Who says my dogs aren't trained? Big Bad Collars.

I say it is all Brickle's fault he is not trained!  He made me lazy.  He is so well tempered.

He won't move until she is done.

From Phoenix, Arizona all the way to Tacoma

I AM SO GOING TO STEAL HER LAMP!

For the first time in 8 1/2 years, I left my children...not even a baby with me.  I was ecstatic and terrified at the same time.  The end result was I had a blast  And upon return, I did not find that the house had been hit by a wrecking ball.  All and all I would say a good trip!

When you live in this:

And you come from this:

You will take any excuse to visit this:

I went up to see my sister and the girls in the family.  On a lark, my sister and sister-in-law wanted to see a musical and realized that if they could get 10 people then they could buy discount tickets.  My sister put out an email blast to girlfriends and family girls...and by the end of the day they had people flying in from the east coast!  36 tickets were bought and an even bigger after party at her house!  Yes, I know you are dying to know...we saw Menopause the Musical...which was hilarious.  No I am not THAT old!...but old enough to think it would be fun to fly to another state to see it!

I flew in a couple days early so I could just hang out with my sister...something we have not been able to do in about 15 years.  I got to go to her work...she is a lawyer...and actually see her in court for the first time.  It was just a motion...no Perry Mason stuff that day...but fascinating for an ex-government teacher / baby sister.  We went grocery shopping (party hint #1 if you shop at multiple stores, stay aware that you have bought enough to feed an ARMY!...at EACH location!), cleaned the house, decorated the garden, chatted with her friends:  We got to be sisters, something we don't get a chance to do often enough any more.  Something we all need to do more often.

My sister has the prettiest house, built 1940 with a 1/4 acre lot that has a view of Puget Sound and complete with the sound of boat horns drifting up.  Since the yard is stepped, she has created little flower vignettes all over.

Other than life of the party, my only other party contribution was a recent hors d'oeuvres I created (the one I forced Gail to wrap with me as we left too late for another party, cough cough...).
I am a pinch of this, handful of that type of cook, so I will do my best to recreate the recipe.  I absolutely love this stuff:

PROSCIUTTO WRAPPED PESTO TUNA 

1.  five cans tuna, drained

2. about 1/3 jar Trader Joes Pesto 

(I recommend this because the garlic is mild

strong garlic overwhelms all the other flavors)

3.  Mayonnaise about 1/2 cup

(just enough to moisten and 

transfer the other ingredients)

4.  1 1/2 jars Trader Joes Artichoke Hearts

smashed and chopped

(again must be mild, not spicy or such)

5. 1/2 finely diced onion

6.  Mix Well

7.  1 bunch celery, chopped

8.  Mix Well

9.  3 or 4 tsp Safeway brand Capers, drained

10.  Mix Gently

11.  Cut Prosciutto slices in half

12. Wrap about 1 T Pesto Tuna Salad in each slice

The Tuna salad is good...but the prosciutto takes it to a whole new level, a must do!

Moral of the story:  Go hang out with your sister.  It's a well worth it adventure.

Awesome Dog Surprises Cop

I'M BACK!  (my husband always calls all caps "email shouting"...I always picture a cartoonish deaf old man with an old fashioned hearing horn writing...)

I think I am the only person on the planet who can go FROM Phoenix TO Tacoma and get a sunburn!  I had a great time visiting my sister...more on that later...in the mean time, something a friend from up there had on her facebook...it is stressful but guaranteed to make you smile at the end.

Training?...oh, THAT's what it's called. Big Bad Collars.

 PRINCESS MARCELLA.  

THANK YOU ANNETTE FOR THIS GREAT PICTURE!

You see there is this amazing concept out there...some people really swear by it even.  It's called training.  I even hear that if you try it, it can work!  Very well, even!

Over this past year I have gotten the chance to meet a really great group of people in the Phoenix Schutzhund Club.  Schutzhund, for those who may not know...like me a year ago...is the title for the kind of work Police Dogs do:  tracking, catching bad guys, patrolling (I know I have caused many heads to bow and shake in shame for me but I do not wish to describe something in depth beyond my own shallow knowledge.  I do know for a fact that it is amazing to watch these dogs work!  I highly recommend attending a competition sometime; it is especially great for kids to appreciate the vital roles dogs play in our lives...and exciting.)  Active members range from police to college students to tradesmen to professional trainers.

One of the guys from the club designed a beautiful custom collar for his Dobie little girl, Marcella.  But for her training, there are situations where an e-collar (electronic collar) is used.  (I learned you even do "snake training"...a necessity here in the desert...where a professional handler brings a defanged rattle snake to teach the dogs to not engage snakes when tracking...or any other time...back home I had a high school teacher who I think could have used this kind of training.  That woman was smaller than many of the dogs I work with; she was all of 5'2" and maybe 100 lbs on a high carb day.  She would sweep rattle snakes off her back porch with a broom each morning so she could enjoy her coffee overlooking the lake...never underestimate tiny elegant English teachers...)

So, John looked at this e-collar and knew there had to be a better way for the dog to wear it.  It looks terrible and is held in place by just a 3/4 inch plastic strap that cinches into the dog's neck.  I love learning how peoples' brains work...John clearly has an engineer's brain.  John brought the e-collar unit for me to mount inside a latigo collar.

The big decision in the first planning session was where to locate the electronic unit:  center it; next to the buckle and so on.  We decided to nest it next to the buckle as close as possible.  John was good enough to leave the unit with me for a week.  I am the kind of person that if I can stare at a problem long enough, then I can answer it.  Perseverance slays the dragon.

But the problem was I just wasn't happy with the design.  The fact is I just didn't feel the unit was secure nor did it fit well. Then, while messing with templates and scraps on the work table, it occurred to me to fit the unit into the buckle.  With that hurdle passed, it became possible to cinch a strap securely and make the mount removable too...in case the unit broke or just wasn't needed anymore.

To say John is a nice guy is an understatement.  He patiently ...and bravely... came back out to the house to face my mongrel untrained dogs, then the mongrel untrained children and then to put up with me chatting his ear off (In my pre-children life, I was a college and high school teacher...with a captive audience of 150 students per day.  Now my audience is reduced to just 3 under the age of 10.  Woe is the person who makes eye contact with me!).  We needed to size Marcella and check that the mount would be secure.  It was then that it was decided to punch 1/2 in sizing holes as well in order to get a precise fit.

Now the e-collar is secured by 1 1/2 inches of latigo leather.

And Voila:  the Modern Working Dog...and looking good doing it!

Thanks John...for an awesome idea and the patience for me to get it done!


SCHUTZHUND PHOTOS ARE PUBLIC DOMAIN PHOTOS UNDER "SCHUTZHUND"

This is one Smart dog. Big Bad Collars.

My brother (who has delusions of dog training grandeur just because he has the good fortune to live in the same house as Boomer the wonder hunting lab... who happens to humor him) sent me this video a couple years ago in an attempt to inspire me to train my dogs.  Well, we are almost up to "sit"...almost...(though I must say quite proudly that my dogs have done an excellent job training me!  They are such clever children...)




If you have more time, the second video is about 8 minutes and a very sweet (and truly inspiring) interview with Skidboots' owner.

Hero dog saves another dog. Big Bad Collars.

You may have already seen this, it has floated around the internet.  I remember when it was on the news last year.  It is just so amazing I thought it was worth the second glance.  This is just one of many reasons why my home will always have dogs.

Crazy Busy. Big Bad Collars.

Things are crazy busy here.  Stayed tuned for big goings on!