dog stress

a while ago i discussed my problems with ruby and how she likes to act like a rabid monkey when she's on a walk and sees another dog. well, it's not improving and i don't know what to do. we went on our three mile walk again today and we could barely get started before she started barking, jerking around, and trying to get to these poor unsuspecting dogs. i'm at my wit's end with her behavior and i want to be able to get her proper behavioral training, but it's definitely not in the cards right now.

i've decided that i can't take her to the three mile track anymore until i get her behavior under control. this woman walked off the track and went to the parking lot just to avoid us and my tiny terror. how embarrassing is that? so i guess i'll have to start working on her individually in the neighborhood. lots of treats, lots of praise, and even more patience. if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. i'm getting very discouraged!

diy: can i handle it?

so i decided after spending $80 a MONTH on dog grooming for my pups that I'm going to give it a go myself. mind you this is the same person who thought it would be cheaper to give my husband haircuts..after one attempt, he had to shave his head. and he never let me near it again with the clippers. oops.

i went to a big box store today and bought a wahl pet clipper kit that contains the clippers, shears, and a card to send away for an instructional video for free (3-4 week wait..yeah, don't they know i'm going to try before it comes in? my dog is gonna look like a blind toddler went at her..) i figure it can't be too hard right? and for $30.. it's less than one hair cut for one dog. how hard can it be?? (famous last words).

wish me luck, i'll probably need it. i'll post some before and after shot of my victim..err..dog. i hope i don't traumatize her.

my aha moment

this morning was great. i woke up and took my two girls to the 3 mile track around a beautiful park and we started walking. oh but not before BARELY getting out of the car and she sees another dog. yes. high-pitched spongebob bark. see now what i don't understand is why she acts this way on a leash but when we're at the dog park, she's anti-social. anyone clue me in please?

anyway, so there was a dog in front of us and she is digging like crazy to get to it. i figure, what the heck, let's start jogging so she can't see it anymore. hmm. what do you know. they like the running which in turn stops the pulling..sort of..that girl can go forever. so i do short bursts of running then walking and she seems to like it.

now comes the "aha" moment. plain for you to see but you're out of the box. i'm in it. i figure that our walks aren't really doing it for her. she needs to get out and do some running or something to burn off energy. when i take her to BF's work she darts and runs forever around the yard and she and juno play. i think next paycheck, i'm getting rollerblades. :) i think this will help her exert that energy she needs to get out in the morning and i think it will be entirely beneficial.

so i call my bff this morning and i'm telling her all of this and she says, "well, she's part greyhound, right? she needs to run after things" DUH. i hadn't considered that or even had thought too much about it lately. hmm. no WONDER she wants to take off all the time. it's in her blood. so thanks amy for that "coulda had a v-8" thunk to my head.

i'm so excited now for that little experiment. i'm just worried about juno's little short legs compared to ruby's long legs.. well. i'll keep you updated. :)

man my butt is falling asleep.

yup. i'm at work. go figure. i'm sitting here after having to get here at 7:30. why am i complaining? wasn't supposed to be here til 11. i hate the first days of school. lol. so my day is going to be 12 1/2 hours. boo. trying to avoid buying numerous things while blog and net surfing. what am i in the market for today? dog tags. like i.d. tags for my pups. ruby was originally named phoenix (you know, the phoenix rises out of the ashes) but after having juno and phoenix..just sounded like i was naming all my dogs after cities..(yes, i know juneau is spelled j-u-n-e-a-u). anyway, ruby fits her better anyway.

had successful weekend. woke up saturday and took juno to a new groomers. i.love.them. the building is seriously MAYBE 600 sqft. it's a cute little brick building and it's called abracadabra. she used to go to a big box store to get groomed. but she's traumatized. seriously. she will completely resist when i take her in there and pee all over the place. so i vowed never again to take her there. plus i'm supporting small business, right? anyway, took her in and they were blown away by her cuteness. she was really shy with them and being her little 21lb box of protectiveness but she came back beautiful. :)

they were very compassionate and listened to what i wanted. they said she did very well except they think she might be a little "tramautized" (their word, not mine) from her nail clipping experience at big box store so they decided not to do anything until next time so her experience would be positive. :) although when she saw me they said that was the most emotion they saw all day, she loves her mommy. ahh. i.love.her.

anyway, while juno had her spa day i decided to make it a rubbles/mommy day. took her to the dog park where she was very anti-social, walked around a bit, and then petco to get more clickers (workin on the clicker training!). nice to have a little one-on-one with the grover.

i definitely need to get out and do something this weekend. i'm sick of sitting around doing nothing. just got an email from peta about a protest going on in front of a pet store that sells dogs. it's all the way in scottsdale (1 1/2 hrs away) so i may go for a few hours. i don't know. i need to get more active fo sho.