Friday, Oct. 16th 2009:

Well, in a few minutes I’m logging off to go to work… I have three clients today! (It’s a first for my business!) I’m still debating whether to take Donatello with me or not… He was in his crate for six hours yesterday, ironic, because when I start my new job I work six hours, and if he’s ever left home he’ll be crated that long.

He did really well too, no accidents or anything… But here lately with all the rain he hasn’t been getting out much and I think a good long car-ride would do him some good.

Here’s what I posted on the DF: I GOT A JOB!

Before I explain farther on that, let me say, in the past week my business has started “booming”.

I own/operate [two] businesses. My business is a pet-sitting business; Then on the side, since my mother has moved out of state, I’ve taken charge of hers and I’m in the process of retrieving her old clientèle.

Since March I have had two clients… Then one client moved; My last client, who are still with me, are not regular clients. (Every couple months they call me when they go out of town for a long weekend.)

I hate to say it but I started this business when the economy started tanking.

I put out over 3,000 fliers. (Walking neighborhoods and attaching them to the posts of mail-boxes.)
I advertised on myspace, craigslist, jobvana, kudzo (sp), and even took a dash at “twittering” (can’t stand it), I should be on yellowpages.com, and I’m certainly on google/maps.
I <had> car magnets, (got ruined in the summer heat.) I’ve got t-shirts that I wear everywhere when I leave the house; I went to dog-parks wearing those said shirts just to strike up conversation… (I had more people ask me for a job then anything.)

Anyway, I’ve had several, numerous hits to my business, but just about everyone would say,“Wow, sounds great, let me talk to my significant-other and I’ll get back to you,” They would never call back, I’d try calling a couple times, even leave a message, then when no one answered/returned my calls I would take the hint and just leave them alone.

However, the end of September proved promising when in October I was scheduled for a free consultation. Needless to say dates got mixed up, but they were still interested, and during that free consultation I got the keys, a check, and told to start tomorrow!

They are everyday clients. Monday-Friday, and sometimes on the weekends… That is fantastic! That is what I’ve been wishing for all along! Then just two days ago, my later clients called and asked for me this weekend; that same night a friend that works with my step-mother called me and asked for me from tonight through Monday!

I have never had three clients at one time! Today, I go to three different homes, and I’m just beside myself with excitement.

I’m bringing in $350 for my business this month… How amazing is that, compared to a month like July when I made $20.

However, last month I started putting in a few applications… I wasn’t convinced my business was going to go anywhere and I needed stability. I have school to pay for, $130 a month and truck insurance that’s $79; Plus I’m pissed-off that I can’t provide Donatello with the things I want to give him. (He doesn’t want for anything a day in his life right now, but I love having money to spoil my pets.)

I bugged the Hell out of Camp Woof and I just wasn’t too sure it’d go through… Then rolled around October and I started pulling in these clients.

Just three days ago I only had one, now I’ve got three, and guess who called me yesterday? Camp Woof!! I had hounded them to death once a week, asking for a job, finally I decided to stop and look elsewhere, (that was last Friday) and then yesterday (Thursday) they called me!

I went in at 3:30 and I walked in with the job. No joke. The manager asked what shift I would like and I said I preferred the evening shift with my school and what-not, (and because I could still squeeze in some of my own clients.) I’m not trying to make this a conflict of interests by any means, I’m not going to advertise my business at all, but I am going to try to keep the clients I’ve got now…

I start on Tuesday, I work 1:00PM to 7:15PM, they’re 32 hour work weeks (generally) I have to work weekends and holidays (which have never been a problem); I get great discounts, and I can take Donatello to work with me for free! They are very laid-back and there’s really no dress-code.

Let me just add, I’m making more money then I have at my other jobs… It’s gone up from $5.15 an hour at GameStop, my next job was $5.75 an hour at Wendy’s, my last job was $8.58 an hour working at a hospital… This job at Camp Woof is just what I wanted, it’s showing me I’m moving up in life, not going backwards!

I’m just really tickled that Donatello will eventually get to come to work with me! The GM there has 8 dogs, mostly big, loud dogs, and they’re there every day… Donatello will have a ball I’m sure, but at the same time if I need him to stay home it’s only six hours… He can handle six hours in his crate. He was in there that long yesterday, between my clients and then my immediate interview that lead into me greeting the dogs… That took almost an hour.

I won’t be able to afford my own place, unfortunately, but I’ll more then enough money to provide for myself and Donatello each month and still have plenty of money to put into savings…………..

The only problem I see is that everyone there worships Cesar Milan… I hardly agree with him at all, and I mentioned that I have <watched> It’s Me or the Dog a time or two, and they all jumped on me and said, “No no no, don’t go with her, read Cesar’s books,” I tried mentioning that working with dogs, even with dogs in packs, varies… Not every method is going to work with each dog… They look at the dogs like a pack, not individuals… I can see where that might pose a problem, but I’m overlooking it for now!

I START TUESDAY!!

Friday, Oct. 9th 2009:

It’s Friday! WOOT!

I couldn’t be happier! I don’t have to worry about work for two days!

Well, aside from putting my application online or something…

Today is one of those “iffy” days… Donatello started off this morning on a bad foot… There was a ’skeeter [mosquito] in our room this morning… A small blood-sucking one… And he flipped out, well- I shouldn’t say “flipped out”, really, he just slinked to his crate, and it took a bit of coaxing to get him out and on my bed again; But he did shake and tremble for a good five minutes…

I don’t know how to curve his fear of bugs… Really… And it’s bugging me, [pun intended.] lol. If he’s outside, he’ll chase a bee, a butterfly, a beetle, but if it’s in the house and it’s a fly, gnat, mosquito he’s wigging out… I don’t understand why he’s not scared of them outside, but he is inside…

Anyway, when we got back from my client today and we actually spent some time outdoors, running and romping together… He started wrestling with the Pug puppy, and they were going at it a good fifteen minutes. Hardcore too! You would swear that Donatello is eating him alive! If it wasn’t for the puppy not screaming, the lack of blood, and the fact the puppy keeps going back for more, you’d swear Donatello was out to kill! lol.

But what I really like, is wrestling like that, wears Donatello out faster than anything! In fifteen minutes of hardcore wrestling, Donatello’s panting up a storm, chugging down water, and staring at me, willing me with his eyes to take him inside so he can nap. lol. I love it!

I wish everyone a fantastic weekend!

Thursday, Oct. 8th 2009:

Well, yesterday was pretty uneventful, so there really wasn’t much to post…

Although, last night we did go for a walk, we didn’t meet up with any kids or dogs, and he did wonderful. For missing our walks for almost a week, Donatello surprised me by listening better to my commands last night then he did a week ago! lol!

On Tuesday, He did a fantastic thing! He used the doggy-door to come inside, all on his own!

That’s fantastic for a few reasons. He’s not a “go-getter” dog, he doesn’t feel comfortable pushing his weight around to get things he wants; Using a doggy-door the dog has to be able to nudge it open to go outside, or come inside. We’ve been working on that for weeks now… He still requires a slight push every morning, but I can tell he knows what the door is for, he’s still just unsure about using it on his own. I have yet to actually work with him on using it to come back inside.

So the other morning I nudged him outside, I went upstairs to freshen up, then I went out to the back porch, where he’s usually waiting for me… He wasn’t there, so I called and called and called… He wouldn’t come to me. I was actually concerned he may have gotten out. So I peeked over the balcony to see if I could catch a glimpse of him hiding under the porch… (He hates the rain.) That’s when I saw a black shadow moving inside the mud-room.

“There’s no way!” I thought to myself, so I rushed downstairs and slowly opened the door; There he was, standing there wagging his tail looking at me like, “Why’d you push me outside? It’s raining out there!”

Needless to say I praised him very strongly, but he still had that attitude like, “What’d I do? I dunno, but I’m lovin’ this!” lol.

As far as the rest of today is concerned, he went with me and waited patiently while I took care of a client, then we came home… We weren’t outside fifteen minutes when the other dogs started barking, (at what? I don’t know.) and he chimes in! Ugh. Donatello knows better! I hushed him up then called him over and put him a “time out” for a minute; It didn’t work, he still kept “woofing” at the unknown, so finally I said, “Alright, if you’re not going to listen, go inside,”

Living in a close neighborhood like we do I feel so uncomfortable allowing Donatello to bark… My father and step-mother could care less if their dogs bark non-stop, and honestly, I’m surprised they haven’t received any complaints from their cranky neighbor. lol.

Anyway, the rest of the day is filled with rest for both Donatello and myself!

Tuesday, Oct. 6th 2009:

Well, unfortunately for Donatello, I have a scheduled free consultation today at 2:00pm.

And it’s raining.

We woke up around 9:30 this morning, after falling asleep close to midnight; He went outside and eagerly did his business and came back in… (He’s finicky when it comes to the rain.) lol.

Anyway, around 1:30 today I’m leaving, and he can’t go with me this time so he’ll be crated, which I’m sure won’t pose any problems.

Too Cute…

So many tricks does your dog know?

Mine knows:

Sit

Shake

High-Five

Lay Down

Play-Dead

Gimme-A-Kiss

and Touch…

That’s quite a few for a dog that was shy and skittish when I first got him in December of 2008.

So, I’m planning something really special for his birthday… (His Got’cha-Day or as I’d like to call it, Birthday,) is on December 2nd. That’s only a couple months a way…

I’m going to do my best to find some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle decorations and throw him a party; I have a recipe I’ve been waiting to try out for just the occasion. A cream-cheese carrot cake! (It actually sounds very yummy, and the way it’s made for dogs is just as edible for humans.)

Why is this so special to me?

For a few reasons; One being he’s a very special little dog. Two, he deserves it after all he’s been through. Three, I always throw my pets a “birthday party”.

And lastly, and the most important to me is, he’s the first dog I’ve got to keep past 6  months.  I know it sounds sad, but as a kid and teenager you don’t have much say on what stays and what goes… So I’m going to try and make this a fantastic day, for the both of us!

I’m planning on compiling a few pictures, of sentimental value, and like everyone else does, put them in a slideshow with a song…

If anyone has any ideas on what song I could use, email me at: granhuslla@gmail.com

Monday, Oct. 5th 2009:

**A little memory…**

2 years ago to the date, my grandmother, [Grandma Jane], passed away after fighting a long battle with cancer… Although saddened with the empty prospect that I didn’t have her in my life long enough, I am reminded and grateful for the time I did have… (She would have loved Donatello most definitely!)

Alright, now on to today… I know I have been slacking with this whole *blogging* thing, but I think it would be good to type out all of my “proud moments” in a blog, then bog down the forum I belong too with “mindless-drivel”!! lol!

I set an alarm to wake-up at 7:00 this morning, it went off, I glanced out my window and concluded that it was, “too dark, and too rainy” to start the day… So instead Donatello and I slept until 9:00.

It was still rainy and dreary, but he managed to do his business outside without my assistance, woot! lol! Then I called him back inside, where he’s comfortably curled up on my bed, napping. (I’ll be joining him shortly, lol.)

Seeing that it is already 10am, and it’s still drizzling, it’s doubtful that we’ll do anything with our day today…

Talk to you soon!

August Updates:

Donatello is doing really good you all.

We had an episode, not last night but the night before. Something spooked him and he was under my desk, between it and a chair… Then I took him outside to go to the bathroom before I crated him one last time for the night.

On the way back downstairs to my room he decided he was going to “test the waters” and see what he could get away with. After deliberately ignoring my command I chased him down. (Not chase as in the literal term, but I did finally get a hold of him and led him downstairs.) He knew he had done wrong, not because I beat this dog, but he clearly remembers the wrath us humans can unleash upon him when he disobeys.

It was a fiasco getting him into his crate, for whatever reason… Finally, I gave him two tablets. Two of his anti-stress tablets. After the hour in his crate was spent I released him and he laid down comfortably on the bed beside me.

We were able to patch things up before bed.

The next morning, I gave him two more tablets to start the day with and he did fantastic. He played and romped with me, he ate, he listened to me, and he didn’t hold his usual grudge. His “grudges” are more or less him -pouting- and acting solemn the next day or two days… But he did fine, so apparently the *fiasco* didn’t have any temporary negative effects to his personality.

He’s doing great again today, he’s loose right now in my room, I’m only going to crate him once today, not three times… He has difficulty being crated when I’m in the room. When I’m out of the room and he believes I’ve left the house, he’s fine, but if I’m in the same room it upsets him and confuses him.

Aside from that he’s doing wonderful with the other dogs. The other dogs, especially the Pug-puppy, love having him here. Donatello plays fetch with me now, with a ball! How amazing is that? He found a soft-rubber red squeaky ball and brought it to me as if we’ve always played fetch.

He is doing amazing, providing our lives have been rearranged for the time being…

Pictures soon!

Next…

Well, Donatello’s doing great with “touch”. He really is, he’s able to touch whatever I put in-front of him… Like my sister’s BIG, SCARY, small red kick-ball. : P He’s reluctant at first, and after a few commands he’ll touch the object with his nose; Afterward he wasn’t nearly as scared of the ball coming at him like he was. That’s a good thing, right?

Last night, we had a playdate with ourselves… : ) Again. He romped around on my bed chewing and chasing after his toy… Then he’d stop, he’d go over and voluntarily “touch” the wooden post at the foot of my bed, (part of the bed-frame), then he came back and played with me some more. Then he jumped down, on his own, and went over and stuck his nose out and up at this big stuffed pig I have sitting in a corner. He didn’t “touch” it, but he came close enough and I guess established “it’s okay”, and jumped back up to play some more. ; )

He’s also learned another trick already, “Gimme a kiss,” It’s cute as Hell!! He’ll touch/lick the area under my nose above my lips, every time! I think it’s a great trick, it’s helping him open up to me even more… I think he’s gaining confidence to get close to my face, before he’d get close to my face, look as if he wanted to lick me, but then he’d shy away like he was scared of what I’d do to him if he did. Well now I’m “welcoming” him to it and he gets all beside himself when I lean in and say, “Gimme a kiss”. lol. It’s just a little lick, reminds me of a “peck on the cheek” type thing… lol. He can still “touch” all my fingertips, or just one… He certainly now knows when I say, “touch” it means whatever is in his face or whatever is held out for him…

Now we’re going to start working on something I think every dog needs to know… FETCH. He’s terrible at it, lol. Not only will he not play with a tennis ball but a squeak toy instead, when I throw it he’ll go get it, and bring it in the general vicinity of myself, but he won’t “bring it back”… So we’re working on it…

I cannot begin to express my happiness for Donatello. : ) He’s an amazing little dog, and the last few days it seems he’s really been enjoying life. : )

July 18th: Mistaken Identity… Epic Failure!

Let me first copy the thread from DF that I posted about Donatello’s epic failure yesterday.

“Okay. First off, I woke up, in a semi-good mood. : ) That sounds funny, but my mother would laugh and say, “That’s a first!” -.- Anyway… I walked outside to take Donatello to go pee/poop/whatever, it was beautiful outside. A gorgeous breeze, light and cool, it felt like spring-time/fall-time, really…

Anyway, I made the snap-decision to, “Hey, Donatello! Let’s go to the dog park!” We haven’t been there in months, and I’ve missed his friends as much as he has! lol!

I got dressed, we loaded up- I actually found a quicker way there! OMG! I didn’t waste near as much gas going to-and-from! : D Hooray!

So we get there, and being it’s a Saturday I was expecting a crowd… There really wasn’t. I was able to go into the Large Dog Pen instead; We met up with Steve, and his dogs Scooter and Emmy. : D They’re sweethearts, pretty old and mellow, Scooter is usually cantankerous, almost as much as Emmy… Anyway, introductions went well, (again). : )

So Donatello is just moseying along, when this older woman asked to bring in her niece’s black Lab puppy. 0.0 Steve said, “Oh sure, if there’s any riff-raff they’ll either work it out or we’ll leave.” Steve had just got done listening to me brag about Donatello’s accomplishments. The last time we met him Donatello was still a little “shy”, but you all know that Donatello has been making accomplishments in his “socialization”-department. Well, the puppy, which is still about 4 times bigger than Donatello comes in, doesn’t even do anything!, and Donatello tears after him with the intent to rip his throat out! Seriously! The woman starts screaming, and I screamed three times, “Donatello! Stop! Donatello! Come here! Donatello, COME HERE!” He stops, comes over to me and I put him in a “sit. stay”, his hair is standing on end from his neck to his tail! I was speechless! Steve suggested I just let them “work it out”. -.- There was nothing to work out, the puppy was just sniffing a patch of weeds!

I didn’t even release Donatello and he ripped out of my hands and started tearing after the puppy again! I screamed at him to “come here”!! So he did and I picked him up. The woman was petrified, “I came in here to socialize my dog, not for him to get eaten!” Accusing me of owning an “aggressive” dog. Steve just kind of chided her and said, “Now, now, he doesn’t really act that way, we don’t know what’s going on. We’re really sorry.” (Thank goodness for Steve.)

I was still going to leave, because I believe once a dog is riled up like that, “ready to fight”, it’s best to just leave… As I was leaving a few other people come in the next pen over, a small yappy white mutt, he/she get close to the fence and Donatello goes ballistic again, he jumps out of my arms, rushes the fence and starts trying to bite the dog through the fence!

I said, “Alright Donatello, that’s enough! We’re leaving!” He came trotting over to me, all proud of himself! -.- Steve was just as shocked as I was! He did great with Scooter and Emmy, he does great with my father’s dogs (all three of them), he’s done well with other strange dogs before too… I don’t know what got into him today!

So we left, and we probably won’t be back for another four months!

I have a theory though about the Lab puppy. Donatello doesn’t like Pit-Bulls or any dog that looks like the bully-breed… He flips out and becomes a lean-mean-fighting-machine with teeth on a leash! Only Pit-Bulls… Is it possible that he’s been put through hell involving that breed and now the image of that breed is imprinted in his mind? I have no other explanation… But this black Lab puppy looked like a Pit-Bull to me from far away, and until up close I didn’t realize it was a Lab myself, I think he was confused… : ( Which makes me sad, I don’t want him to act this way…”

Okay, but there’s more. The epic failure did not end there…

“But we had a “third” incident here at home when I took a walk with him to get the mail.

For the second day in row I’ve done this now, and I thought, “We’d be safe enough to walk to get the mail…” But no. We were ambushed by a Corgi puppy, who was friendly, but regardless, wasn’t greeting Donatello the proper way, I tried getting Donatello to “sit” but the puppy kept putting his/her nose right in his *ahem* crotch-area, and Donatello hates that, (because of the pug-puppy at my father’s house.) he can handle the butt-sniffing, but not the crotch-area. Anyway, the puppy was too hyper and the owner was standing on the other side of the road, speaking Spanish, hollering for the dog to come. I was livid! Finally Donatello had enough and started snapping viciously at the puppy so I had to pick him up out of reach, (still snapping) and the owner ran over and picked up his pooch. Walked back fifteen feet and set him down again! I didn’t mumble this, “Get your damn dog on a leash! IT’S THE RULES IDIOT!” Donatello is always on a leash around here, 1. It’s the LAW 2. It’s the RULES of the complex, 3. I don’t trust him around cats, and 4. I wouldn’t want Donatello doing to other people and dogs that others’ off-leash dogs do! It’s called common courtesy and respect…

Well, we were walking back up the hill and the f***ing puppy came at us again, and this time Donatello was prepared, he tolerated the puppy long-enough and obviously the puppy hasn’t been socialized with other dogs to know when “enough-is-enough”. So it crosses the street, I had Donatello’s leash wrapped tight around my hand to keep him at my side, I looked at the Spanish guy standing by his car, (hollering for it again), I grinned a devilish grin and let the leash unwind from my hand. Fortunately for the puppy he wasn’t across the street yet but Donatello took off and about had the puppy on the ground, a few yelps came out, Donatello turned and walked back to me, and the puppy went yelping back to it’s owner! The Spanish guy was obviously cussing me out in his language… But I didn’t care… I mean, do you see what he did?? Donatello wasn’t out for blood like with the Lab puppy at the dog park earlier today; It was apparent, all he wanted to do was to get his point across, once the puppy yelped a few times he walked, practically trotted, back to me with a grin on his face as well. There was no blood, but it was clear the puppy was shook up.

I normally don’t do anything like that, but I figured I’d teach the guy and the puppy a lesson he shouldn’t forget… I did call the office when I get home and made a complaint, they’re “supposedly” going to do something…

But I cannot walk Donatello around this apartment complex without encountering more than one off-leash dog that doesn’t listen to their owners! I can’t believe this many people who don’t follow the rules can live in one complex!”

How horrible was my day? The first day in several months I was able to swing it and take Donatello to the dog park, he had to act like a fool and embarrass me? I won’t be able to go for several more months, because of gas… I don’t find our lack of going to the dog park to be a concern and to be the trigger for his behavior yesterday. He has had more interaction with other dogs the last couple months, then he does when he goes to the dog park. I go to my father’s a lot and he has three dogs there, one being that Pug puppy. I just think that there was “bad energy” there yesterday, created when he thought that the Lab puppy was a Pit-Bull. : (

We did finish the day off with a good 30 minute romp in my room last night… The last few days, with the exception for the incidents yesterday, he’s really come out his shell even more. He plays with his toys again! Hooray! During the day when my sisters are home even, how cool is that? But last night, I’m laying there reading, and he’s just staring at me… He didn’t have to go out, he may have been hungry, but I don’t like to feed him before we go to bed… So I ask him, “What do you want?” and he jumps down, gets a toy and jumps back up… So at 9:00 last night for about thirty minutes we rough-housed with a toy! How cool is that??

I’m sure yesterday was not only a fluke, but an accidental mistaken identity…

Teaching “touch”:

Two days ago I started teaching Donatello, “touch”. I ask him to “touch” his nose to my fingertips. I pinch all my fingertips together, hold them out and say “touch”. I’ve started that from the beginning… “shaping the behavior”, like most people have suggested is complicated for Donatello, and then when he gets confused he gets scared… So I usually start teaching the trick as if he already knows it and just ‘forgot’… It’s worked thus far and it’s working this time!

July 8th we started… He knew I had treats, so instinctively he’d reach out and sniff my fingers, so I said, “Touch, good boy!” I did that at-least 50+ times. Near the end, I could tell his “lightbulb” was ‘flickering’, lol! It wasn’t on, and it wasn’t shining brightly, but I could just tell that in the next two days he’d be a pro at it.

So we stopped the session for the day… We continued through-out the day, every now and again I’d reach over and ask him to “touch”.

Yesterday we did another session… and I could tell his “lightbulb” was doing more than just ‘flickering’! He was reliably touching his nose to my fingers, and not just to ’sniff’ them!

If we do it today and tomorrow… I know he’ll have it down-pat! : D

Now I’ve just got to work on figuring out to incorporate that trick into other things…