Raven

Luigi’s Caper

I fed everyone this morning, and in certain dishes, I put a frozen Kong.

This would be for Lilian,

Taylor, and Raven.

Then there’s Luigi. I put his frozen Kong on the counter. He gets a special diet due to he is a Calcium Oxalate dog. His body makes bladder stones of such. So he gets a bowl of home made specialties and distilled water for breakfast. I am not plopping a Kong in that to have him carry it off to smear the futon sheets!

I put Luigi’s Kong on the counter, and before I leave, I give him his Kong. This is also so the boy Dobies are put into their bedroom, and King Luigi has run of the rest of the house. No arguments.

So I am rushing around the house, trying to make my exit, and I stop and see Mr. Luigi enjoying his Kong on the futon already! Yum oh yum yum yum. I had to stop and examine my own sanity. Did I give him that Kong? I don’t recollect giving him that Kong. I did not give him that Kong! That means only one thing. That rascal got up on that counter and helped himself to that Kong!

Well, he knew it was for him, but geesh. That is just unacceptable. I have to find a better hiding place for his next breakfast Kong.

Helen

Lilian, Luigi, Raven, Taylor

26

Jun

2008

Raven’s One-Year Adoption Anniversary

Helen

Raven and her big boca are celebrating their one-year anniversary today. Every morning I’m reminded of that big boca when Raven hears that I’m awake and lets loose. There’s no stopping it. I’ve resigned myself to that fact. I’ve tried many methods over the year.

I called the Bark Busters radio show twice on channel 112. The host, Greg Kleva, gave some pretty good advice. Then a few weeks after that, I called because he had the founder of Bark Busters on the show. She said that every time Raven barked, take her out of the crate and do obedience with her then put her back in the crate and repeat. That was the most useless piece of dog training advice I’d ever gotten. It was anti-helpful. Taking a dog out of her crate and giving her individualized attention when she’s throwing a fit will only strengthen that habit. Dobermanns love to work! I was completely underwhelmed with that bit of advice.

I moved on, and searched the Internet for help with the actively dominant Raven dog I adopted. There I came across an article by Catherine Waters: Dominant Dogs, Recognition & Management. I read it and e-mailed Catherine. She wrote me back and from there, we wrote back and forth on the Raven situation. Catherine, who lives in New Mexico, gave me a lot of useful advice for working with the then out-of-control Raven. She enjoys working with the “Raven” type of dog, so this was all a good good thing.

Jude and I also put our heads together, and with all that advice, I shaped Raven into the more controlled uncontrollable beast that she is today, but I still have the urge to wring that neck of hers occasionally. Perhaps this year we’ll go through an obedience class together and she’ll learn how to walk upright on a leash in public.

Happy anniversary, Raven!

Helen

Birthdays/Anniversaries, Raven

20

Jun

2008

Raven Goes Back to the Shelter

Helen

Today I left work early so I could take Raven back to the shelter she came from. Here she is not looking so happy about traveling and leaving her friends behind.

We passed the local dog park. Dog parks aren’t in Raven’s future.

The sky was beautiful, but ominous.

The shelter is next to the international airport. I guess noisewise, that was a good decision. Maybe not for the dogs, though. Who knows?

When I got to the shelter with Raven, she tried to escape by pushing her way out of the truck from behind me. But nothing doing. I held my ground and grasped her leash. Onward we went!

Raven stopped at the recycle bin and read the sign. Ironic.

This way please. Raven knew the way, and didn’t seem to mind returning to her old stomping ground. That was a relief for me. Guilt, you know?

Here she is being greeted by some very nice shelter workers. Raven plopped over to get a belly rub on her way to the back of the shelter, where two nice ladies gave her what she came for. Her 3-year rabies vaccine booster!

Knock knock! I’m home!

The first thing Raven did was go looking for her toy. Being all toys are hers, it didn’t take long for her to find one. And now she is all set with license tag and vaccine for another 3 years. Woohoo!

Helen

P.S. None of my dogs go to dog parks.

Confusion Sets In

Helen

“Sometimes I get into so much trouble!”
~Raven~

No, it’s not a bib! It’s a towel that somehow got shredded and draped around you know whose neck!

Today’s Plantings

Helen

During my lunch break today, I saw ominous rain clouds approaching for the first time in two solid months. So I figured it was a good time to get some more seeds in the ground, fast! I chose the next two packets in my pile of seeds. The third type of pumpkin and a bell pepper that is supposed to ripen into white fruit. The pumpkin seeds were fine, but those pepper seeds were small!

It was a challenge, but I got them both into the ground before any rain fell.

The rains hadn’t arrived yet, but thunder had. I like a good challenge, so went to get the next two packets in the pile. These were tomatoes. The seeds in these packets were also small. I never really looked at the seeds in tomatoes while I’m eating them, this was a wake up call. Small!

I started cursing at this point being the packet said to plant them 1/4-inch into the ground, the ground is not totally soil, it’s got a lot of lumpy rocks in it, and the seeds I could barely see. But, I did something along the lines of planting, as I poked a hole, plopped in a seed, and found some soil to pour over the indentation.

Just about then, the rains came. Woohoo! I didn’t have to water the newly planted seeds. And Raven got a good look at the first rain storm of the summer. She’s always at the front of the line.

After work, I decided to plant two more of the remaining four packets. Lettuce and zucchini were next in the line-up. The zucchini was a fine sized seed, but I about fell over when I opened the lettuce packet and tried to find the seeds. They pretty much are the size of flea dirt, but they’re white. I have no idea where the seeds are in a head of lettuce, but at this size, I won’t hold my breath, or maybe I should. A seed this size could easily go up one’s nostril with a mere inhalation.