Happy Birthday Zola!!

Today Zola is 1 year old. I found her birth date when I went looking for her rabies certificate to lisence her. We have only had her for a few months but it feels like it has been longer. Because of her small size and antics it doesnt feel like we missed out on her puppyhood at all. She is joy personified.

No she isnt always this calm!

Sadly some of my best photos showing her fun self are blurry.

Nice ears!

Play with me!!

Is it just me or does that angle and head shape remind you of the movie Alien?

Then (below) and now. (above)

As you can see shes definately filled out a little since we got her. She is up to 12 lbs from her former 10 which seems to suit her better. Hopefully she will continue to maintain on her medications and diet and we will have more birthdays to celebrate with her. Happy Birthday Zola!!

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Happy Anniversary to The Inquisitive Canine Studio!

Today was a day of celebration! Yep, it was one year ago that this dog trainer opened The Inquisitive Canine studio here in Ventura. Where does the time go? Ill tell you... it goes to teaching all the wonderful doggies and their families in my dog training classes, workshops, and socials...and in privates as well. 

My friend Nancy and her dog Kona really made my day - they brought some yummy candies all customized just for todays event! Each one tied with a personal label for those to take with them... very rewarding and generous I must say... A BIG shout out and thank you! (click-treat for you both)... We had a fun raffle - everyone won something... which made me feel like a big winner too!

The Natural Balance company was generous and donated all of the goodie-bags for people to take home...they also supplied the big daddy of all the raffle prizes... You can see the picture of Sofia - the big winner - Her dogs Rocky and Mick will love the items too... Premier Pet Products was also kind enough to donate items for the raffle - which everyone loved! Thanks to both companies for your generosity!

    

We all had lots of fun today at our Anniversary party...lots of great friends showing up with their dogs, and some just wanting to share in the festivities, showing their support. I appreciate each and every one who came out to share their good wishes. Id also like to give an extra shout out big thank you and I love you to my wonderful husband and own dog Poncho - for all the love and support, and for believing in me. 

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Happy Birthday Jenny!!

Today is Jennys 5th birthday. I only know this because it was on her medical papers when we adopted her from Pug Rescue of New England. She was 18 months old when she came to live with us. I jokingly refer to her as our "gateway pug" since she started a bit of an obsession with the breed for me. My son wanted a pug and wouldnt be swayed to another frenchie no matter how hard we tried. Boy am I glad he stuck to his guns! I cant imagine our life without her. She has been a great partner in training due to her extreme LOVE of food. She has made me have to think harder than ever before in some cases to change some of her behaviors, or polish some of her moves. A perfect dog for a trainer to have! She manages to put up with all my silliness including tolerating all the dogs and puppies I have brought home during the time she has been with us. Here are just a few of my favorite photos of her. I threw in a video of her at the end that makes me laugh every time I watch it.

And here is the video.

(and the link in case the video doesnt play through Blogger: http://youtu.be/nwMsLZtGf7A )
Happy Birthday Jenny! Heres to many more years together!!

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Happy 4th of July!!

Dash says "I rock this look!"

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Happy Birthday Dashman!!

Dash is a former foster frenchie we had through the group FBRN. He got a great home with a big brother (a wonderful Boston Terrier named Ivan) and his new home has kept in touch with us over the years. Something that I am very grateful for. He turned 5 yesterday. Here he is after a nice long birthday walk. I know, you want to snuggle him dont you? He has that effect on people.

Ironicly my husband came across some old videos of him playing with our dogs yesterday. Here is one of my favorites. Sorry, youtube and blogger werent getting along well enough for me to embed this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xEPBXVDj2A He had a great time with Jack as you can see. Happy Birthday Dashman and heres to many many more!!!

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Happy Birthday Jenny!

Today Jenny turned 5 years old. We got her through Pug Rescue of New England and they had her previous owners vet paperwork so we knew her birthday. If there was ever a dog that changed a household she definately qualifies. Here she is looking like a diva.

I admit that getting a pug wasnt my idea. It was my sons. He wanted his own dog and we couldnt talk him into a frenchie. He had even collected pug stuff for years. Since I couldnt find what I considered a reputable breeder in the breed (see previous posts on that topic) we went the route of rescue.

Jenny came to us because she had been fighting in her foster home with the other resident pugs over food. She was a serious resource guarder and had hurt one of the dogs badly. I think the group was thrilled to get an application from a dog trainer. She was a bit of work at first but she fit in to our small pack very well with some management, basic training and behavior modification for her issues. Fortunately my akita was raised by a frenchie so her attitude didnt phase him much. I was more concerned with her and my other female in residence at the time. Same sex aggression can be common and is statisticly more likely to happen between females. (This is where the slang term "bitch" comes from.) Our frenchie Missy was a confident female and wasnt affected by Jennys insecurities. Plus she was already trained which helps immensely when it comes to managing multiple dogs in a home. (Training works people!)

In going through my photos for this post I found this one above. I believe that this is her happy face. Wow does she love any kind of food! The photo below was taken today after dinner. It is a great example of how far she has come with her resource guarding.

Jenny has definately changed us in a few ways. One is that we have all fallen in love with pugs because of her. I guess you could say she is our "gateway pug". VBG While I have concerns about the breed and their health issues, I cannot help but love their personalities and their cuteness factor. What can I say, curly tails do it for me. Her being a bit higher energy than my other dogs caused me to become a better trainer too. I have to keep her busy so this means I have to think up fun stuff for her to do to keep her mind engaged. A bored smart dog is a challenge to live with and can be destructive or obnoxiously annoying.

Because of her I got off my butt and got into the obedience ring as well. Something I never thought I would want to do. She loves training because it is the opportunity for her to earn food rewards. She is smart and learns quickly, keeping the training as much fun for me as it is for her. I never thought I would be a "small dog" person either. I came into dogs as an adult with a large breed and thought I would always be a big dog person. Now I see the advantages to having smaller dogs. (they cost less to feed, medication can cost less, they are easier to transport, you can have more of them in the same amount of space, ect.)

So today Jenny got lots of extra treats and maybe even a few more scritches than usual. I am greatful for every day we have with her and we hope to have many more years together.

(More photos and videos of her can also be found on my K-9 Solutions facebook page and even on the K-9 Corrections facebook page.)

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What a happy day!

Today was perfect!

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Happy Holidays!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday whichever one you celebrate.

And batten down the hatches for all those on the east coast. They say a storms a comin!

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Happy Birthday Jack Jack!!

Today my Jack is 7 years old. I cant believe how time flies by. He got a new squeeky pheasant tug toy from the Loyal Biscuit Co. and one of his favorite treats, a cow trachea. (Nom, Nom, Nom) Since I am working today, and they were forcasting rain for today then, I took him for his special walk yesterday so he wouldnt miss out.

I also got to play with my new camera. I should have tried it on a few different settings to make the colors pop a bit more. It has so many more options than my last camera did. It might take me awhile to figure it all out.

A huge shout out to Jacks breeders Donna and Mike Bennett of Liberty Akitas for gifting me such a sweet boy. If only more breeders could be like them the world of dogs would be a better place for it. I hope to share many more birthdays with my beautiful boy. Happy Birthday Jack!!

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Happy First Birthday Philippe and Jean Claude!

My bouncing-baby-poodle-boys are one year old today!

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Happy Howl O Ween!!

Queeen Jenny was not impressed but tolerant of todays photo session. However she always cooperates since it means earning some treats. Im sure she thinks I am crazy though.

Jack was even less thrilled. He could not even be bribed into posing so I gave up. I hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween!!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I am thankful for the 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep I got last night. Having this puppy has jettisoned me back to the days my children were infants! There has been a lot of trips to potty in the middle of the night. I am also thankful that Zola is feeling better. She started acting odd so I switched her over to the Hills L/D prescription food as recommended by the doctors,*and the people on the canine liver e-mail discussion list I joined. (e-mail lists are great support when you have a dog with a chronic illness) Odd behavior in a liver shunt dog is serious because they can have hepatic encephalopathy.  (*it should be noted that I dont always listen to the doctors)
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We also conquered the hurdle of "yes you have to potty outside even when it is snowy and yucky".  THAT wasnt easy! Luckily I had gotten her a new Fido Fleece jacket before the snow hit which I think helped. For awhile I thought I might have to cave and get her boooties as well. She didnt want to walk in the snow! She figured it out tho I do carry her to the yard to save her feet from getting to cold to quickly. One of the things I have been working on with Jenny is trying to get her nails shorter. Frequent nail trims just want doing it. Thanks to Jillian at Salty Dog grooming who has been dremeling them. This past tuesday was week two. Im told both she and Zola are very cooperative and it looks like with a few more weeks we can reach our goal.

Her eye is also looking much better. We discontinued the ointment she was on and started using autologous serum instead. That is where they take some of her blood, spin it down, and use the serum on top (white blood cells) as eye drops. She will likely always have the dot scar but it isnt painful anymore.
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Since she is feeling so much better now she is getting feisty. She has initiated play with Jenny a couple of times but her play skills lack some finesse. Jenny seemed to tolerate her antics though. I inturrupt them if I think it is getting to intense. One of the lessons I forgot to mention the last time was that co-workers get as attached and worry about my dogs as much as me. Sometimes more. I never thought about that when I decided to take on a sick dog. I feel a little bad about that. At least my family got to have a say in it. It is nice to work with people that care that much tho.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving Day. Enjoy your friends and family and pets!! Try not to overdo the food treats. Well at least for your pets. An extra piece of pie for you isnt the worst thing that can happen. Enjoy!

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Happy Birthday Happy Graduation to Me!

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