The previous owners of my parents’ cottage installed a cat hatch on the door between the cottage and the screened-in porch.  Georgia wishes she could fit through it.

I have been waiting for this to post for weeks, and wouldn’t you know that it happens when I forget to check!  So, here it is five days late.  Georgia is on Licked Toys!

I signed a lease for another year at my apartment, so I decided to embark on some rather ambitious (for me) improvements to the place.  I have two weeks off before I start classes again, and Tim is in Yellowstone fishing this week, so it’s a good time to take on a project (or six).  Since I rent, I have to be able to return everything to its original state when I move out in another year or two… requiring a bit of creativity as to how to improve the HIDEOUS cabinets.  I will try to post some before and after photos later, but the point of this whole story right now is to explain (probably unnecessarily) why I went to Lowe’s to pick up some screws.  As part of the project, I took the cabinet doors off and discovered in the process that several of the screws were stripped out.  I knew I wouldn’t be able to screw them back in, so I needed a few replacements.

As I was headed toward the hardware aisle, an employee asked if I needed help finding anything.  I told him that I needed some screws to match the one I had brought along.  Our conversation went as follows.

Him:  What are they for?

Me:  To put hinges back on cabinets.  Some of the old screws are stripped and I need to replace a few.

Him:  (Showing me the screws that matched).  These should work.  They need a Philips head screwdriver.  Do you have one of those?

Me:  Yes.

Him:  Are you sure?  You’re sure you have the right kind of screwdriver for these?  A Philips?

Me (pleasantly, even though I was rolling my eyes inside):  Yes, I’m all set.  Thank you.

Seriously.  I unscrewed one to bring it in, didn’t I?  Obviously I have a Philips head screwdriver.  I’ve known the difference between a Philips and flat head screwdriver since I was about four, and I own several sizes of each as well as a set of screwdriver bits that go in my drill.  I’m sure he was just trying to be helpful, but I think even the least-handy woman out there can figure out what type of screwdriver she needs.

I thought this was a pretty neat idea.  I wonder if it will become a trend?  Schools will have to devote areas of land to all the tiny houses their students will bring.  It’s probably not an idea that will appeal to everyone, but it is a cool concept.

In other news, I officially finished my first year of law school!  Hooray!  Supposedly it will get somewhat easier from here on out, although I have strong doubts about that given my schedule for the fall.  At least I get to enjoy a two-week break before next term starts.  I started out by taking a nice long nap due to the fact that I studied all night long for my morning exam.  I’m still pretty groggy, and although I have invitations to go out and celebrate tonight, I’m leaning towards just staying in, relaxing, and maybe catching some Olympics or putting in a movie.  I haven’t had the time to kick back and rest for weeks, so that’s really sounding better than anything else right now.  It feels so good to actually get to decide how I want to spend my time!

Georgia was starting to smell a bit too doggy, so I gave her a bath tonight.  Also it’s about 90 degrees and humid, so I think getting all wet helped her cool off a little.

My good friend Emily brought back a bar of Denali Dreams Dog Wash for Georgia and I when she went to Alaska.  I was a bit skeptical about using a bar to scrub Georgia, but it lathers up better than any shampoo I’ve used and smells wonderful.  Also, it’s all natural, so I can feel good about using it.  Georgia likes it too and always tries to lick the suds when I give her a bath.  Then she goes crazy afterward and runs all over the house rolling on the floor.  Why do baths make dogs so goofy?

This first came out years go.  I thought it was hilarious then, and I still think it’s really funny.  Enjoy.

We had our second obedience class tonight.  We worked on “stay,” “wait,” and “walking on a leash without pulling.”  Georgia is three, and I’m very embarrassed to say that she still pulls on her leash.  I feel like I’ve tried everything.  We’ve tried the Gentle Leader*, the Easy Walk harness* (easy walk–yeah right), a regular choke chain*, and a prong collar*.  I would like to have a dog that doesn’t need any type of corrective device and will walk calmly in just a flat collar, but unfortunately Georgia is not (yet) that dog, and for her safety and mine, I need something to help control her so she doesn’t end up in the middle of traffic or long gone after a squirrel.  She is just too strong and can literally drag me around.

Our first trainer recommended the prong collar, and I was initially opposed because obviously it looks like some sort of torture device and I assumed (as most people do) that it was some type of cruel and unusual punishment dreamed up by someone too lazy to properly train his dog.  The trainer explained that actually it was a more friendly alternative to the choke chain.  With a choke chain, you run the risk of damaging your dog’s windpipe because of the way it puts pressure on the neck.  Also, if not positioned properly on the dog, it won’t release automatically.  Frankly, a choke chain did nothing for Georgia other than CHOKE her.  She coughed and hacked and pulled just as hard.  (I know that choke chains can be used correctly and work for many dogs, so I am not criticizing choke chains, but Georgia was not one of those dogs, so we had to explore alternatives.)

A prong collar works by pinching the dog’s skin when they pull.  It obviously causes some discomfort, ideally enough to make your dog think twice about pulling, but it is not painful or harmful if fitted and used correctly.  After trying the prong collar, I realized that it was not at all cruel since it barely fazes Georgia at all.  It gives me enough control that we can walk safely, but she is absolutely not in any pain or even discomfort.  Much of the time, the collar hangs loose, but when she pulls (which, okay, is actually a lot of the time), it tightens and reigns her in a little.  The prong collar does help with Georgia’s pulling, and it works the best out of everything I’ve tried, but up until now it really has not been enough.  Georgia has been walked on a leash for her whole life, and no amount of “correct and release” seemed to get the point across.  Clearly I haven’t been getting it quite right.

I am not a trainer (which is why I am attending a class taught by someone else), so I can only repeat what I was told tonight.  I’m just a girl who loves her dog and wants to be able to walk her safely without having my arms pulled out of the sockets.  So far, tonight’s tips seem to be working for Georgia, but I think we need a few days to practice before the results will really be in.

We are still using a prong collar, which this trainer recommends as well, but instead of large size prongs, we switched to the size prongs you would expect to use on smaller dogs.  It is still long enough to go all the way around Georgia’s neck (with a slightly snugger fit than before–apparently her old one was too loose which was part of the problem), but there are more prongs in contact with her neck which is supposedly more effective.

The idea of this technique is that your dog will correct itself and decide that walking with a loose lead is more enjoyable than getting pinched.  If your dog isn’t a major puller, you can use other types of collars.  Two people in the class with little dogs just used regular, flat collars.  One person used a martingale collar.  I think the method is effective no matter what type of collar you use as long as it provides enough correction that your dog realizes it’s not supposed to be pulling.

What you do is tie a knot in the leash which you hold near your hip.  To give you some perspective, the knot in Georgia’s leash is about 15 inches from the end that I hold.  Her leash is six feet long.  You just hold that knot firmly by your hip (I had to use both hands–like I said, Georgia is strong), and the dog learns that if it stays within that zone, it can walk with a loose lead.  If the dog starts to pull, it helps to change directions.  When Georgia tugged, she essentially corrected herself.  I didn’t have to jerk the leash or anything like that, just held on firmly and kept the leash in the same spot so that the prong collar tightened if Georgia pulled.  If you have other family members, it’s important that everyone holds the leash in the same spot so that the dog learns a consistent boundary.

It took about 10 minutes, but Georgia did seem to catch on.  Pretty soon she was walking next to me and paying attention when I changed directions.  She was by no means perfect–and I didn’t expect her to be.  Her bad habits have been three years in the making–but there was definitely some improvement.  Now it’s just practice and consistency.

*All of the collars mentioned are for TRAINING purposes only and should not be left on the dog unless it’s supervised.  Many dogs have strangled in a choke chain when the ring falls through the boards in a deck or catches on a fence.

Here are two quick articles on foods that are toxic to dogs.  Almost everyone knows that dogs can’t have chocolate or raisins, but did you know that legumes can cause problems?  I didn’t.  Good stuff to know!

• From Fetchdog

• From Petalia

I love this video.  How lame were your piano recitals when you were a kid?  This little girl gets up on stage and you know she’s going to be something special with her feather boa and newsboy cap, and then she ROCKS OUT on the organ.  I should have stuck with my piano lessons.

Georgia and I attended our first session of a four-week training class last night.  Georgia went through private training when she was about a year old, and it did make a big difference, but some things never quite clicked.  I’m not blaming her at all.  It’s probably mostly my fault, but she continues to jump on visitors, pull on her leash, and she won’t come if there’s anything even remotely interesting going on.

If these three behaviors are corrected, I will be the owner of a very well-behaved dog, and my stress level will decrease dramatically.  I want to be able to have her outside just relaxing and not trying to take off every three seconds.  I frequently go away on weekends (Georgia comes too), and I’m so tired of always being stressed out because she’s misbehaving at someone else’s house.

I think the class is going to be really good.  Honestly, Georgia is acting a bit better already.  She’s definitely more attentive to me (at least in the house with no distractions–ha).  One of the things the trainer recommended is standing on the dog’s leash so that she can’t jump on people.  The person tells her to sit, and if she tries to jump, she corrects herself.  Why didn’t I think of that?  Instead I’m usually gripping the leash feeling like I’m holding a bucking bronco and apologizing profusely as the poor person tries to battle off a 75 pound missile.  We’re going away this weekend and I’m looking forward to practicing not jumping with some new people.

We still have a long ways to go, but I’m hopeful that we’re going to get there!