Brain games and my "Le Penseu"

In last Friday's post, I mentioned that Bella and I were joining You Did What With Your Weiner's 30/30 Challenge.

With caveats.

You see, Bella has been sporting an injury for a few months now that, try as we might, we can't get diagnosed and on a road to recovery. So at the moment, the dog who needs exercise to manage her energy and behavior is on a restricted exercise regime. As of this writing we're up to a whopping "15 minute walks".

However, in an effort to maintain household harmony and keep the holy terror otherwise entertained, we have added 15-minute brain games to her activity roster. So she's getting a few 15-minute walks per day and at least one 15-minute "brain game" session. We're hoping this both meets the 30/30 Challenge requirements and keeps her from going 'postal' on Jan again in the near future.

And she's so good at these games.

She cheats, of course, any way she can figure out how. She knows the objective is to "get the treat" and doesn't much care for how the inventor of the game saw that happening.

We haven't had a cute Bella video here in a while so viola, ask you and you shall receive.

What do you mean you didn't ask? Really? I could have sworn I heard someone out there say "We really want to see a video of Bella and her 'brain games'!" No? Oh well, it's all I've got for tonight** so you're kind of stuck with it.



If you can't see the video here, click this link to watch it on Vimeo.

Some of the things I was working on here was her "wait" (Bella has trouble with impulse control) and a 'raised' playing field. (Bella just recently started having trouble reaching the floor due to her injury so I raised the game up instead of having her reach down for it. She has an elevated food station for dinner which is where I got the idea to raise the game.)

Of course, ultimately she out-smarts me and, as soon as I lift my hand from holding the game in place, she knocks it off the riser essentially winning 'the game'.

She's a smart one.

** I've been trying to create/publish this post since Monday evening but my computer is giving me nothing but grief. If this keeps up, I may be getting that Macbook sooner than expected.

Black & White Sunday: Snow nose

Follow up Friday 2

We are participating in Heart Like a Dog's "Follow-up Friday" Blog Hop. "The blog hop that lets you wrap up your week and leads you right into the weekend."

Thanks again to Jodi for this fabulous idea.



The 30/30 Challenge

This first entry doesn't count as a real follow up because we haven't posted about it. But since we'll be 'following up' weekly on our progress and we have to start somewhere, this seemed an appropriate place.

We are terrified proud to announce we have committed to joining You Did What With Your Weiner's 30/30 Challenge to walk for thirty minutes/day for thirty days. With a slight modification.

The Challenge is supposed to be for both dog and owner but my dog is in the middle of a strict rehab/assessment protocol and only up to 15 minute walks at this point. (Long story - stay tuned.) Her 'mother', on the other hand, had a few too many Christmas cookies and really needed some motivation to get her act together and back on the treadmill.

Well, I haven't gotten on the treadmill but I have gotten outside in the cold, cold, cold and walked my 30 minutes/day. It has not always been in one shot but I plan to change that now that I'm back in the routine of work and a regular schedule.

For Bella's part, we have added brain games to her daily routine and we have done so every day since the Challenge began. She's getting her walks around the yard and is back in her "Agility for Reactive Dogs" class so she's on track and looking good.

Happy New Year from the Crazy Dog

Our buddy, Roo, dropped by from Roo's Doins and asked if Bella was wearing a puppy snuggie in that picture. Pretty close, Roo, pretty close. We call it her bathrobe but it's really a towel. More specifically, it's the FURmitator's FUR Dry which you can read a review of here: Dog Tipper FUR Dry Review.

Bonus: Bella doesn't care much (read: is mortified by) her Thundershirt, but this FUR Dry bathrobe seems to have the same calming effects on her that the T-shirt does for other dogs while drying her and keeping her warm at the same time. Go figure.

Onward and upward

Another of our friends, Sage, of The (mis)Adventures of Sage fame asked what Bella was looking at in the picture. I'm afraid to say, nothing. Well, nothing that her mom's eyes could see anyway. Bella was quite taken by a scent on the air however her mom couldn't smell that either. ;)

And Roo noticed that Bella was wearing her EzyDog Chest Plate Harness in the picture. Good eyes, Roo.

To answer your mom's question "Does it help with pulling?" Somewhat. It definitely makes me feel I have better control over Bella when she does pull and I don't worry about her hurting herself because the chest plate takes the brunt of the force and spreads it across her chest, rather than focusing on her shoulders/throat like some harnesses do.

As to your question, "Is it comfortable?", I'll have to ask Bella to answer that one.

"Roof woof, roof, aroo, mumble."

I think that's: "Yes".

It looks comfortable and the chest plate is nicely padded and soft.

It took a little while for Bella to figure out she needs to put her foot through one of the holes and I resisted using the harness for a long time just for that reason. I'm glad I finally took the plunge though as Bella seems to like it and I feel a lot safer with it on her.

We'd also like to let Snoopy from Snoopy's Dogblog know that he is welcome to hoard all the snow for the rest of 2013. We've had enough already and it hasn't even started. ;)

So I think that completes this week's follow up. If you do have questions on any of our posts, don't hesitate to ask and I'll try my best to answer them on Fridays.

Thanks for dropping by and we hope you enjoy your weekend!

PeeS - Jodi, if you happen to see this, you asked previously if we'd be interested in co-hosting the hop someday. While I have no idea what's involved in that effort, the answer is still definitely "Yes!" Let us know here or drop us an email. We really enjoy this idea and thank you for inviting us all to share in it.

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Thankful Thursday - Awards catch-up #2

I really need to thank Dachshund Nola for being one of our biggest supporters over the year we've had the blog.  Back in June, she gave us this Sunshine Award and we're finally getting around to thanking her personally for it. Our gratitude should not be measured by our lassitude.

(Honestly, I am trying to catch up and if you've been kind enough to give us an award, please know it is appreciated and we'll be sharing that information here soon.)

So you know the drill - there are some rules to accepting the Sunshine Award but they're pretty simple: Answer 7 questions and pass the award on to 10 people and let them know they've received it.

1. Favorite Number? 23
2. Favorite non-acholalic beverage? Unsweetened iced-tea with lemon.
3. Facebook or Twitter? Hmm, both? I find them to be very different - one connects me with friends and family, the other introduces me to new friends with whom I share similar interests.
4. Your Passion? Eek. Well now, that's a big question, isn't it? I can get it down to maybe three things: nature, animals, music. For what it's worth...
5. Favorite Pattern? If I had to pick one, I guess it would be paisley. Paisley's a pattern, right? (No Martha Stewart, here. ;)
6. Favorite Day of the Week? Sunday
7. Favorite Flower? Hmm. So, I'm a gardener and there is no end to the flowers that have caught my fancy over the years. There is one, however, that endures in captivating me for its simplicity: the Shasta daisy. There is just something so pure and eternal in its grace.

I wanted to give the Sunshine Award to blogs that make me smile and bring a little light into my day. I apologize if you have already received this award. Without further ado, allow me to pass this award along to:

Roo's Doins - Roo is one of the coolest dogs in the 'ville and his mom is super crafty, great with Photoshop and apparently never sleeps. Whenever I want to check out a dog that just makes me smile, I go visiting. Seriously silly and all sweetness.

Hey, It's Jet Here - Everybody knows Jet because it seems that Jet knows everybody. Jet and his mom manage to make it out to everybody's blog to say hi and keep in touch while also posting Every. Single. Day. Sometimes they're funny, sometimes informative, sometimes just supportive, encouraging or thankful. Always worth a visit.

The (mis)Adventures of Sage - I have a confession to make: I have a crush on Sage. Don't tell Bella. Although Bella might actually like Sage. Sage is a crazy little mischief-maker who loves nothing more than she loves mud. Seriously. The blog 'chronicles' her adventures, has LOTS of pictures and stories and Sage. You really should follow the pretty dog.

How Sam Sees It - I think everyone probably already knows Sam and Monty of "How Sam Sees It". The blog has been active since 2009! They are a recent discovery for me though and a lovely find at that. Sam and Monty are Golden Retrievers sharing their adventures with us. Another blog full of good stories, great pictures and pretty dogs. What's not to love?

Dexter the Wonder Dog - Living in the shadow of "Mango, Relentlessly Huge", Dexter the Labradork may have not have been noticed for his very own large personality. But now, with his very own blog, it is on full display. This blog will make you laugh. And adore Dexter.

(Click here to see my disclaimer about why I'm only nominating 5 blogs.)

Thank you very much, Dachshund Nola. As always, you honor us with your consideration.

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WW 72 - Onward and upward