Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

Rottweilers. Computers. Cameras. World Domination. Not necessarily in that order.

Rottweilers.
Computers. Cameras.
World Domination.
Not necessarily in that order.

National Pet Fire Safety Day

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Today is the third annual National Pet Fire Safety Day. I am embarrassed to admit that even though I am a firefighter’s wife and our dogs, cats, and bird are all important parts of our family, this is the first year I was aware of this observation.

According to data from the National Fire Prevention Association, almost 1,000 house fires annually are accidentally started by pets (I would certainly hope that beloved house pets aren’t starting fires on purpose rather than by accident). I’m a big believer in crates, kennels, and gates to help keep pets out of the kitchen and away from other possible danger sources when no one is home to monitor what they are doing, but I can totally understand how these accidents happen. We have been very lucky in that most of our pets have not been counter surfers. But among the many “Heidi stories” that we laugh at now, but were not quite as funny then, is the time she turned on the oven, then barked to alert us that something might be on fire. Fortunately, we were home at the time, nothing did catch on fire, and the oven was on for less than 15 minutes total.

In addition to the obvious tips about stove knobs, candles, and other open flames, one of the things mentioned in the article is something I would have never thought of in a million years: a glass water bowl on a wooden deck, magnifying the sun’s rays and possibly starting a fire.

Another important topic is planning for your pets’ safe escape or rescue in case of a house fire by having collars and leashes easily accessible to you or rescuers, and a window cling to show the number of pets in your home.

I was hoping to end this with a cute video of Freya or Axel demonstrating “stop, drop, and roll” for you all, but we’re still working on “roll.” Who knew they wouldn’t want to roll on cue?

(NaBloPoMo | July ’10: 15 of 31)

Freya’s thyroid panel results

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Freya’s thyroid panel results came back today, and everything looks normal. Not low-normal, normal. It looks better than the last one we did not quite two years ago. We also did a regular blood chemistry panel, and everything looks fine there, too.

On the one hand, it’s good to know that everything looks fine with her health right now. She’ll be seven years old in November, so she’s well into Rottweiler middle age. On the other, since I’m her primary trainer and handler, her recent training issues then point straight back at me and my less-than-stellar dog training abilities. Ouch.

Although yesterday’s exercise in gratitudinaety definitely put me in a better place, I’m still not sure where I want to go with my training and trialing plans for Freya. Remember that the big question that remains:

How can I help this dog to live with more joy and be more connected to me?

If Freya is not finding any joy in training and competing in rally obedience with me, does that mean I need to find a way to make it fun for her again, or let her retire and just be a plain old dog? I’ve retired dogs before, but it’s always been for health reasons, not because they just didn’t want to play the game or do the job any more, so I’m not quite sure how to handle this yet.

I so wish she could talk.

Whatever I decide, I am still grateful for this sweet girl who is sleeping upside down on the loveseat right this minute, just like yesterday’s photo.

(NaBloPoMo | July ’10: 14 of 31)

With gratitude

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My computer bookmarks are not always well-organized. This means that sometimes I can’t put my finger on something I need right away. But it can also mean that something might surface right when I need it most.

Like this post, Behaving Gratitudinaeously, from Susan Garrett’s agility training blog. She suggests going through this exercise (and no, it is not a training exercise) with each one of your dogs, and if you are struggling with a particular dog’s training, to start with that one. Right now, that would definitely be Freya.

I want to share a couple of the “gratitudinaeous” moments I thought about as I went through the exercise.

See him at home on the first day, how curious he was, how crazy you are about him.

This was the evening of Freya’s first day home. She’s getting the lowdown on how to be a vom Viersen Rottweiler from our grand old man Oscar.

Next visualize that dog the last time you saw him sleeping in his favourite place around the house, where is he? What position is he in?

This is one of her favorite sleeping positions. She will often be found upside down on the floor, and even in her crate.

Think about how much you love that dog and how grateful you are to have him in your life.
I haven’t done this often enough lately, so today I am also grateful to Susan Garrett for writing her post, and to whatever powers of the universe brought it back into my sights when I needed to see it.

Now put this question out there for your “higher power” or just throw it on out there into the universe. “How can I help this dog to live with more joy and be more connected to me?”
This one I’m still working on, and while I don’t yet have the answer, I’m much more confident of finding the right one after thinking of all of the things that make me grateful to have Freya in my heart and my home.

(NaBloPoMo | July ’10: 13 of 31)

Random dog-related thoughts

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Because I just don’t have enough to say about any one thing today.

  • I thought it would be cute to teach “stop, drop, and roll” to the dogs for National Pet Fire Safety Day, which is Thursday, July 15. “Stop” and “drop” were no problem since they already know the moving stand, down in motion, and drop on recall. But who knew that “roll” would not be quite so easy to teach, especially to dogs who roll each other daily while wrestling? Thursday is not looking good, but maybe we’ll be ready for National Fire Prevention Week in October!
  • I just realized that if Axel might actually be a stud dog one day, I need to put together a packet with his photos, pedigree, health certificates (I know, I know: cardiac and DNA), and other “credentials.” Finally, one of those rare moments in the dog game where my print production background is going to be useful! Axe is not holding his breath since he still has only a gallery and no real website.
  • Speaking of Axe, we were watching Backdraft the other day. More specifically, I was watching Backdraft while Axe and Freya were napping nearby. Someone on screen said, “Hey, Axe” (one of the characters in the movie) and Axe the Rottweiler picked his head up, looked around sleepily, and resumed his nap. Okay, maybe you had to be there.

(NaBloPoMo | July ’10: 12 of 31)

Oliver and the great outdoors

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Even though we live right near the edge of the city in a barely-urban residential neighborhood, there’s still enough traffic on our street that I’d never be comfortable with having any of our cats running completely loose outdoors. While Annie doesn’t appear to have any desire to either go outside or interact with the dogs, Oliver always seems very disappointed when the dogs go out in the yard without him. He’d watch them through the window, or if we accidentally left the kitchen door open, he’d stand up on his hind legs and try to watch them through the storm door.

At first, an enclosed cat playground seemed like a great idea, despite the stratospheric prices. I still think that, especially in the larger configurations, it would be a safe place for Oliver to have fun outside. Or at least, it would be fun until Axel decided to mark the playground and the kitty inside. High price is one thing I might be able to get past, but giving the dog the opportunity to pee on the captive cat? Deal breaker!

So it’s back to the cheaper and probably more logical plan of a harness and leash. Notice I didn’t say easier. An attempt to harness-train Oliver as a kitten didn’t go particularly well, even though I suspect we just gave up too quickly. For this attempt, I bought a Coastal Size Right harness in the largest size available (12″-18″) and a 6′ lead for a total of about $8.

This time, it didn’t go too badly. Oliver’s attempts to bite me were half-hearted and didn’t even draw blood. He did try to wriggle out of the harness at first, but he gave up much more quickly than I expected. Like most cats, he doesn’t really walk on leash. He mostly just sits or stands there and moves only when an approaching dog or dog toy requires him to do so.

He was a bit overwhelmed at first, but now that we’re a few days into it, he does seem to enjoy being out in the fresh air and sunshine with his Rottweiler siblings.

(NaBloPoMo | July ’10: 11 of 31)