Don't call it a comeback...ok, maybe it's a comeback

For the past few months I have been toying with the idea of returning to this personal blog. Although I have another site for Laura Shaleen Photography, I feel restricted in the sense that I don't really want to put my personal stuff over there.

So after doing some putzing around and finding a new background for this "comeback" I have settled on this pink sparkly one...isn't it awesome!?! Here is a reminder of what the blog looked like before and before that.

So while things have been crazy busy, I now find myself with time and a desire to try blogging again.

And because I simply can't leave these two out, here are some cuties for your viewing pleasure, enjoy!

It's no suprise...

that we LOVE our puppies.

I mean if you haven't caught that by now, I'm concerned for you ;)

Without going into too long of a story, let's just say they have some naughty behaviors that have been affecting our daily life.

So after trying to figure things out on my own (since taking Hank to training classes) I decided to again enlist the help of an expert. But in our non-metropolis area I seemed to keep coming up short on lists of resources.

Sure there are companies somewhat by us, but after researching them a bit and talking to folks, I just wasn't too thrilled about what they have to offer...or their methods.

Enter: Bark Busters.

I had heard of them before, but then I talked to some of the staff at the animal shelter I volunteer at who RAVED about them (and have both professionally and personally used their services).

So I made a call and poof! She came out to our home this past Sunday.

We (Matt, me, Hank, and Stan) all met with her, talked with her, and started working on our "grocery list" of items needing correction.

The appointment lasted just over 3 hours and we were ALL exhausted afterwards, but it was SOOO good! Numerous times throughout the training session I kept thinking (and commenting) that this information is so very basic...but it didn't mean it was easy.

By no means was she teaching us physics or magic tricks, but all the elements that went into everything: each dogs' body movements, ear tilting, eye staring, whining, our timing, our voice tones, the words we used, the rhythm of movements and commands...was a bit much.

But I have great faith that it will all work out and through our daily practice over these next 3 weeks (until our next home appointment) we will all communicate better and the puppies will understand do's and don't's much better!

And for your viewing pleasure: Mr. Hankers working on "sit" while waiting for breakfast. (I love when he does his "people" sit!)

Wordy Wednesday

Hank: part dog, part frog

Trim Work

Earlier in May, I heard some stuff getting moved and bumped around. I came out to the upstairs to find this sitting in my dining room:

Apparently it was a good day to get trim work done. Yeah!

Our little "supervisors" weren't too happy about being kept away from the action and the trim that Stanley insists are really tasty sticks!

Wordy Wednesday

Getting Stanley to walk on a loose leash has always been a struggle. But on this morning's walk I was determined to not get pulled on. He did really well, but apparently has his own thoughts on being made to walk next to me:

Oh how I love my little Stan Man! Happy August!

Berry Picking

My in-laws have a HUGE garden...I mean they have 2 HUGE gardens! One morning a few weekends back, my mother-in-law and I were talking and she mentioned they were picking raspberries and asked if I wanted any...well sure!

So I loaded Stanley up (Hankers had to stay home because there is no fence at their property and I really didn't want to deal with 2 dogs on cables, barn cat running around, horses here and there, and the heat, etc...) and headed over...the whole 5 miles from our home.

Well the raspberries were delicious and Stan got to spend some time with people he doesn't see a lot and of course one of his favorite puppies (Dexter)!

And of course the barn cat needed to make an appearance...

and run right in the dogs' lines of sight...

and then stop and take her sweet time...

but eventually she mosey'd on into the grass

The morning was already proving that it was going to be a very hot day, so we headed inside for a nice treat...of ice cubes

Taylor's Falls Hiking

This summer my cousin, Taylor is living down in the Mpls-St. Paul area while she is interning at the MN Zoo. Her weekends are Sundays and Mondays. We have been trying to get together every few weekends and on June 24th (after the Back to the Fifties car show) she came over to our house for dinner and a sleepover.  :)
The next day (Monday) I happened to have off of work (I had a floating holiday to use) so we packed up Stanley and headed over to Taylor's Falls to do some hiking. It was a beautiful day and was a great opportunity to get some use out of my new camera lens.

Wordy Wednesday

Sleepy-head Stanley. Lately, after breakfast, instead of going back outside (into the unbearable heat) I find Stanley back in bed, completely content to just lay there. Sometimes (if I have time) I pull him out of his kennel and onto my lap for some snuggle time :)

Wordy Wednesday

The puppies have been so helpful with these late night, photo editing sessions :)

Kongs

I have happened upon a few blogs that have now become some of my favorites. And yes, they are dog related blogs.

One of the tips I read was about feeding from a Kong. Basically it talks about using Kongs (and other treat/food dispensing products) to give dogs their meals from, instead of a bowl. Not to bore anyone with details, but there seems to be a lot of benefits from doing this so I decided to give it a whirl and see how it goes.

One reason (for each dog) that I decided to do this was:

1) Stanley - he eats waaaay too fast and sometimes throws up because of it (appealing, I know)

2) Hank - the post (and other articles I've read) mention how this exercise helps dogs build their confidence. Hank doesn't have confidence?!? I know, it was a hard concept for me to grasp too. But maybe I'll talk more about this at another time.

Long story short, we started doing this about 2 weeks ago. Mon-Fri mornings are hard (because we don't have much time in the mornings), but Saturday and Sunday mornings we feed this way. And they have been getting their dinner this way every night (unless we get home late and feel bad for making them wait so long, I mean they are REALLY good at giving sad puppy eyes).

Over the past few weeks that we've been feeding them this way, I've learned a few things:

1) Stanley is NOT patient and readily makes noises that sound like he is dying from being starved to death, just to make sure we know that he thinks we are taking too long.

2) Hank was very confused at first about this whole Kong thing, although he has chewed on the empty Kong before, he just keeps sitting by his bowl, so we've been giving him his Kong by the bowl. He still takes a while to eat it (which is fine by me) and still leaves some food in the Kong when he walks away.

3) DO NOT TAKE YOUR EYES OFF OF THE DOGS. I learned this one the hard way. It was one of the first days and it didn't even occur to me to watch them or separate them. Well, I had literally just turned around to refill my glass of water when I heard a fight break out behind me. Long story short: Hank was apologetic for the rest of the evening, Stanley was grumbly the rest of the evening and has a hole in his lip (that is now since healed), and they are now separated by a "baby gate" during Kong-time (Stanley is in the hallway on a towel and Hank is in the dining room).

What does Kong time look like?? Like this:

What's in the Kongs: some of their dry kibble-y food, then a bit of food (mashed bananas, mashed carrots, or a dollop of pb), then some more kibble-y food, then sealed off by a little more of whatever the other food-of-the-day was.

I had also read a tip to make the Kong last longer: fill like explained above, then freeze. We tried this for Sunday dinner (when Matt's brother, his gf, and our niece came over). It definitely kept the puppies occupied the entire time we ate dinner! It was awesome! And I'm sure they loved the cool treat from the excessive heat.

What Dog Blogs was I talking about? These 2 are my current favorites:
~ Love and a Six-Foot Leash - written by a couple who has their own "bully" dog and also fosters "bully" dogs from a shelter local to them and helps them get adopted into a perfect furr-ever home. Great stories, great photos, and great advice/tips on general dog care and training.
~ Lucky Dog Rescue - written by Ashley (the owner of the rescue and boarding organization that  focuses on "bully" dogs and is in Meridian, Mississippi.

Wordy Wednesday

 The heat has been kind of excessive lately. So although we have our a/c on and the pups are really loving the fact that they don't feel like they are going to pass out from heatstroke (which makes me feel better too!)...Hank still feels the need move the living room curtains aside and keep an eye on the pesky birds that he loves to chase.

Wordy Wednesday

This past Sunday we were involved in family photos. Yes, Matt and I loaded up the dogs and met up with my parents and my sister at a nature park by their home to get some family photos.

The upside: new family photos that include the pups!

The downside(s): it was about 90 degrees, there was (what felt like) 90% humidity, AND (what felt like) 90mph winds.

The weather was a little rediculous and I'll be surprised if any photos turned out.

Afterwards we went to my parents' house for dinner and the pups played in the yard. I so wish I had thought to take a video of Hank chasing the rotating sprinkler. It was hilarious and he had everyone laughing at his antics.

The hot weather, photo shoot adventure, and playtime at grandma and grandpa's must have seriously tired them out, because this is how they've been for the past 2 days.

Happy 5th Birthday Stan-Man!

I'm just going to start off by saying, yes, I realize I'm a horrible puppy mother for not posting about Stanley's 5th Birthday sooner. But we did celebrate it on his actual birthday, which is April 16th (the same as Matt's younger sister's birthday hehe).

Stanley got to celebrate with something he loves most in this world...

PEANUT BUTTER!

Disclaimer: no, he did not eat that entire jar of peanut butter. There was only that little bit left so he got to lick the jar clean. Notice the death grip in the last photo?!?

Wordless Wednesday

How We Cool Off

Today was extremely hot...I mean it's only May and it reached 90 degrees. Come July it likely won't be anything new, but like I said, it's only May and this is MN!

Well, despite temps this warm, the pups still like to (and need to) go outside. One of Hank's favorite activities: getting sprayed with the hose!

And of course no "water montage" would be complete without some shaking off! Haha just love it!

Where was Stanley this whole time you ask?

On the deck, keeping watch over his "kingdom"...and staying far away from the hose!

Always Good For a Laugh

As I've said before, I really do love taking photos of the shelter animals, especially the dogs. It's not that I don't like cats, because I honestly do...I'm just more of a dog person.

Well it isn't always easy working with dogs who don't know the same commands that my dogs know...especially when you throw in a puppy who is just so dang excited that someone wants to "play" with her !

So I thought I would show the bloopers from one of my sessions at the shelter, enjoy the laughs because no matter what, that's what dogs and puppies are ALWAYS good at, making us laugh!

Word-Up Wednesday

The pups have started stressing out about the recent storms we've been having so I thought trying out some background noise might help. The result: they aren't really sure where the voices were coming from but it seems to distract them enough from the ongoing thunder.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordy Wednesday

This past Monday I went back to the shelter and was fortunate that it was a gorgeous day out. So of course I rounded up some puppies and went a little "click happy"

Wyatt (Lhasa Apso/Yorkshire Terrier mix - appx 2 years young)

Harley (Labrador retriever - appx 8 months young)

Lamb Chop (Chihuahua - appx 1 year young)

Minnie (Chihuahua mix - appx 5 1/2 years young)

Nitro (Puggle aka Pug/Beagle mix - 5 years young)

If you or anyone you know is interested, please check out these amazing dogs that are available through Northwoods Humane Society