Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Camera batteries died!!

I'm watching billie discover that she can make things happen. She's finally hungry enough to eat, and has figured out that if she picks up the food toy, food falls out!! Wahoo! She thinks this is the GREATEST game EVER!
We just finished our first clicker session. Cat food as treats (hey, it was handy). No fear of the clicker at all. Lured her head up 3 times, then got a full Sit. reinforced about 10 of those. Did a few downs, captured a couple of bows (would love to get that on cue as a "wait for the ball to be thrown" behaviour! she can pretend she's a collie!), and started on a hand touch (two finger point, just for something different). She's quick as a.. fox? Learned everything real fast. Not on cue or anything yet, of course, but I bet next time I try to lure her to sit with a toy, she'll know what I mean!!
She met Gypsy and Ben today. She was pretty good with Ben, but snarled at Gypsy after the initial meeting. I don't think she'll be a dog park dog. That's fine, though. When she's focused (toy), she ignores the other dogs, so she isn't obsessing or anything. Makes it a little harder to find a good spot to get photos of her though. I'll think on it!

Monday, August 30, 2010

Kibble Nibble

So, Billie is going to eat Wild Prairie dog food.. for now, anyway. I gave her a kibble nibble full of it this morning, but she wasn't hungry at all. This afternoon, she's hungry enough to eat if I take it out and put it in her mouth, but isn't very food motivated at all. She also tires VERY Quickly from exercise.. 10 minutes of hard running/ball chasing/tugging and she's POOPED! I expect both issues are related to her extra pounds, and expect to see an increase in stamina and in foodiness in the next week or two.
She also cut her head a little. The only thing I can figure is she did it while playing under the bed with Archie. It's a scratch mark, not a puncture, so I doubt it was from Archie himself. More likely she caught it on a spring or something. No more under-bed playing. She let me examine it and clean it without any fuss, though she clearly was not enjoying it.
She might have been tracking the cars on the highway when we were out playing ball. It's hard to know if she's after them or the chickens, since they're both in sort of the same direction. We did two walk ups to the chickens (about 20 feet away), and she was able (Eventually) to call off and come back to me each time I stopped. I think it will be workable, for sure.

Day 2!

Billie met some chickens today. I was unprepared for them to be where we were, so it did not go very smoothly. She went into 100% prey drive, lunging and searching for them. She was on a line, so I managed to prevent any contact. I'll have someone come with me (double leashed) to see how she is with them up close. Sometimes once they've met up close, the dogs just ignore the chickens. Not looking too promising with Billie though! Luckily, most people don't have 40 chickens wandering around their property, so it shouldn't affect her potential homes too much.
I got her outfitted with a nice Premier collar and also put one of my harnesses on her. I've got her out on a 30' line, and she hits the end of it sometimes, so better she's on a harness. She really doesn't know her name at all. Her breakfast should be home soon so she can have some. Right now, she's chewing a bone on the floor. I've put some more pictures up on the album. She's a very happy girl!
I also made an awful header for this blog. Please make her a better one and send it to me so she doesn't have to have my awful photoshop skills displayed on her blog!! ;)

Sunday, August 29, 2010

pic album

More Photos - Album
these arent any better but adding them one at a time is annoying

Play pics - i suck





shes HERE!!!!

OMG OMG OMG She's amazing!
My mom has already told me I might have to keep her!! NOOOooo. She's so good for Archie already, though. Doesn't take any of his crap.
Very confident girl. Here's the update I sent to the rescue org:
She's here! She's here!! One of the transporters seemed quite worried about her dog-dog skills, so I was extra careful introducing her to archie (the only other animal she's met so far tonight. we'll do more in the daylight). She greeted him nicely (she on leash, him off) even though he was a total idiot. He didn't want to let her in, so I crated him, let her in, then let him out. No problems at all. She hasnt even put her feet up on the counter yet!!
I have a crate for her to sleep in tonight, but will wait and see if she needs it. I just don't want them playing all night while I try to sleep.
She has no ID tags, I should have an extra one around with my info on it. I won't feed her tonight, as she was apparently very car sick on the trip. She'll get a nice breakfast in the morning, though.
She drools non stop in the crate in the car. One transporter allowed her to ride loose and said she napped and didn't drool much, so it might be a crate issue. She has a tendency to freeze/refuse to walk when stressed, but doesn't pull too hard on the leash. The idiots are playing UNDER the bed at the moment. So far, her dog skills look REALLY nice. She's playing well, informing ARchie when he's gone too far without even raising a lip, and respecting his random rules (you cant go in THAT corner, that one is MINE)..
Tomororw, she'll meet the rest of the gang and a couple of cats. I won't introduce her to the g.pig or chickens until the next day if she seems overwhelmed by it all. Everyone who has met her LOVES her. Some great pictures will go a long way, the ones you sent don't do her justice. She's a bit chunky, so I'll get the weight off her and teach her a couple cute tricks and a recall :) If she's up for it, can she do some agility/jump training? I'll keep them low until she's knowledgeable, of course.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

She's coming!!!

New foster doggie, Billie, is on her way from Prince George to stay with me until she finds a home (or until I find a job.. hah.)
She's about 2 years old, so far fine with other animals, and very sweet. She's spayed, up to date on vetting and just needs the perfect family.
She belongs to Bully Buddies (www.bullybuddies.net) and will be coming down ona transport chain Sunday. I will see her Monday, depending what time she gets in sunday night. Shauna will be taking some photos of her, I'll ensure she gets her manners and she'll find a fantastic home.
For now, here's the pictures I have of her: