Win A Book, It’s BAFAB Week!

This is a sticky.  Please scroll down to see the most current posts, but don’t forget to enter for your chance to win a book FOR NO GOOD REASON!

I discovered this awesome giveaway last fall over at Karen’s.  I am so very excited to be able to participate this time in Buy A Friend A Book for no good reason!

What’s BAFAB, you ask?

BAFAB was started by Debra Hamel, fellow blogger, writer and book reviewer.  Celebrating BAFAB is easy. Just get yourself to a real-life or virtual book store during Buy a Friend a Book Week (the first weeks of January, April, July, and October) and, well, buy a friend a book! But here’s the fun part: you can’t buy your friend a book because it’s their birthday or they just graduated or got engaged or had a baby or anything else. You have to give them a book for no good reason. In fact, this present out of the blue from you should shock the pants off of whomever you decide to give it to. And it’ll make them happy. And that’s the point: promote reading, promote friendships. Just make sure to let them know about Buy a Friend a Book Week, so they can spread the joy in turn.

For this round, I have chosen a book I’d like to give away!  I’ve been a bit homesick for Alaska lately so I’d like to give everyone a chance to win Winterdance by Gary Paulsen.

Here’s a little blurb from Amazon.com:

Amazon.com Review
Fueled by a passion for running dogs, Gary Paulsen entered the Iditarod–the 1150-mile winter sled-dog race between Anchorage and Nome– in dangerous ignorance and with a fierce determination. Winterdance is his account of this seventeen-day battle against Nature’s worst elements and his own frailty.

Here are the rules:

Just drop me a comment on this sticky note and let me know you want to enter!  If I draw your name on July 8th, you’ll win Winterdance.  The winner will be announced here on Oregon Sunshine and via email.  Contest closes at 11:59 pm on July 7th, Pacific Standard Time.  Drawing to be held before 5 pm PST on July 8th.

*Note: The winner must be willing to give me a mailing address as the book will be shipped directly from Amazon.com.  Contest is open to residents of the US and Canada.

Happy 4th of July!

Don’t forget to keep your pets inside, cool and comfortable today!

Every 4th of July many pets run away in fear from the noise and smoke and sulfur smells in the air.  They’re afraid.  They don’t understand.  And a lot of these pets are never recovered.  So, please, please, please keep your pets indoors and in a secure place today!

Training Thursday: Bite Inhibition, pt 2

Last week we started talking about bite inhibition and yelping as a way to communicate to Puppy that she’s using too much pressure.   I have a bit more to add to that this week and a caution.

First, the caution.  In some dogs and in some cases, the pup will not respect the yelp at all and it may excite them more.  This is the case with Luna.  In cases like this, your best option is to end play time immediately.  I. Mean. Right. Now!  A short time out of 2-3 minutes is usually long enough and then you can start play time again.

Also, I realize I should have told you all to not stare at Puppy when you yelp and she backs off.  This usually tells her that the yelp wasn’t real and she doesn’t need to listen to it.  In cases like this, Puppy will usually wait a second and then jump back in, jaws at the ready for another sharking.  Instead, do not make eye contact.  Look away for a few seconds, then re-engage Puppy in play.

So, how is the first part of bite inhibition going?  Is Puppy getting the idea?  If so, let’s move on to the next part.  If not, give it another week before moving forward.

It is very important to make sure Puppy knows what is acceptable to chew on.  Keep a good supply of acceptable, puppy safe toys for Puppy to chew on and rotate them frequently so that she doesn’t get bored.  Also, you can redirect Puppy and distract her with an appropriate chew toy when she’s wanting to use you for that purpose.  When Puppy chooses the toy over sharking you, praise her.  Let Puppy know how good she is for chewing on her toy!

Also, if you do have to get up and walk away and Puppy decides to nip and bite at your ankles, pant legs, shoes, feet, etc, toss a chew toy behind you as you leave so that she gets distracted with it and leaves you be.

Again, we want appropriate chew toys here.  No toys with cracks or bits that can break off and be swallowed.

The last part of bite inhibition is simply teaching Puppy to keep her mouth off of you.  In order to do this, we’ll refer back to our discussion of “Leave It”.  In fact, we’ll be taking the first step of the leave it training and applying it here.  Just think, Puppy will be starting to learn another skill!

I’ll repost the  basics here so you don’t have to look them up again.

To teach leave it, I start with two treats, both bite sized.  One treat might be a piece of kibble or a piece of a dog biscuit.  The other is a high value treat like a bite sized piece of chicken or cheese or roast or something really, really yummy.  With one piece in each hand, place the high value treat hand behind your back.  Offer the treat hand to Puppy enclosed in your fist.  Now, Puppy will sniff and lick and paw at your hand trying to get it.  Firmly say, “Leave it!” like you really mean it.  DO NOT give this treat to Fido.  Wait until Fido sits or backs off from your fist and is calm.  Then praise Puppy with a “good boy” and quickly offer the high value treat behind your back.  Repeat this several times, a few times a day for a week until Puppy is really solid with the command with the treats in your hand.  Really, expect this to take a week to be solid.  Don’t progress too fast or you’ll have to start over when Puppy’s capabilities fall apart.

Alright class, any questions?

And now your weekly dose of Luna cuteness!

Luna is learning to play “fox on a stick” as a way to get exercise, has lessened the pressure of her teeth on human skin (we are no longer all scratched up) and has begun the basics of “leave it”.  She is starting to eat more food at a time and is sleeping for longer stretches at a time at night.  I’m sleeping on the couch less and less.  However, she does not like to have anyone out of her site and howls and throws a fit if she is crated and I walk into the kitchen, or need to put her outside on her own for a minute while I clean up a mess in her crate (Bad Mommy!  Didn’t make it in time to get her out!).

No pics of her this week.  It’s hot out.  Really, really hot out!  As in, it’s supposed to be 105 degrees today, which according to records, has not happened since 1942, and that is the record for the hottest day here in the Portland area.  I have boxes everywhere and I’m not going to show you how messy my house currently is.  Nor am I going outside to swelter forever.  So, I will tell you that Luna is probably about 12 lbs and her head is finally bigger than a Blue Buffalo brand dog biscuit.  (For those of you that don’t know, it’s about the size of a saltine cracker).  Now, that’s just the top part of her skull, not including her muzzle.  I’m going to have to let her collar out some in the next couple days as well.

In the mean time, we’re sweltering.  I wish you all cool breezes and a peaceful day!  More tomorrow!

Paying It Forward

My friends, you all know I’m a blog lurker.  There are just times I don’t have anything to say or to add to a conversation in the blogosphere.  However, I’ve been lurking for the last few days around a blog that is new to me.  Crisitunity from over at Mars is Heaven is a blog  that my husband, the Corporate Prince frequents.

Crisitunity was recently laid off and has for some time been trying to save up for teacher training to become a yoga instructor.  She’s still shy of her goal, but is offering her short stories for a very reasonable price to fund this training.  A worthy cause, don’t you think?

Please go visit her blog and if you can, spread the word and buy a short story or two.

Again that link is:  Mars is Heaven

Thanks!

Quick Take- Casey Update

I haven’t seen Casey for a couple weeks.  I’m a bad horse mom, but I’ve been busy.  Usually when I’m out at the barn, Tasha is not.  So connecting can be hard.

But, I finally succeeded in getting a hold of her on Thursday!  Poor Tasha!  She’s in a wheel chair with a broken ankle.  On the plus side, it wasn’t Casey’s fault.

As we chatted, we discussed the move, her ankle, how the horses are doing with her in a wheel chair and of course, Casey!

Tasha says Casey has turned into the biggest sweetheart.  He’s done such a turn around with near constant turn out and a buddy that she’s got a confident beginner exercising him since she can’t.  Yep!  A confident beginner!  Betcha didn’t see that coming, did ya?  Tasha says she’s just working on getting him used to being rode by different people.  She also says he adjusts to accomodate each rider’s skill level.  Casey is more cautious and slow with beginners and stepping it up with the experts.  (He still has training sessions with the assistant trainer.)

Tasha says Casey doesn’t spook at anything any more.  She can even lead him while in her wheel chair and he’s very careful with her.  Not all the horses accept her wheel chair though.

Casey has also graduated to an Argentine bit.   Yay!  A big boy bit!  He’s still learning  to neck rein at speed.  He does fine and gets it at w/t speeds, just not at a canter or a gallop.   He works off the leg nicely and doesn’t need spurs anymore.

And lastly, there is a good chance that the horse moving to the new place with us to be Casey’s buddy will actually BE one of Casey’s buddies!  Tasha is thinking of selling Sir to us, one of the lesson horse’s Dude rides.  Sir is 20 and an Arab, so he’s got several more good years left.  The other potential is an 18 yr old Arab named Taz (but not my former Taz- this one is bay) who is also a lesson horse and is owned by the Barn Manager.  She’s starting to think about retiring Taz to a slower pace.  Both Sir and Taz are Casey’s turn out buddies.  He alternates spending time with each of them.  So, hopefully!  Either of these two would be great options for Casey and the kids!

I am so pleased with how Casey has turned out!  I feel so lucky to have found such a great horse hiding in that skinny, gimpy throwaway we brought home 9 months ago.

A little more time and some more miles and Casey just might make a great kids horse!  How exciting is that?!?!

Training Thursday: Bite Inhibition

Wow!  Today, I want to cover a super important topic to me right now, bite inhibition.  This is something I’m going through with Luna at the moment.

But first, the Luna update!

Luna is growing and is a bit less clumsy this week.  She’s had her first bath here and her puppy bumps are going away.  Luna is also eating solid food and has been switched over to a quality puppy kibble from Purina Puppy Chow, which is crap.   Luna plays with Copper at full speed and their play styles are similar, minus Copper’s herding abilities.

Here are this week’s pics:

Luna 9 weeks old

Pardon the “Mo chunks” on the floor.  He is shedding and there are now boxes in front of my vacuum cleaner.  Notice Smudge is watching over Luna, yet still out of the way of those rambunctious puppy paws!

"What? What are you looking at?"

Size comparison with Copper.  He is knee high and 45 lbs or so.

Playing Fang

(Copper just bowls her over when she gets out of hand)

Now that you’ve had your weekly dose of puppy cuteness, let’s get down to business!

Bite Inhibition is an important skill for every pup to learn.  It teaches them how to control the power of their jaws so they don’t hurt anyone or anything.  Without this important skill, any potential offense created by a child to the dog can result in a powerful bite.  Puppy must learn to control and restrain the power of her teeth on skin.  Merely teaching Puppy to keep her teeth off human skin isn’t good enough, because she’ll miss out on this very crucial lesson.  Bite inhibition is the first step to bite prevention.  Every puppy, everywhere should learn this.

Puppies begin learning bite inhibition usually before they ever leave the litter.   The mother and siblings play an important role in teaching Puppy how much is too much when biting.  This is one reason why it’s so important for Puppy to stay with her litter and mother until she’s at least 8 weeks old.  So much is taught about behavior and social interaction during this time.  Ideally, Puppy won’t come home with you until 10-12 weeks of age.  However, that’s not always the case or always possible.  (For instance, Luna’s mom quit nursing and dried up when Luna was 3 weeks old and she has a lower than average frustration tolerance as she didn’t have to compete for food, she was bottle fed all she wanted, whenever she wanted- we’re working on that).

So, here’s how we’re going to tackle this issue.  Every time Puppy puts her teeth on your skin with any pressure, I want you to yelp out an “OUCH!”  and quit playing with Puppy for a couple seconds.  This *should* cause Puppy to be startled, stop and look at you.  Go ahead and resume play.  If Puppy starts “sharking” (biting) again, stand up and walk away.  End play.  Right. Now!  Wait a few minutes and try again.  If Puppy bites again, end play for several minutes, give Puppy a bit of a rest and try again later.

The average puppy will learn to not shark sooner rather than later.  However, if you have a pup like Luna, it will take longer.  Also, never leave your pup in an area that is not puppy proofed.  If necessary, put her in a crate when you end play time.

Once Puppy has learned to not put any pressure in her jaws when her teeth are on People skin, we can move on to teaching Puppy to keep her mouth off of you, which is another lesson for later.

Luckily, the major shark phase doesn’t last as long as teething and Puppy will be over the worst of her chewing offenses in a few months.  In the mean time, remember to yelp “Ouch!” and end play for any biting behavior with any pressure to it and hold your temper.  Puppy doesn’t mean to hurt you.  It’s up to you to teach her better.

P.S. This also works with any age dog!

My first award!

Aunt Krissy gave me this award!  Thanks Aunt Krissy!  I’ve never won a blog award before!

So, the rules of the Scrap award say you need to list 10 honest things about yourself.  Here goes!

1. More often than not, I’m a procrastinator.   I usually wait until the last minute to do something then, under stress, jam out a quality product or job.  Don’t know why.  It’s just how I am.  For instance, I’m procrastinating on today’s Training Blog.  It’ll be up today, but not until later.  I know!  Shoulda already had it wrote!  Oh, and I received this award several days ago but didn’t blog about it until now.  It’s still taking me time to write this.

2. I can be a bit of a control freak.  There are days when other people’s driving just wigs me out, because, well, I’m not in control.  And it’s usually when going at a good clip with traffic around.  This can translate over to horses too.  I don’t like not feeling in control so I often chicken out and choose not to canter.

3. I am not a big fan of having my curtains closed.  Must come from the long Alaskan winters, but I prefer letting the sunshine in.  So, don’t be peeping in my bedroom window unless you’re looking for a show!  lol

4. I have developed a love for quality shoes later in life than most women.  Anne Klein, Ariat,Steve Madden to name a few!  However, I rarely get the chance to wear them.  That’ll be changing soon with my Ariats anyways.  The heels, not so much.  But I still love them!

5. Most of my horsey stuff has come off of ebay.  I’m known to be a smart and savvy shopper there, often comparing prices with those in town.  CP calls me “auctionbot1227″ because of this.  However, I always appreciate a good deal and love that I can find blankets for a fraction of in town costs.

6. I can’t stand to have my picture taken.  Honestly, it’s not because I’d rather be behind the camera, but because I never resemble the image of myself that I see in my head.  Yes, I suffer from some low-level body image dysmorphia or whatever it’s called.

7. Whenever I don’t have any money to spend, I find like a gazillion things to buy.  But when I do have money to spend, I can’t make up my mind or I decide against whatever it was I thought I couldn’t live without.  For instance, I just got a $32 paypal refund for something.  I want to spend it, but can’t figure out what I want to spend it on.

8. I’m really having a hard time coming up with 10 things.  After all, I’m pretty open here already.

9. I stopped writing this blog to spend my $32.  I chose a couple wall mountable saddle racks for the new place.  I’m tired of waiting for CP to be around with my truck so I can get a couple eye bolts, some hooks and a 4″x4″ so I can make some cheap ones.  Honestly, when it’s all said and done, the racks I just bought probably cost as much as if I got the supplies to make the cheap, wooden ones.

10. Can I be done now?  I’m kinda out of things to say for now.  Since this is a cop-out, I’ll answer the next 3 honest questions left in the comment section by the first 3 commenters.  To clarify, that’s one question each.

Now for the rules:

List 10 honest things about yourself.

Link back to the person who nominated you.

Nominate 7 other people and pass them the rules.

So, I nominate:

dp from Food For Founder

KacyK from All Horse Stuff

Melanie from Horses, Kids and Homework!

SquirrelGurl from Notes From The Squirrel Nest

Stephanie from The School of Life with Horses

Ok, so it’s not 7, but this award has gone around a bit.  If I missed you and you don’t have this award, please feel free to partake of it anyways!

Quick Take- Pony Shopping!

We’re slowly starting to look for a second horse as a companion for Casey.  Need to have a second horse before we get him moved some time in August.  And we’re looking for a couple de-budded wethers as well to assist with brush clean up.

So, if you’re within 50 miles of Portland, you’re welcome to suggest horses and goats to us!

Not sure if I want a project horse or an older, close-to-being-a-retiree the little kids can learn on.  We don’t want to spend a lot and I do have a soft spot for rescue- I need help type situations.   Our only real requirements is that the prospective horse load and stand for the farrier.  Beyond that, we can work on things.   Ideally, I’d like to keep the price under $1000.    I know!  I’m not wanting  spend much, but there are always horses who need good, loving homes!

As for goats, we feel the optimum number is 2.  Gotta keep the blackberries mowed down.  Not really looking for a milk goat as we dont use enough milk to justify it.

I won an award too from Aunt Krissy!  I’ll post about that later though!

Having THAT Day

So, I started packing up the dvds today.  I’ve got about 6 large boxes of stuff already packed sitting down here in my living room.  And they’re not light!

Then, I realized that the Disney Princess is supposed to be dropping off Doodle tomorrow and the carpet looks nasty.  Mo, Doodle’s cat is not 100% litter box trained.  So, I decided to steam clean the carpet.  Honestly, Mo’s behaviors sometimes keep me from inviting anyone over at all.

So, I moved the boxes into the dining area, leaving just a narrow walk way in which to move from the kitchen to the livingroom with the steam cleaner reservoir and I could carry the steam cleaner itself over the boxes.

I put the footstool up on the couch along with Doodle’s birthday presents I still have to wrap.  Then, I picked up the cats’ cardboard scratcher thing that you rub catnip into.  I put it on top of the footstool, which is on the couch.

As soon as I’ve got the carpet cleaned, as I’m dumping the final bit of yucky water, Mo knocks the scratcher over onto the wet carpet.  Murphy’s Law, it lands upside down! Now there are bits of cardboard and catnip all over my carpet and I can’t vacuum them up because the carpet is wet!

So, what does Mo do?  He rolls around in the cardboard and catnip bits on the wet carpet, getting cleaning solution all working into his long hair and he’s pretty damp!  So then I have to give the stupid cat a bath so he doesn’t die from licking the carpet cleaning solution off himself.

And if that’s not bad enough…

Dude was helping me give Mo the said bath.  The second I let go of Mo to grab a towel, Dude opened the door and ran out of the bathroom!  So then there was this long haired, soaked, dripping cat streaking around the house looking for somewhere to hide!

Arrrgh!  It’s one of those days!

Training Thursday: Puppy’s Rule of Twelve

First, the Luna update!

Luna has learned her name, is switching off of the icky puppy food her breeder had her on and adjusting to a new, better food.  She is now sleeping through the night.  Luna is also beginning some rudimentary target training of my hand, which makes it easier for me to catch her when she’s being a wild wildebeest.  We are also actively working on bite inhibition, which we’ll talk about next week.

We have found that Luna does not like it when flocks of birds fly over the fence.  She startles and then her hair stands up.  This is something we’ll have to work on as we plan on having chickens at the new house.

Additionally, while outside the other day, we heard a dog fight in the neighborhood.  This also upset Luna, causing upset barks and growls along with her hair raised again.

Luna has gone on a couple short car rides and one really long one with stops.  The long one resulted in her being car sick.

We have found a suitable puppy class near where we are moving that she can start after she is 10 weeks old.  The next session starts July 11th and lasts 8 weeks.  Afterwards, we will be going to obedience classes at the same place so Luna can learn to focus and be responsive in a distracting environment.  (There are no trainers in our new town!  Maybe an opportunity for me??)

And now for our training topic today:

Puppy’s Rule of Twelve

Puppies need a great deal of socialization at an early age to help them grow up into well-adjusted companions. The list of activities below was developed as a fun way to properly socialize your new pet.

Make sure all experiences are safe and positive for the puppy. Each encounter should include treats and lots of praise. Slow down and add distance if your puppy is scared!

By the time a puppy is 12 weeks old, he/she should have:

Experienced 12 different surfaces: wood, carpet, tile, cement, linoleum, grass, wet grass, dirt, mud, puddles, deep pea gravel, grates, uneven surfaces, on a table, on a chair, etc.

Played with 12 different objects: fuzzy toys, big and small balls, hard toys, funny sounding toys, wooden items, paper or cardboard items, milk jugs, metal items, car keys, etc.

Experienced 12 different locations: front yard (daily), other people’s homes, school yard, lake, pond, river, boat, basement, elevator, car, moving car, garage, laundry room, kennel, veterinarian hospital (just to say hi and visit, lots of cookies, no vaccinations), grooming salon (just to say hi), etc.

Met and played with 12 new people (outside of family): include children, adults (mostly men),elderly adults, people in wheelchairs, walkers, people with canes, crutches, hats, sunglasses, etc.

Heard to 12 different noises (ALWAYS keep positive and watch puppy’s comfort level—we don’t want the puppy to be scared): garage door opening, doorbell, children playing, babies screaming, big trucks, loud motorcycles, skateboards, washing machine, shopping carts, power boat, clapping, loud singing, pan dropping, horses neighing, vacuums, lawnmowers, birthday party, etc.

Been exposed to 12 fast moving objects (don’t allow puppy to chase): skateboards, roller-skates, bicycles, motorcycles, cars, people running, cats running, scooters, vacuums, children running, children playing soccer, squirrels, cats, horses, cows, etc.

Experienced 12 different challenges: climb on, in, off, and around a box; go through a cardboard tunnel; climb up and down steps; climb over obstacles; play hid and seek; go in and out a doorway with a step up or down; exposed to an electric sliding door; umbrella; balloons; walk on a wobbly table(plank of wood with a small rock underneath); jump over a broom; climb over a log; bathtub (and bath); etc.

Handled by owner (and family) 12 times a week: hold under arm (like a football), hold to chest, hold on floor near owner, hold in-between owner’s legs, hold head, look in ears and mouth, touch in between toes, hold and take temperature (ask veterinarian), hold like a baby, trim toe nails, hold in lap, etc.

Eaten from 12 different shaped containers: wobbly bowl, metal, cardboard box, paper, coffee cup, china, pie plate, plastic, frying pan, Kong, treat ball, spoon fed, paper bag, etc.

Eaten in 12 different locations: back yard, front yard, crate, kitchen, basement, laundry room, bathroom, friend’s house, car, school yard, bathtub, up high (on work bench), under umbrella, etc.

Played with 12 different puppies (or safe adult dogs) as much as possible.

Been left alone safely, away from family and other animals (5-45 minutes) 12 times a week.

Experienced a leash and collar 12 different times in 12 different locations.

Even if your puppy is over 12 weeks old he/she will benefit from these tips.

Start socialization right away!