And tired. And overwhelmed, as usual. I had to work yesterday, and I will have to work Monday through Friday again next week.
I bought some pretty material to make a "scrubs" top for my boss for Christmas. She's already given us our gifts, but I haven't brought them home from work yet. I hope it won't take too many hours to sew it together.
I am hoping to get my snowman display set up at work soon and will photograph it for my blog.
Until next time.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Another Good APBT Friendly Site
Labels: LJ
This morning I was looking for low cost spay neuter options as our two boy kittens are needing desperately to be "fixed".
The low cost option is $30 and we have to wait until January 4th. That's more than one month away.
I called three other nearby vets. One wanted $227.50. One just 1 mile south of that vet wanted $120. I found another one that charged $87.00.
We're probably going to go for the low cost option.
During the process of looking for low cost options, I discovered that owners of "pitbulls" who reside in Maricopa County, Arizona will be paid twenty dollars to spay or neuter their pet.
Now for the good APBT site: Bad Rap, located in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
Lots of lazy dogs, lying around in the morning before it heats up.
Until next time.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Just Some Pictures of My Daily Life
Labels: auto maintenance, ds2, LJ
The odometer reading was 233,333, I'm driving 70mph, the rpm's were 2600, tank half full and 144 miles since buying gas...
Ds2 scrubbed the oven out by hand. One day I'll add in the before picture. No chemicals were used! It's not perfect, but it's much cleaner than it was to begin with and did I say no chemicals were used!?
A cloudy day outside my office window.
Ds2 on his laptop and his cat in his favorite spot.
Dh in bed with just barely enough room due to LJ curled up at his side and Vicious laying on top of him.
And last but not least, LJ sleeping in bed. When he heard the camera he started stretching and then fell back to sleep.
Until next time.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Resurrected Post: Raving Over Training
Labels: LJ
I wrote this post back on June 23rd, 2006, when LJ was only FOUR months old. I don't know why I never published it, as it appears to be completed down to my "Until next time". LJ continues to be THE BEST dog my husband and I have ever owned.
When I was a young girl, we took care of a dog that belonged to some family friends. They would occasionally move someplace where they could not have a dog, and so he would stay with us for
a few months at a time. His name was Sir Duke Yogart something or other, but we called him Dukie. He was a golden retriever and he was very well trained.
Ever since then, I've wanted my dogs to be well trained and well behaved like Dukie was. I tend to think it was just me not being consistent with all the dogs I've owned as an adult, but also it seemed like the dogs I had were stubborn and didn't want to learn and so it was really discouraging to keep trying and trying and
getting nowhere.
But with LJ, he learns so fast, like I was saying earlier, it's a wonderful reward to see him learn new commands. I am also teaching him some hand commands, they aren't official hand commands, but I have three that I use so far. One is for sit, down and the last one is for "on your side". I was anxious to
teach him the "on your side" command, because I understand it is a bit difficult for a dog to do that one since it puts them into a submissive position. LJ appears to be a dog that may be a ladder climber, and so I am trying to teach him commands that will put him into submissive positions to help me keep him in his place. He adores having his belly rubbed, which I know is also helping me to show my dominance over him.
I read someplace that dogs learn hand commands quicker than verbal commands, so the "on your side" command I have trained him on that one without any words yet. I just take my hand, with my index finger extended and draw an "O" into the air about six inches in diameter. I eventually intend to teach him to lay on the side that I roll my hand in. If I roll it to the left, I
want him to roll onto his left side, and vice versa. But for now, whichever way he goes, he gets rewarded.
I am also working with the clicker a bit, and it was so neat to see his brain working, I mean it was like I could actually see him thinking about this command. He was very reluctant to lie on
his side for me. He tried shifting his butt one way or the other. He tried laying his head down between his paws. He would shift his butt the other way, lol. At first I showed him the command and laid him on his side, and click and treat. After 2-3 examples, I would show him the hand command, then wait, while he did all his butt shifting, etc. Then when I could see he still
wasn't understanding, I would finally tuck his elbow under -- he would brace his elbows way out - (so maybe he was getting it, just didn't want to comply), so it was not easy for me or him to
put him on his side. LOL. After tucking his elbow in, I would roll him over to his side, where he got clicked and rewarded with a treat. Then we worked on it again, and you could see it was
really a hard one for him to submit to. You see, one time, when I tried to put him on his side to rub his belly, he growled. I decided right then and there, that I would desensitize him to me
lying him on his side, and therefore, as I see it, his reluctance to submit to that command.
But he finally got it, and I was so excited. When I started working on the "sit up" command, he would frenetically sit, do a down, then roll over onto his side and wave his paws at me,
hoping that was what I wanted. When I had not asked for that at all, lol, but had held the food just above his nose and said "sit up". So I turn my back and walk away, then work on "come". Oh, I guess I have a hand signal for that, too. I think it is the official one, though. Isn't that one that you cup your hand with your fingers toward you? And of course, the hand command for
"stay" he is learning, too.
I have also found that he learns faster if the treat is especially delicious. He loves half cooked bits of hamburger, that one gets his brain working really fast, as does freshly cooked chicken breast. :-)
After he gets the command, I move to a less delicious treat to reinforce, still clicking, then once I know he knows it, I move to using the command without food or clicker, but maybe for
playing fetch. One of his favorite treats in the whole wide world is a fresh egg from the chicken coop, so that's an early morning opportunity to work with him. I have also begun to make
him work a bit more for a treat like that, where he might have to sit, shake, then do a down for the egg. He takes it in his mouth, runs away happily, then drops it to break it and licks the
yolk.
I think it is *especially* important, since LJ is an APBT which get such a bad rap nowadays. Prior to fostering him and falling in love with him, I was one of "those people" who thought people who owned this breed were nuts. So now I know how very important it is to train him well and hopefully portray the breed for what they can be.
Until next time.
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Wet Washing the Wedding Gown
WHEW. I have to say I have been somewhat hesitant at taking on this task. Several people cautioned me against cleaning the gown myself, two even offered to pay for having it cleaned. But I could see that $100+ being spent a lot more efficiently. I just had to give it a shot myself.
So I scrubbed the tub, then filled it with cold water and a capful of Woolite. I then commenced to scrubbing the grime off the bottom of the dress. There were a few dirty spots like this, mostly on the back where it is longer.
The underside of the hem looked like this pretty much all the way around, including the inner skirt hem. I scrubbed both all the way around. I used a toothbrush dipped in Woolite for most of it. When it was worse, I'd use some baking soda for a little bit of grit and at the worst spots I used a drop of Dawn Dishwashing liquid.
Here's how the water looked after scrubbing and for comparison, the rinse water:
And here's a closeup of the clean hemline! Beautiful!
I was apprehensive about hanging the dress on a hanger... fearful that it would 1) stretch itself from the weight of the water 2) the dogs might be able to reach it. So at first I went with lying it on a piece of canvas outdoors.
Then I noticed the wind was blowing and flies were lighting on my dress and you know they poop on things! Little round brown specks of fly poop would not be appropriate. And if the wind kicked up hard enough, a dust devil might swirl past my dress or worse yet, a big gust of wind might pick my dress up and fling it into the dirt somewhere. Finally I decided that the dress had drip-dried long enough (therefore not too heavy), found a hook, put it up in the ceiling over the tub and that's where the dress hangs now.
While I was outside messing around with the dress, I came upon LJ cooling off in the pink doggie pool, but totally on guard to everything going on around him.
I do realize just because I got the stains out doesn't mean I'm home free. The dress could shrink or something else could happen, I could even do something wrong while ironing it. Once the dress is dry, I'm going to sew another bit of lace decoration to the area where the train would be.
I'll need to iron it and restitch the sides once the date gets closer. I don't want to end up sewing it too tight or too loose and have to rip it out and do it all over again.
I worked on the invitation envelopes yesterday. I'm tired again. What else is new?
Until next time.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
This Made Me Cry
Labels: LJ
As I've admitted many times before, prior to getting LJ, my dh and I were like many others who think "pitbulls" are vicious, dangerous dogs.
I'm glad we don't believe that any longer. Make sure you have tissue nearby before you watch this YouTube video:
Love Can Build a Bridge
Until next time.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Sunday, August 12, 2007
An LJ Post
Labels: LJ
This boy continues to be our favorite dog ever. He's doing so wonderfully with the kittens. Today Popoe decided to snuggle up in his lap. But just as he was about to settle down he spotted a fly and took off after it.
Here's some pictures of the beloved boy. He's really sure he's a lap dog.
Here he is sprawled out on the queen bed.
Taking his time sliding off the couch.
He LOVES to sleep upside down on the couch. What a life. He doesn't know he's an American Pitbull Terrier and he'd be in serious trouble if he lived with vicious APBTs.
Eating his beloved bones while Popoe watches interestedly.
Look where his bottom is at... on dh's forearm. LOL.
Sleeping on TOP of dh. LJ was waiting for dh to wake up and give him cookies. They have a stash on the side of the bed. LJ loves cookies. Unfortunately last week their stash attracted ants and our bed was crawling. It's hard to sleep when ants are climbing all over one's body. They weren't biting me, just walking on me.
Until next time.
