Find your thang

When I was in high school, whenever I would come home and tell my mom that I had a bad day, she would suggest we head over to Kohl's because she saw something I might like there. The rest of the afternoon would be spent trying on outfits with my mom. I would return home with a new shirt or jewlery or purse and forget all about what had upset me earlier.

We called it retail therapy and honestly, it made me feel better. I am not saying that one should go out and spend tons of money whenever they are feeling upset, but for little things that just bring you down sometimes, getting something that makes you feel good about yourself can be helpful.

My mother (brilliant and wonderful lady that she is) had another way of dealing with stress too. She likes to bake. We would always know when Mom was in a bad mood when we would come home to five different baked goods cooling on the countertop. It got to a point where my siblings and I would respond to the sight of a cake with, "Mom, what's wrong?!"

Sometimes these things tend to be forgotten about once you leave the proverbial nest. I don't shop often because I am poor and it is a waste of money. I don't bake often because I live alone and have no one to share with. So it came as a bit of a surprise to me when I accidentally stumbled onto a cure for my sour mood.

Vera Wang pumps - $3.00

Yes, that is right, I got these shoes at a thrift store and they were only THREE DOLLARS. They are a bit too big so I stuffed a tissue in the front and it is fine. I went to the thrift store today to get a costume for a vet med party tomorrow. The theme is CosTUNE, so we have to dress like the title of a song. I am going as "Maneater" and dressing like a leopard/middle aged cougar. Haha. It's a double joke. I'm wearing those heels with a leopard print silky dress (also from the thrift store) and leggings. I am going to do my hair and makeup all crazy.

Anyway, I found these shoes by accident and fell in love. They have totally brightened my mood. Lovvveeee shoes.

On a related note, while shopping, I remembered that my mother's birthday was a few weeks ago and she and my father are visiting this week. She is coming down on Satuday so I went to the ethnic market to get her some yummies. I picked her up some awesome looking brie and cookies. Mom loves edible gifts. While I was there, I also got myself some Japanese seaweed salad. If you have not had a seaweed salad before, I highly suggest you do. It is crunchy and tasty and just heaven. I am trying to save some for my mom, but it is really hard. So is not eating that brie in my fridge. The food has also greatly improved my mood. I am a very happy kid right now. Apparently, my "thang" is good food and snazzy shoes.

And in case you think that my dog has been forgotten forever, here are some cute pics of Sport sleeping!

I threw the pillow on him and he didn't even move...

He likes to sleep on the back of the couch. Weirdo.

Okay, okay okay

So...

It's been two years.

I've never really said that I was good at this sort of stuff, did I? Things came up. Things got complicated.... Life changed.

Two years.

A lot has happened in those two years. Would you like to know about them? Probably, if you are still reading this you know about them all. But for those who don't, let's bring you up to speed:

Since my last post:

-Lacy got adopted. She is spoiled rotten. Literally - she is a nasty ankle biter now and her new mama loves it. :/

-So did Empress, then she got returned. Then she went to a different foster home. Then she was sent back to the shelter. For the last two years, that is where she lives. Go and adopt her. She needs it.

-I did graduate from CSU (yay!). I am now a Biologist and a Zoologist. thankyouverymuch.

-The shelter and I parted ways. I worked there until August of 2009 and left it to pursue another job. I still fostered for them for a little bit and I am still in contact with them a lot.

-I fell in love with a boy. He is now the Boyfriend.

-I worked from August 2009-August 2010 at Olde Towne again. I was the head vet tech and it was amazing. I owe everything to Dr. Muench.

-I got into the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Illinois.

-I moved to Urbana, Illinois. (Sport came too)

-Life is wonderful.

So that's life in a nutshell. I am currently finishing up my first year at UIUC (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). I adore it, but I'll post another entry about that later.

Future posts will include:

Updates on the awesome Sport dog (and pictures! I promise.)

A look into life at UIUC

An intro to the boyfriend and his dog, Maddie

A review of this past school year

And lots, lots more!

Let's hope I post again before March 2013!

ETA: I changed the look of the blog. Let me know if it is too much.

Lacy and Spring Break!

Lacy went to her new foster home today. They decided that they could take her after all. I was a little sad to see her go, but she was really much happier in a calmer household. No more Sport to pester her! Amy gave her a beautiful haircut yesterday. It is sooooo cute and Lacy thinks so too. She is Muppet no longer.

I am so cute.

Anyway, I took Sport and Tira to the vet again today. I spaced out their vaxs because I hate getting them at the same time, and I am glad I did. Last visit, six weeks ago, Tira got her rabies and got a reaction to the vaccine. She was fine this time with the distemper so that is good.

Sport has gained weight...haha. I need to cut back his food, but otherwise they are both healthy. I asked my vet to check Sport's anal glands, and he DID NOT like that. He flipped out, but I was able to bring him back to sanity really quickly. I put my forehead to his and he immediately calmed down and stopped struggling completely. I took treats with me and he was working the whole time that we weren't doing his exam. It really helps him to calm down. I buckled down and bought heartworm meds. Heartworms really isn't that bad here because it is so dry and meds aren't really necessary. But another clinic I know in FoCo has already seen three HW positive dogs this year and it seems like it is increasing in my area. Boo.

Anyway, I am on spring break right now and I am going to be working with Sport a lot. I am hopefully going to go on a few hikes with him and some friends and just enjoy this lovely weather we are having.

I'm a horrible mom.

Or at least my dogs think so. I bought a really cute pet hat and bandanna for St. Patrick's day. Empress is going to wear it in the parade. But I wanted to get some pictures of the dogs modeling their new gear.

This is how it turned out:

The best one of Sport

Empress' best shot. She hated it.

Being peeved.

Gah. I hate you.

I will have my revenge.

Doesn't Em look like an Irish gangster in the last picture? I love it. Anyway, after torturing them for twenty minutes, we worked on some clicker training (Em's trick for RBDT's Clicker Trick of the Month Contest and Sport's flyball work) and then my friend came by with Kenya and we went on a quick hike on the trail by my house. I was even able to let Empress off lead which was really good for her and she and Sport were having a blast.

I love my days off where I can devote the whole day to the dogs!

They come... they go...

For the past couple weeks, I have been fostering a lovely young pit bull named Rhino:

Ain't he cute?

I haven't written much as school is once again kicking my behind and somehow the days do not have enough time for me to do everything I want. But the dogs don't mind too much. Rhino and Sport get along really well.

Kisses?


Hugs!

But even though we love Rhino very much, we prayed that he would find his forever home.

Please Dog. Doesn't anyone want me?!

And he DID! Yay! Rhino is going home later this week and I am amazed that yet another pit bull was adopted! Happy days ahead, Rhino.

Hip Hip Hooray!!

He was one of my faster fosters, which is just fine with me. But we won't be fosterless for long. Probably next week, or even this weekend, we will be taking in yet another homeless pup. Stay tuned! I have a feeling you are going to like this next one.

Separation Anxiety and Confidence Issues

One of Sport's "issues" and reasons why he was returned to our shelter was his separation anxiety. When I first got him, he would whine if I was ever out of sight and if I left him uncrated, he would sit at the door and CRY until I returned home or destroy and pee on things if unsupervised. He used to be whiney in his crate too, but fairly soon after I got him, he stopped. He never makes a peep in his crate anymore (unless he is at the shelter!).

Earlier this week, when I left for class I put Sport in his crate and closed the door. When I returned, I found Sport in his crate and the crate door closed but not latched. I guess I just forgot to lock it. But he just fell asleep.

For a dog that used to HATE his crate, he is doing well. I wouldn't say that he LOVES it yet, but he tolerates it well enough. Especially to not even realized that it wasn't locked. I think it is harder to crate train a dog that hates a crate than one that has no experience with one. You have to get rid of the previous association and build a new one. But we are doing okay.

The next day, we went on a walk with some friends and their dogs. I was so proud of how outgoing and confident he was on the trail. I used to let him off lead all the time because he wouldn't go further than a couple feet from me. He would freak out if I was out of sight for even a second and he wouldn't leave the trail for anything.

He was running around like a fool, following one of the dogs out of sight and then racing back to me with a huge smile on his face like, "Hey Mom! I just smelled the coolest thing, you have to check it out!!!" Towards the end, he was even leading the group every once in a while and taking paths away from the people and dogs. It was so great. He approached people, even a child, and played with some dogs that we met along the way too!

Lastly, this morning, just as I was about to leave for class, Kenya (the dog we are dogsitting) had a seizure. It was over very quickly and I ushered her into my room and closed the door. In her post-ictal phase, she doesn't recognize people and since she is fear aggressive, she isn't fun to be around during that time. I was at a loss as to what to do as Sport's crate is in my bedroom and so was the crazy barking dog.

So I took a chance.

I took all the food stuff off the kitchen table and left Sport uncrated for the longest time yet. I was gone from 7:30 to 1:00 and when I returned, he was sleeping on the couch. Nothing was out of place except for his toys and he was not at all overly excited to see me (a big difference from six months ago when I would leave for a minute and upon my return he would scream and jump into my lap and lick lick lick.).

Anyway, again I am very proud of my boy. It seems like I have been testing him lately and he has passed with flying colors! I am constantly amazed by his resilience and eagerness to please me.

But Mom, you already knew I was perfect!

Photos!

The day started out fairly mellow. I grabbed Kenya and Sport and snapped a few photos of them. They aren't really interacting that much, so this is the best "together" picture I could get:

Mom, I think there is a dog behind me...

Then, my coworker Kim called me and asked if I wanted to take Sport on a hike! It was a beautiful day and we had lots of fun. Kim brought her new dog, Sidney, and our friend, Lee, brought her two dogs, Willow and Monkey. All three girls are beautiful and full of attitude. Sport fell in love with Willow and followed her around all day. It was really cute.

Kim and Sidney, the cattle dog

We stopped every so often for water breaks and cookies. This was everyone's favorite time.

From left to right: Monkey, Willow, Sport and Sidney


Sidney gets a cookie!


Sport loves Willow

We went a long ways and everyone was pretty tired by the end of the hike. They all positioned themselves in the car for a lovely photo... poor Sport was feeling left out as he wasn't a big red dog.

Sport, Willow, Monkey, and Sidney

Everyone was exhausted on the car ride home. They all fell fast asleep.

Sidney was sleepy!


Monkey settles in for the ride


Willow is down for the count!!

Sport can Fetch!

Ever since we started looking into Flyball, I have been working on teaching Sport to fetch. Before, he would run at the ball, sniff it and high tail it back to me.

So I started clicker training him to fetch. First, I would click for any time he put his mouth on the ball. Then I would click for him picking the ball. Then I would roll the ball away from me and click when he would pick it up. Eventually I would only click when the ball made it within a foot of my lap. And then I would roll it further and further away.

I wasn't being very proactive about it but we would do it every once in a while. Last night my friend came over and grabbed a tennis ball and started waving it in front of Sport. I told her, "Oh he doesn't play fetch that well." But then she threw it and he went and got it and brought it back and dropped it in her lap! All day he has been playing fetch with me!

I was so happy. I know this is silly for those of you with retrieving dogs, but for a dog that would not fetch anything at all... I am very glad.

Speaking of flyball, we went to the tourney this friday. It was so much fun, but unfortunately, I was so busy the whole day that I couldn't work with Sport that much. But it was educational and it gave me more insight into how the sport works. I can't wait to start competeing with him!!!

Adorable!

I forgot to post this video of Sport playing with my friend's kitten, Sim. I think it is adorable even if it is short. They had lots of fun together and it made me wish that Tira and Sport got along better.

Enjoy!

First Flyball Practice!

I am so unbelievably happy with how Sport and I did today at our very first flyball practice/lesson.

I'll start with Sport: He was a champ. He was very nervous at first but didn't bark at all!!! He woofed under his breath when someone got locked out and had to knock on the door, but that is excused... because he only did it once and it wasn't directed at anyone. He approached a bunch of people, though he did back away when they tried to pet him. But with a few treats, he was practically in their laps. We practiced jumps and some dead ball retrieves. He focused beautifully and within an hour he was WAGGING HIS TAIL! I am still beaming from ear to ear.

And not to be arrogant, but I am pretty pleased with how I was doing too. I brought Sport's crate and crated him if I ever felt like he was getting too nervous or stressed. As soon as we got there, I did some focus exercises before we entered the building. Then we went in and socialized a bit and worked on some jumps while it was still relatively quiet. He got a little concerned about the barking once more people showed up and I crated him for a half an hour. Then whenever everyone was busy, I would pull him out and work on focus exercises and "look at that!" I was shoving treats down his throat at first, but by the second time, he only had eyes for me. We were working on jumps again when the head of our club showed up. She said she was surprised that it was our very first practice because he was doing so well and he was so focused on me.

It was kinda an unusual practice as there were three or four clubs there and around twentyish dogs. Three lanes and pretty chaotic and loud. But the club that we are joining were all so nice to us and even let me run a couple dogs! They all seem much more relaxed and nicer than the other couple clubs that were there so I am very glad. Sport seems to really like them as well (even though he did snap at a pap when she stuck her head into his treat bag...)

He did shake, tuck his tail, and yawn a bit at first, but by the end he was all wiggle butt and very relaxed. I honestly just wanted to expose him to the noise and work on desensitization.... I didn't expect him to have that much fun, but he blew me away and actually enjoyed it! I am so proud of my boy!!!

The innocence of dogs

As I sit watching Sport blow bubbles in his water bowl for no apparent reason, the thought hits me: Dogs will be dogs, and to expect more than that would be unfair.

Sometimes I catch myself expecting so much out of my dogs that I lose sight of their very doggyness. Leo is a baby. He just doesn't know better and I shouldn't expect him to. Sport has only been here for six months, he's not perfect nor will he ever be. We have a lot to overcome and change doesn't happen overnight.

All I want is for my guys to be happy and that is all I should be worried about. I don't want my dogs to only do what I tell them to; I want them to enjoy life and explore and be mischievous. I don't want robots, I want dogs. And my two are extremely doggy.

So I throw Leo and Sport some ice cubes and marvel in their doggy innocence. Who needs a reason to blow bubbles in the water bowl?

Flyball update

So apparently the flyball club sent an email out to everyone saying that practice was cancelled, but it wasn't sent to me! But I talked to a member and she said that she felt badly about, though it really was no big deal.

This Saturday is the first practice that we are going to. It has been pretty wet here and this weekend is the first time that they could get the indoor facilities to practice in. Normally they do outdoor practices, I guess.

So I am going to go and help them set up and just get Sport acclimatized to the noise and activity of it all. I don't think that he will be ready for any sort of lesson yet, but hopefully I can do some desensitization training and focus exercises.

I am really nervous and excited at the same time. I hope Sport isn't too freaked out by all the noise and activity. I just need to remember to stay focused on him and know when to say enough is enough.

Boo. Flyball.

So after finally hearing back from the flyball club in Loveland, Sport and I loaded up and drove a half an hour to go to our first "class" which is actually just a practice for the other dogs.

We get to the parking lot about fifteen minutes early and no one is there, so we walked around for a bit. At one, still no one was there so we went and sat in the car and listened to music.

We waited until 1:30 and no one showed up. We drove around and walked around and I only saw one other dog, but they didn't seem to be part of the flyball club.

So we got back into the car and drove another half an hour home. :(

I was really excited to meet the club and to introduce Sport to everyone. I don't know why no one was there, but at least Sport and I got a good walk out of it. I hope that we can attend another practice soon, but with finals week coming up and the holidays, it looks like we will have to wait until the new year. Poor Sport.

Thanksgiving Terror

My dad always likes taking Sport on his morning walks with him. They leave at seven in the morning, while I am still asleep.

Yesterday morning, about a mile away from our home, two off leash dobermans spotted and chased after my dad and dog. Sport panicked and slipped his collar, running for his life towards the main road. My dad didn't chase after because he was afraid that the dobies would come after them. Finally, once the two dogs went back to their owner, my dad ran towards the road but Sport was already gone.

My father searched for fifteen minutes along the road before heading home to get me and a car. He felt so bad.

Imagine his surprise upon returning home and finding Sport sitting in our front yard! My little man had run across two main roads and over a mile to get home. Sport was ridiculously happy to see my dad and was jumping around like a madman.

I am so glad that it was a holiday and no one was on the roads. I gotta say, I am surprised that Sport knew how to get home. He curled up at my feet all morning and slept like a baby.

Puppies...

I almost forgot why I try to not foster puppies. Don't get me wrong, puppies are the cutest things ever, but my new foster dog Leo, a 6-7 month old puppy, is CRAZY!

As soon as I brought him home, Sport and Leo were hellbent on destroying my home. Sport realized that he was faster and more agile than Leo, so he would run under the glass coffee table, through chair legs, behind the tv and over the couches to play "chase." Leo, who I am convinced is part puppy/part horse, would clod around behind Sport crashing into the glass coffee table, knocking over chairs, through the wires behind the tv, and over all of us on the couches. I sent them outside and Sport quickly taught Leo how to dig and then they munched on grass in between crazy chase sessions.

Leo gets into everything. I am apparently horrible at puppy-proofing and every time I turn my back he has something else in his mouth. Shoes, blankets, dog beds, trash, tablecloths, couches... I can not let my guard down for a second(currently he and Sport are in the yard running around like fools).

He and Sport are getting along fairly well. Sport likes to play with him a lot. I think the weirdest thing is what is going on with Sport. With his other doggy friends, he likes to play chase or play with toys and tug. With Leo, he wrestles. At first I was scared that he was hurting Leo because Leo is quiet, but Sport sounds like a Tasmanian Devil. However, they just continue to wrestle until I chase them outside. It is odd though, becase Leo always puts himself on the bottom so it looks like Sport is a big tough dog.

It's a good thing puppies are so darn cute. I can't imagine putting up with this otherwise. People who want dogs that stay puppies forever are crazy. But at the same time, I think someone should take Leo home soon cuz he really is funny and adorable.

Things the Leo is still learning about:
-Screen doors (he's crashed into it more than once...)
-Oven doors (There's a dog in the oven!!!!BARKBARKBARK)
-Stairs (his horse part doesn't like it)
-Dachshunds

Little Leo

Sport is a mean foster brother... haha

Playdate...

Some friends and I decided to get our pups together for a play date. There were five people and:

Sport (14 lb. doxie mix, 1 y.o.)
Cloey (~30 lb. aussie mix, 8 m.o.)
Leo (~30 lb. pit, 5-6 m.o.)
Rhino (~45 lb. pit, 6-7 m.o.)
Toad (~25 lb terrier mix, 6-7 m.o.)
Zoey (~35 lb. golden mix, 2 y.o.)
Olive (~40 lb. husky mix, 2 y.o.)


Sport was a little overwhelmed by everyone, being as how he was the smallest dog there. I felt really bad because he would want to play, but then he would get so freaked out by everyone rushing over that he would get scared. Then everyone would scramble to pull their dogs off him. Everyone kept correcting their dogs (calling them away, putting them in sit/stays or down/stays) and I didn't know if I should call Sport away or not. All he was doing was getting scared though, so I couldn't really correct that. And he was sticking pretty close to my legs, so I couldn't really call him off.

The unfortunate aspect of the group dynamics is the fact that all of the dogs are very young. Most are in their teens so none of them were ever correcting each other and play started escalating to the point where someone would get pissed off.

I will post pictures later. My friend took them so I haven't seen them yet. Sport did have a little fun when he wasn't being such a baby. I think for the future, I will only do one or two dogs until he gets used to playing with others.

Little Leo is coming to stay with us so hopefully he will get used to playing with him!

Smarty Pants and Icky-poo

I have never practiced "Leave it" outside of my house. I usually only use it for cheap parlor tricks (put a piece of food on Sport's foot and tell him to leave it until I release, "Okay!") or when I drop something I don't want him to eat (like chocolate) and then I reward with a treat.

Today on our walk, my little boy surprised me! I had him off leash and he was bounding through the field. I called him back and he came running and stopped right before he got to the trail. He looked down and sniffed. I walked over to him and saw a BLOODY RODENT SKULL just as his little jaws were opening to gobble it up.

"Leave it!"
He looks up at me.
"Good boy!"
He looks down and opens his mouth again.
"Leave it!"
He looks at me.
"Let's go!"
He runs towards me and we go down the trail.
"GOOD BOY!"

I honestly was expecting to have to pry it out of his mouth. I made the mistake of rewarding him before I called him away. He is used to me saying "leave it" and then releasing him to eat it with "okay" so he thought I was releasing him to eat the skull. But he still listened to me!

Even more amazingly, he still left it alone when I went back to take a picture of it (because I am a zoology major/nerd and I wanted to see if I could identify what kind of rodent it is). It had to be tempting since it was very fresh. Probably just killed a couple of hours ago.

I'll spare you the pic, it even grosses me out. But I was really proud of him.

I am worried about Icky, though. He hasn't been eating again and he has lost quite a bit of weight. He ate some turkey tonight, but hasn't has a meal since Monday. I am taking him to the vet tomorrow to run some blood work. I am so disheartened about him sometimes. Who is going to adopt this goon? But honestly, if I find out that he is sicker than we thought, I will be willing to keep him. It's not like he is any trouble. I bet my parents will even take him on...

Icky-poo!

His decision.

So lately I have been really frustrated with Sport. His recalls have been falling apart so our 90% off leash walks have turned into 20% off leash. We would get back home and he would still have tons of energy to burn. Today it was chilly and the middle of the afternoon so the trail was deserted... and I thought, heck, let's let him decide what to do.

Sport got to choose where we went the whole walk. Off leash. I didn't call him, I didn't give him a command (except once when we saw another dog and I had to leash him up). We went further off trail than I like. We went faster/slower than I like. He sniffed stuff I didn't want him to sniff... but I let it slide.

And you know what? It was the best walk ever. We had a lot of fun hopping through the brush, chasing caterpillars, running as fast as we could until we were coughing from the effort. We got down and dirty and I laughed harder than I have in a while.

Caterpillar!

Playing in the water

Oh... Life...

So yeah, this blog thing wasn't working out as well as I would have liked. Life got it the way, as it so often does.

In one week, my vet school application is due. The one thing that determines my life for the next four years is due in a week and I am nowhere near close to submitting it. Plus, classes have been difficult. Same old story...

The most exciting thing that has happened since I have last written has been the new addition to my family. His name is Sport:

Ain't he cute? He was a foster dog... for a few days. Haha. Technically, I haven't adopted him yet. The paperwork hasn't been filled out, but he is staying here for good. Yes, he is now subjected to a life of purple sweaters and a raw diet. Oh the horror!!

In other news, I may be getting a new foster soon. My boss is currently fostering a pit bull puppy with a hurt leg (Can you say CUTE?!). She may have to go visit family soon, so I will take him on. If not him, I will be fostering something pretty soon...

That's it for now. More dog stories to come soon. I finally found the cable for my camera so dog pictures will be coming soon as well.

Introductions.

Hi! I found I wanted to start a blog to just start writing about my life involved in dog rescue and my work becoming a veterinarian.

I am going to start my fourth year at college. In October, I will apply to vet school. In order to get there, I volunteer and work with animals every opportunity that I get. Currently, I am working at a local no-kill dog rescue called Animal House. Though not always fun, and never glamorous, I absolutely love this place. I also foster dogs for them. My fosters are dogs that need a little more work before they can get adopted. This includes health and behavior issues.

In early July, I will be getting my fifth foster, Sport. I will tell you more about him later.

I am very interested in dog behavior and training, nutrition, and health, though my interests don't stop there. Dogs constantly intrigue and amaze me.

I hope that I can give you a little insight into the world of rescue, pre-vet, and my mind. Feel free to ask me questions and post comments!

More later.