grete... aloof.

we got a new camera today. it's the nikon d90. grete has been subjected to cameras since she was a puppy. even though i turned the flash off, grete still expected it -- giving me her most aloof look.

Finally... A True Fail on Fail Dogs

The Jump

Dog training and/or dog agility folks are a little weird. They (we) like to make videos of our dogs doing stuff, even if it is fairly mundane stuff. Dog agility folks like to put these videos to music.

Grete and I have been working on the jump for over a month now. Here's our current progress. FYI, it's my job to be a treat dispenser and not much else. I'm throwing kibble on the floor so that she looks down when she lands. It's all about Grete learning what works for her when it comes to jumping 20" in the air.

(The song, if you're curious, is from the KEXP Song of the Day. It's "Lonesome Hearts" by Pela remixed by Cassettes Won't Listen. You can get it here.)

trampoline!!

In other news... More Clickriver randomness.

I've turned my Clickriver ads back on. However, I think because I have one ad in "Appealed," my most recent ad is in pending. I've been blacklisted! I'm a troublemaker! A rebel without a cause!

Here's the pending ad.

love dog agility?
meta grete - a blog about a dog
sometimes we talk about training :)
metagrete.blogspot.com

Here's the appealed ad.

a blog about a dog
meta grete - chatter about agility,
treats, and a dog's life...
metagrete.blogspot.com

And here are the two ads that have snuck past them...

Meta Grete
A blog about a dog
Reviews, Agility shop talk, etc
metagrete.blogspot.com

Meta Grete
Tips on dog agility, dog training,
Reviews of dog treats, dog products
metagrete.blogspot.com

baby legs -- the bank robber reprise

We tried adding a nylon knee-high to the mix today. The results weren't a complete success, but in our walk around the block, we only had to put it back on from scratch once. (Compared to 3-4 times with other methods.)

The nylon helps keep the bag narrow. Part of the problem with the baggie is that it is so wide at the bottom that she keeps stepping on it. Unfortunately, the baggies still sag and so gradually her Smurf foot grows and grows as we walk.

We also tried rolling the baggie into the nylon and then using the baby leg to hold the roll up. That's what got us all the way back into the building --- but the whole mess was still sliding down. I think the only real answer is suspenders.

Damn you, Baby Legs.

I'm sad to report the baby legs, although bad ass and punk and cute all at the same time, are a complete failure at keeping the baggie over the dewclaw.

So... a quick recap.

On Wednesday the 15th, Grete ripped her left dewclaw right in half. Read more about that here.

On Monday, she had her bandage removed. That was supposed to be a good thing. However, now we're tasked with keeping the dewclaw dry as it heals. In Seattle, this is turning out to be a huge freeeekin' pain in the ass.

We tried small hair bands yesterday, but they kept slipping down. It was painful getting them on and off, not only for me but for Grete as well. She would get all wide eyed and stare off into space and pant from the stress. I would start to curse and get more and more frustrated as we tried to make it around the block. Stopping every 10-20 feet to put the damn things back on. Not a good scene.

A friend had the idea of using baby tights. We settled on "Baby Legs" because they were 1 day Amazon Prime shippable and cool. They arrived this morning. This picture was taken before they made their maiden voyage around the block at work.

It was almost as much of a failure as the rubber bands. The baggies are just too damn slippery. The leg warmers can stay on, and she'll step on the baggie and rip it right out from under the leg warmers. They also slide down, despite being hooked around her elbow.

We're going to resort to medical tape soon. What we really need is a baggie that has garter straps of some kind that we can hook to her harness. 9 more days of this.... The vet techs were somewhat (but not really) sympathetic.

Life isn't going so well right now. I just need to be able to frolic with my dog, and I can't.

Damn you, Baby Legs. Damn you.

Clickriver -- Part II

We managed to muster 1 whole click on Clickriver. However, that winning campaign was then rejected. The reason given?

Category relevance
* Your advertised service does not match your selected category.
Your ad is "about a blog site which is not providing any pet services" - but your category selection is Pet Services - General

I've appealed it. I pointed out that they listed "Pet animal information resources" under "Pet Services - General" and I believe Grete's blog points to "pet animal information resources." For example... We've pointed out where she got her tunnel. We've chatted about her training methods on more than one occasion. We've used and reviewed the wisdom panel. We've pointed to other useful dog blogs. We've reviewed local dog parks as well as recent dog training literature. And who could forget the shots of Grete and the Doggles. Anyway... I think they're being too strict. We'll see what they say. I also asked if they could suggest another category.

(To be honest, I was just trying it out for work-related reasons, but now I'm a bit offended by their rejection! :P)

Perking up!

Grete is perking up. Look at that happy face!

We haven't tried the jump with the bandage yet, but the vet said it should be safe to try the jump at agility class tomorrow.

Also, I'm going to attempt to make some chicken and peas treats for Grete for tomorrow's practice. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow. I haven't cooked meat in ages. The plan is to defrost it tonight, boil it tomorrow, cut it up while its still warm, and throw in some frozen peas to make it last longer.

Clickriver

We're trying out advertising via Clickriver. If you happen to see an ad on Amazon for Meta Grete, can you let me know via a comment and/or an email? (A screenshot would really make our day.)

poor pup

grete is SOOO pathetic right now.

Grete Update

Yesterday, Grete ripped her left front dewclaw. I'm still not sure how. My only theory is that when she jumped, she caught it on her collar on the way down. The claw was at a right angle to her leg, and there was blood. I rushed her to the vet, and $372 later, she's resting comfortably on her blankie at work. We have a check-up at 9:20 on Monday. She'll be fine though. It doesn't seem to be bothering her too much.

Time Warp!!

Dog park woes... Kona @ Greenlake @ 5:30 pm

Today, Jason, Grete and I went to the Greenlake dog park to play fetch. It was super crowded. First, we tried doing fetch off the "cliff" to toward the stairs. Since I was worried about Grete jumping off and landing wrong, we eventually went to the back stretch along the fence. As we were coming back up from the back stretch along the fence to give Grete a break and a drink, a chow mix named Kona started growling at me. I've never had a dog growl at me before. Not in this way. Well... I take that back. Dogs on the other side of fences growl that way. It was the classic, "I'm guarding my turft" growl, and I assumed it was because we were "invading" her turf by climbing up the hill to get to the water bowls. Jason didn't take well to a dog growling at his fiance in that way, and he may have moved the Chuck-It in the dogs general direction. To be honest, I was looking down at the dog trying to figure out if I should turn my back (which is what I would do with most puppies and jumpy dogs) or if I should try to calm the dog with my voice or what... I was kinda at a loss since, as I said, the only time dogs growl at me in that menacing way is when they're on the other side of the fence. I'll be honest. I was SCARED.

In any event, we passed by, but the alpha male owner wearing a grey UW sweatshirt said to Jason, "You weren't going to hit my dog with your Chuck-It." To which, Jason replied, "I would if your dog bit my girlfriend."

At this point, the dog was still growling at me. I was moving around the dog, and I pointed out to the couple that I'd never been growled at by a dog before. "Why is your dog growling at me? I don't have the Chuck-It. My hands are in my pockets." I believe that was a close paraphrase of my words.

The woman with dark brown hair standing next to alpha male UW sweatshirt said, "She just growls at some people." At this point, I was starting to lose it with these people. "Why do you bring your dog to the dog park if she growls at people?" They defend themselves and say they come to the dog park every morning... (I think to myself... If you come every morning, why are you here at 5:30 pm? If you come here to this dog park every day, it doesn't give you any more rights than I have.)

It's a bit of a blur... Eventually, I manage to join Jason and Grete by the "cliff" where we've resumed playing fetch. We're _minding_our_own_business_ playing fetch with our dogs on the opposite side of the hill, and Kona comes over and starts growling at me AGAIN.

"Can you please call your dog back?" I think I repeated that at least twice.

They called Kona back.

I looked at the other folks at the top of the hill and shrugged. A couple shrugged back in what I hope was a mutual understanding of "These people are tools."

Then... This annoying same couple's OTHER dog gets in a fight with another dog. Two aggressive dogs! We should have figured.

At that point, while they were calling their OTHER problematic dog off another dog, Jason and I left the hill to play a little more fetch at the bottom of the hill.

I was pretty shaken up from the whole ordeal. First, the dog scared me. I'm still working out what I wish I could have done differently with the dog.

Second, I HATE confrontation like that with those sorts of people. My adrenaline was pumping. Their dog was threatening ME. Don't they know how many freeeeeekin' dog training classes I've taken and how many books I've read on dog behavior. Don't they realize that when I say their dog might not belong at the dog park, they should take ME seriously. Yes. I know this internal dialog is useless on them, but I just wish I could have made them see that they needed to manage the situation better. I just wish they knew how fast a dog can snap. I just wish they freekin' apologized for their dogs behavior.

The only take away I have from the whole thing is a strong urge to buy some Halt! or Direct Stop. *sigh*

Gesso takes the jump

Grete's getting a run for her money. Gesso has taken up agility as well. *wink*wink*

Got Mutt? Want DNA?

Thinking about getting a Wisdom Panel for your mutt? If you are, you can get $10 off by entering the code 'WISEGUYZ' in their order pipeline here.

Hen = The Bailout; Puppy = You and me?

Correction: Rooster != Hen (2:25 pm)
Switching this because I don't think roosters really sit on eggs/chicks... Do they?