Sky cake!
I'm trying to post a bit more often now. Especially since there are actually exciting goings-on right now. With the puppy, working at the therapy barn, teaching certification classes starting this week, and maybe a 4-H meeting if it doesn't get canceled for the third time in a row.
First up,
Buck is coming along nicely. He's becoming pretty brave, and he hasn't had any accidents in the house since...ohhh, Thursday maybe? Whenever I posted last when he peed in my room.
Him and Molly still aren't playing. Which is really starting to make me upset, because I've been wanting to get another dog for Molly to have a playmate. Then finally one gets dropped into our lap and she wants nothing to do with him. She usually gets along with other dogs (especially bigger ones). I've tried reading some online about it, and I guess it may take a few weeks for their hierarchy to get sorted out. I need to work on making sure Buck knows I'm the alpha (although this should be my dad, but I've kinda been forced into the role)and that might help some. Molly isn't typically submissive with other dogs, she's just very submissive with me. Maybe once Buck's testicles take a permanent leave of absence from his body it'll change things some. But that won't happen for at least another month (he gets puppy boosters a week from Wednesday. And then 3 weeks after that he can have the surgery)
We took all the dogs out to the property in Madison yesterday. He did love it out there though, lots of smells, lots of room to run around (although his "run" right now is just kind of a slow lumbering gait). And there were a couple of times where it looked like they might play, but it didn't happen. Then last night I was trying to get Molly to play with me and tossed a toy and Buck jumped for it at the same time as her and a fight broke out. I was going to let it play out, but Buck had Molly pinned to the ground and they didn't want to let up, so I finally separated them. Ohhh dogs, please get along. On the drive back from the property my dad asked if Molly would have gotten along better with a younger dog, I said maybe. And then he said something about still adopting Buck out. I dunno, I'd like to give it some more time. You can't really force a relationship.
Buck's "sleeping" in the crate has decreased my amount of sleep time. He's taken to crying a lot when he goes in. The first night he didn't make a sound. The second night he cried for maybe 5 minutes. Now he's taken to crying for about an hour before finally going to sleep. And then this morning my dad had to leave at 5AM for an early flight so that set Buck off again. I don't go in and give him attention or anything when he does it. When it is time for him to come out, I wait for him to settle down and lay down before I open the crate. He's not in my room, I wasn't going to do that to Molly, but he is right down the hallway from my room. He loved his kennel at the beginning and went in willingly. Now it's a little more grudging. I've started feeding him in the kennel and have been trying Kong's with him (although he kinda ignores it at first. Just like Molly did). Hopefully this will continue to improve. He's a pretty smart dog, I hope things work out.
The therapy barn stuff is going really well. I've been riding Marlee 2 or 3 times a week right now, and I think it has helped with his attitude some. He still tries to randomly kick out some, but the balking has become better and he doesn't seem to degenerate into a bad attitude at nearly the same rate as he used to. He also maintains his pace a lot better. So I'm happy with that. His under saddle work is also doing great. The 2nd ride with him he tried his damndest to buck me off, I finally smacked him with the crop and that behavior stopped immediately. His left lead especially has been fantastic. He picks it up right away when I ask, and falls into a comfortable pace. His right lead is still the most problematic. He doesn't always get it right away, and he still rushes once he gets going, and breaks into a trot more often. He's definitely improving, and there's still plenty of stuff we can work on.
Friday I went on a trail ride with Marie out at Dawson Forest. I don't typically have much luck with trail rides. Speck was a pain in the butt about them, as was Livvie. Marlee, for all his arena issues, is fantastic on the trails. He's more engaged, ears stay perked the entire time (if he's leading) and is very relaxed. Marie loves trail riding, but her show horse is a lot like Livvie, in that he needs a stable horse to lead. She said it was funny how relaxed I was riding Marlee when he was trying to buck me off in the arena, and yet I was all tense on the trail ride. Both horses were really good the entire 2 1/2 hours of trail ride. Marlee had one "bad" balking episode. And then both horses randomly spooked while crossing a mud puddle when we were almost back to the trailer. Strange horses.
The actual riding therapy work is really great. The kids are just adorable. One little girl who rides on Saturday has apparently written a book, and a publisher has already picked it up. The title of the book is "I'm Not Weird" which she got the title from because a girl at school told her she was weird because of the way she walked. The book is about all the things she can do, despite her disability. Then on Wednesday I worked (I usually don't this day) and there was a little boy, who is only 3 years old, and has a cleft pallet problem that prevents him from speaking. But he was riding sooo well. And all during the lesson he was holding onto my sleeve and arm. And then he kept taking my hand and bringing it up to his face. We stopped the horse at one point over by his mom, and he kept watching me and then made this gurgling/cooing sound. And his mom said that when he makes that sound he wants to cuddle. And all of a sudden he wrapped his arm around the back of my neck and then put his head up against my head for a hug. It about made me want to cry, he was so adorable. Since I won't be able to work on Thursdays anymore, I might just have to switch to Wednesday to work with that little boy.
..and the reason I can't work on Thursdays anymore is because my teaching classes are supposed to start this week! Yay! As long as I don't get an e-mail this week saying "Oh hey, by the way, we didn't get enough people to sign up for the program so you have to wait until February!" I'm ready to get going on this, so please please please have the classes run! I really just need to move to a more North Georgia area, because I'm commuting over an hour to both Cumming and Canton multiple times a week. Ugggh.
I'm not going to make another cut for 4H because there is nothing to report. Because I haven't been to a meeting yet. Because I drove an hour and a half to Cumming for the first meeting to find no one there because they reschedule and I didn't get the e-mail. And then the next week I stayed at Kim's during the day to decrease my drive, and 2 hours before the meeting I get a call saying they canceled. Again. Because the barn said there was too much water around. The very first meeting was canceled because of Georgia Flood '09. And now, the forecast says rain for the entire day (Thanks Ida!) so it'll probably get canceled AGAIN. I'm so looking forward to it [/sarcasm]
And so that's what's been going on. Now I need to go get changed and take the puppies out to play so I can go ride and they will sleep.
First up,
Buck is coming along nicely. He's becoming pretty brave, and he hasn't had any accidents in the house since...ohhh, Thursday maybe? Whenever I posted last when he peed in my room.
Him and Molly still aren't playing. Which is really starting to make me upset, because I've been wanting to get another dog for Molly to have a playmate. Then finally one gets dropped into our lap and she wants nothing to do with him. She usually gets along with other dogs (especially bigger ones). I've tried reading some online about it, and I guess it may take a few weeks for their hierarchy to get sorted out. I need to work on making sure Buck knows I'm the alpha (although this should be my dad, but I've kinda been forced into the role)and that might help some. Molly isn't typically submissive with other dogs, she's just very submissive with me. Maybe once Buck's testicles take a permanent leave of absence from his body it'll change things some. But that won't happen for at least another month (he gets puppy boosters a week from Wednesday. And then 3 weeks after that he can have the surgery)
We took all the dogs out to the property in Madison yesterday. He did love it out there though, lots of smells, lots of room to run around (although his "run" right now is just kind of a slow lumbering gait). And there were a couple of times where it looked like they might play, but it didn't happen. Then last night I was trying to get Molly to play with me and tossed a toy and Buck jumped for it at the same time as her and a fight broke out. I was going to let it play out, but Buck had Molly pinned to the ground and they didn't want to let up, so I finally separated them. Ohhh dogs, please get along. On the drive back from the property my dad asked if Molly would have gotten along better with a younger dog, I said maybe. And then he said something about still adopting Buck out. I dunno, I'd like to give it some more time. You can't really force a relationship.
Buck's "sleeping" in the crate has decreased my amount of sleep time. He's taken to crying a lot when he goes in. The first night he didn't make a sound. The second night he cried for maybe 5 minutes. Now he's taken to crying for about an hour before finally going to sleep. And then this morning my dad had to leave at 5AM for an early flight so that set Buck off again. I don't go in and give him attention or anything when he does it. When it is time for him to come out, I wait for him to settle down and lay down before I open the crate. He's not in my room, I wasn't going to do that to Molly, but he is right down the hallway from my room. He loved his kennel at the beginning and went in willingly. Now it's a little more grudging. I've started feeding him in the kennel and have been trying Kong's with him (although he kinda ignores it at first. Just like Molly did). Hopefully this will continue to improve. He's a pretty smart dog, I hope things work out.
The therapy barn stuff is going really well. I've been riding Marlee 2 or 3 times a week right now, and I think it has helped with his attitude some. He still tries to randomly kick out some, but the balking has become better and he doesn't seem to degenerate into a bad attitude at nearly the same rate as he used to. He also maintains his pace a lot better. So I'm happy with that. His under saddle work is also doing great. The 2nd ride with him he tried his damndest to buck me off, I finally smacked him with the crop and that behavior stopped immediately. His left lead especially has been fantastic. He picks it up right away when I ask, and falls into a comfortable pace. His right lead is still the most problematic. He doesn't always get it right away, and he still rushes once he gets going, and breaks into a trot more often. He's definitely improving, and there's still plenty of stuff we can work on.
Friday I went on a trail ride with Marie out at Dawson Forest. I don't typically have much luck with trail rides. Speck was a pain in the butt about them, as was Livvie. Marlee, for all his arena issues, is fantastic on the trails. He's more engaged, ears stay perked the entire time (if he's leading) and is very relaxed. Marie loves trail riding, but her show horse is a lot like Livvie, in that he needs a stable horse to lead. She said it was funny how relaxed I was riding Marlee when he was trying to buck me off in the arena, and yet I was all tense on the trail ride. Both horses were really good the entire 2 1/2 hours of trail ride. Marlee had one "bad" balking episode. And then both horses randomly spooked while crossing a mud puddle when we were almost back to the trailer. Strange horses.
The actual riding therapy work is really great. The kids are just adorable. One little girl who rides on Saturday has apparently written a book, and a publisher has already picked it up. The title of the book is "I'm Not Weird" which she got the title from because a girl at school told her she was weird because of the way she walked. The book is about all the things she can do, despite her disability. Then on Wednesday I worked (I usually don't this day) and there was a little boy, who is only 3 years old, and has a cleft pallet problem that prevents him from speaking. But he was riding sooo well. And all during the lesson he was holding onto my sleeve and arm. And then he kept taking my hand and bringing it up to his face. We stopped the horse at one point over by his mom, and he kept watching me and then made this gurgling/cooing sound. And his mom said that when he makes that sound he wants to cuddle. And all of a sudden he wrapped his arm around the back of my neck and then put his head up against my head for a hug. It about made me want to cry, he was so adorable. Since I won't be able to work on Thursdays anymore, I might just have to switch to Wednesday to work with that little boy.
..and the reason I can't work on Thursdays anymore is because my teaching classes are supposed to start this week! Yay! As long as I don't get an e-mail this week saying "Oh hey, by the way, we didn't get enough people to sign up for the program so you have to wait until February!" I'm ready to get going on this, so please please please have the classes run! I really just need to move to a more North Georgia area, because I'm commuting over an hour to both Cumming and Canton multiple times a week. Ugggh.
I'm not going to make another cut for 4H because there is nothing to report. Because I haven't been to a meeting yet. Because I drove an hour and a half to Cumming for the first meeting to find no one there because they reschedule and I didn't get the e-mail. And then the next week I stayed at Kim's during the day to decrease my drive, and 2 hours before the meeting I get a call saying they canceled. Again. Because the barn said there was too much water around. The very first meeting was canceled because of Georgia Flood '09. And now, the forecast says rain for the entire day (Thanks Ida!) so it'll probably get canceled AGAIN. I'm so looking forward to it [/sarcasm]
And so that's what's been going on. Now I need to go get changed and take the puppies out to play so I can go ride and they will sleep.