Monday, June 29, 2009

His time is always right ...

I was clearing out a closet today, decluttering and organizing it. I'm not surprised to find things out of place or even things I have forgotten I had. Speaking of the latter, I found one of my purses in the bottom of this particular closet. With a chuckle of delight I opened it thinking that I might start using it again. I found it almost empty and decided to check the zippered compartment ... my jaw dropped and I let out a little scream! There was cash in the pocket! What a blessing! I don't know know how long the purse was lost here (or even how it got into THIS CLOSET) and I am clueless as to what that money was doing in that strange little zippered pocket, but I do know that it was the RIGHT TIME to find it! Thank you, God!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Dog Training 101

The dogs we had when I was growing up, were untrained. And they lived outside. They'd wait by the door and try to run into the house whenever they could. We didn't bond with them.

Dog training promised to make the whole dog experience different for my children. I called around and set up a meeting in our home. This company claimed to have trained some "famous dogs" (used on TV and in movies). The price was high, but I assumed this was the company that a friend of mine had used and highly recommended.

When the trainer came for our first session, I told her that our dog was going to jump up on her when we opened the back door. She asked if I wanted the dog to jump on her. I said, "no."

"Ok, that's all I need to know," she said. I wondered how this petite little gal was going to stop our medium sized, over zealous dog from "greeting" her. She told me what she planned to do. She would lift her knee, hitting the dog in the chest, and the dog would fall back. She said it may take two times, but after that our dog would not jump up on her. This I had to see!

Taffy jumped up at the same time that she pulled up her knee. And just as she described it, our dog fell backward. One more attempt, with the same result and the deed was done. Never again did our dog jump up on this tiny lady.

Notice how I didn't say that she never jumped on us again ... you have to be consistent with the
knee.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Dog Psychology

Not long after we brought her home, we were robbed. We came home to find garbage on the floor and no sign of the dog.

We found her in the backyard, sitting INSIDE a large plastic tub. She just sat there and looked at us. She seemed to be ... depressed, or was she scared. Perhaps she had been traumatized by the burglar.

I made some phone calls to find out what could be done for a traumatized dog. After answering several questions, I was told that it didn't sound like she was having an emotional breakdown.

Now we knew that if she could get up on it or INSIDE it, she would. She liked to dig in the garbage, given the opportunity. And when she didn't look like she was laughing, she looked like she was sad or depressed. An odd contrast ... until you see it for yourself.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Our Dog

He agreed. Sounded like a good dog for us.
Next day, the kids and I went to see "our" dog.
She was out in the backyard ... chained up (I was oblivious to this first clue).

The second thought I had was about her size. She was MUCH BIGGER than Wishbone and not a Jack Russel terrior either. OK, she did have the shape of his face. I could have turned around and walked away at this point ... but my kids were enthused, and the dog was too.

They wanted her and they wanted to take her now. So home with us she came, along with a partial bag of dog food.

Somehow I missed the second and third clues ... she was chained up because she "does not do well with other dogs," we were told. "She likes to sit on furniture, too."

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Dawn of the Dog

"We're looking for a home for one of our dogs. Have you seen Wishbone on channel 8? She looks like Wishbone," the speaker said to our Sunday School class.

"Wishbone"... I looked pleadingly at my husband. He knew as well as I did that our kids wanted a dog. What better dog could there be than Wishbone? Surely this would be a highly intelligent, remarkably obedient pet!

She was up to date on her shots and at two years of age, was clearly over the chewing stage. What more could we ask for ...