Rooney, my 11 month old German Shepherd mix, loves doing his new trick, waving. He's getting to the point where he'll just sit down and wave at ya! It's so cute :)
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Happy Easter
Happy Easter from Scamp, Rooney, and me! We did something a little special this year, as you can see in the picture, they were super well behaved "bunnies." Anyways, we hope everyone and their four-legged friends has had a great day so far! :)
Thursday, April 21, 2011
The Truth Doesn't Lie
The following blog I have based purely on my personal opinions and experiences. I am not trying to make anyone believe or disbelieve what I'm saying.
"How do you know what a dog is thinking?" I've been asked this a few times, mainly by people who think I know absolutely nothing about my favorite animal...canis lupus familiaris, otherwise known as, the domestic dog.
With technology now days, it's pretty hard not to see on dog shows on television, YouTube, or get an email from your buddy saying, "Hey, check this out!" But I'm pretty sure their are people out there thinking, "How do I know this is real? How can that dog tell that guy is angry? Or that lady is scared? There's probably a trainer off camera telling the dog how to react." Or the, "Can my dog really react to paranormal activity in my house? Is that why she's always growling at the closet? Or is it just the new house, and she needs to get use to it?"
Once again based on my own personal opinions, I believe dogs can sense energy levels. Based on an experience I had not to long ago; I was walking both my dogs, Scamp and Rooney, and a neighbor's dog down the street came charging my dogs and I, barking. I just kept on walking, I was calm the whole time. I could tell he wasn't coming towards us to attacks us, it was more of an alert bark. Since I was calm, my dogs stayed calm. And we just kept walking on; the dog followed us for a little ways, barking, then went off a different direction. Only then did I turn around and look back.
So you see, he could tell I wasn't a threat. But if I had shown fear, my dogs would have reacted, then the other dog would have reacted. It's a ripple effect.
Everyone out there has critics, haters, enemies, what ever you want to call them, we have them. I'm not going to say that they are the only people, but they are a minority of the people that make us stronger. Because we want to show them that we know what we're doing, so therefore we push ourselves to be our best at what our "thing" is. Whether it be dog training, art, writing, sports, whatever. With out them, we wouldn't have anyone to show up. Because lets face it, if someone tells you everything you do is amazing, great, fantastic, how will you know if it really is?
The reason I say this is because my father is my critic. He's all the time telling me, I'm not old enough to know anything about dogs. He tells me, "I've had dogs way longer than you, I know more." Yes, true, he has had dogs longer than I have, but with the advance in technology I'm able to study up on dogs. I can buy books, watch TV shows and training videos, and read internet articles on new studies and methods. I'm not saying I'm better by anymeans, just more up to date.
He's the kind of person that doesn't believe in energy levels in a dog, he feels a dog will get over fear or excitement. Now, I am the person who does believe in energy levels. I know you can't "mask" your true feelings to a dog. If you're truly angry, but act happy, a dog will sense the anger. In example, my father isn't the cheery kind of person, he's mainly grumpy and dominant, per say. And whenever he approaches my puppy, Rooney, he runs into his doghouse and hides. Rooney can sense he's not calm or relaxed, therefore he doesn't want to be around my father. Rooney is painting a picture through his body language. His head will be low, ears back, tail low with a slight wag, and eyes darting back and forth. All of this is because of the energy that is being projected to him, dominance.
And I'll tell my father, "He's scared, you don't pet a scared dog, that only makes it worse." But he won't listen to me, tells me I'm wrong, he's right, end of story. But when I enter the kennel, calm and relaxed, Rooney comes out of his house tail wagging, running around, rolling on the ground.
So that right there makes me stronger, makes me love dogs more, and makes me want to show the world what I know and can do. Like I said at the begining, this was not made to change opinions on whether or not dogs can sense changes in energy levels. But I'm hoping it opened some new views on the subject...
"How do you know what a dog is thinking?" I've been asked this a few times, mainly by people who think I know absolutely nothing about my favorite animal...canis lupus familiaris, otherwise known as, the domestic dog.
With technology now days, it's pretty hard not to see on dog shows on television, YouTube, or get an email from your buddy saying, "Hey, check this out!" But I'm pretty sure their are people out there thinking, "How do I know this is real? How can that dog tell that guy is angry? Or that lady is scared? There's probably a trainer off camera telling the dog how to react." Or the, "Can my dog really react to paranormal activity in my house? Is that why she's always growling at the closet? Or is it just the new house, and she needs to get use to it?"
Once again based on my own personal opinions, I believe dogs can sense energy levels. Based on an experience I had not to long ago; I was walking both my dogs, Scamp and Rooney, and a neighbor's dog down the street came charging my dogs and I, barking. I just kept on walking, I was calm the whole time. I could tell he wasn't coming towards us to attacks us, it was more of an alert bark. Since I was calm, my dogs stayed calm. And we just kept walking on; the dog followed us for a little ways, barking, then went off a different direction. Only then did I turn around and look back.
So you see, he could tell I wasn't a threat. But if I had shown fear, my dogs would have reacted, then the other dog would have reacted. It's a ripple effect.
Everyone out there has critics, haters, enemies, what ever you want to call them, we have them. I'm not going to say that they are the only people, but they are a minority of the people that make us stronger. Because we want to show them that we know what we're doing, so therefore we push ourselves to be our best at what our "thing" is. Whether it be dog training, art, writing, sports, whatever. With out them, we wouldn't have anyone to show up. Because lets face it, if someone tells you everything you do is amazing, great, fantastic, how will you know if it really is?
The reason I say this is because my father is my critic. He's all the time telling me, I'm not old enough to know anything about dogs. He tells me, "I've had dogs way longer than you, I know more." Yes, true, he has had dogs longer than I have, but with the advance in technology I'm able to study up on dogs. I can buy books, watch TV shows and training videos, and read internet articles on new studies and methods. I'm not saying I'm better by anymeans, just more up to date.
He's the kind of person that doesn't believe in energy levels in a dog, he feels a dog will get over fear or excitement. Now, I am the person who does believe in energy levels. I know you can't "mask" your true feelings to a dog. If you're truly angry, but act happy, a dog will sense the anger. In example, my father isn't the cheery kind of person, he's mainly grumpy and dominant, per say. And whenever he approaches my puppy, Rooney, he runs into his doghouse and hides. Rooney can sense he's not calm or relaxed, therefore he doesn't want to be around my father. Rooney is painting a picture through his body language. His head will be low, ears back, tail low with a slight wag, and eyes darting back and forth. All of this is because of the energy that is being projected to him, dominance.
And I'll tell my father, "He's scared, you don't pet a scared dog, that only makes it worse." But he won't listen to me, tells me I'm wrong, he's right, end of story. But when I enter the kennel, calm and relaxed, Rooney comes out of his house tail wagging, running around, rolling on the ground.
So that right there makes me stronger, makes me love dogs more, and makes me want to show the world what I know and can do. Like I said at the begining, this was not made to change opinions on whether or not dogs can sense changes in energy levels. But I'm hoping it opened some new views on the subject...
Monday, April 18, 2011
Kennel upgrade
For the past couple of days I wanted to put the tarp/cover back on my dog's kennel, especially since it's getting warmer. But the fence size is the average 4 feet height, and for the past 7 years I've had the tarp laying flat across. And it's very uncommfertable to stand hunched over for long periods of time under it.So I had the idea to raise it, to a peak. I've seen kennels like that before, so I wanted to do that to mine. Well, the only thing I really had to use were poles used to hold up the net for the trampoline. We haven't had a net on the trampoline in a few years, and the poles didn't have any use, so I decide to use those.
So now my kennel has a nice peak in the middle. Standing tallest at 6 feet and slopes down to the back at the fence height of 4 feet. It covers half the size of the kennel (kennel size 10 x 20) and the tree in the back takes care of the rest for shade. It might not be the prettiest thing to some people, but hey, it does it's job: gives the dogs shade and allows me to stand up straight. 
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| 10x20 Kennel, concrete blocks cover 10x5 of front |
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