Axel

Late to the party again: doggie nail file

July 26, 2009 by kathi

As you know, I’m often late to the party, like I was with the FURminator. Coincidentally, it’s another dog grooming aid that’s been around for a while, but that I’ve never tried until now: Shirley Chong’s Doggie Nail File.

A while ago, Denise told me that the owner of one of Axel’s half-siblings used a similar device to keep his dog’s nails short. I mentioned Shirley Chong’s article, and then kind of forgot about it.

I am guilty of not keeping my dogs’ nails at a perfect length. Neither one is very good about at-home nail trimming (although Freya will roll over on her back to have her nails trimmed at the vet, go figure). I was near the hardware store today and figured this was worth a try. Easier than wrestling the dogs into submission and hog-tying them for nail trims (you don’t think I really hog-tie my dogs, do you? Although if you’ve ever had a dog that was bad about nail trims, you’re not objecting to the practice either, are you?) and cheaper than taking them to the vet or groomer.

I already had a board that was close to the suggested size: my board was a 1 x 8 (if anyone can tell me why 1 x 8s are not in fact 1″ x 8″ I would love to know, by the way), 30 inches long. I spent the huge sum of $7.59 for a 1.5-foot length of 4″ and a 1.5-foot length of 2″ 3M Safety Walk Tape. I did not cover the entire board so I would have a non-rough area to grab.

As I’ve mentioned before, Axel was raised by a cat, so it was insanely easy to show him that I wanted him to scratch the board. He seemed to know what to do with a “scratching post” when I showed him with my hand, and then took his paw to demonstrate what I wanted him to do. I did not need to use the clicker at all, and I barely needed to give him any food rewards. Freya, however, tried to raise that cat to be a dog, and she really didn’t want to scratch the board, even with food, praise and clicker. We’ll try again, though, as she wasn’t violently objecting or anything, just very uninterested.

I’ll get some pictures or video at a later date, for those of you who are late to the party like me.

If you haven’t visited Shirley Chong’s site before for this great tip or a number of excellent training articles, visit or bookmark it now!

(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 26 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 183 of 274)

What a catch!

July 15, 2009 by kathi

As promised earlier this week, here’s proof that Axe can do more than just chase the frisbee. He actually catches it, too!

Good boy, Axe!

He now has his own frisbee photo gallery. Axe is special like that. Right now, there are a few additional photos in it that haven’t already appeared here. We hope to finally get that “money shot” and a few more action shots, and maybe a video, too, before we’re done.

(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 15 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 172 of 274)

Not just a pretty show dog

July 12, 2009 by kathi

Axe wants you all to know he is not just a pretty boy. He has x-treme sports skills, too. Well, I don’t know about x-treme, but he is getting much better at catching the frisbee. Unfortunately, I’m not getting any better at remembering to have a camera on me whenever we go outside. Plus, today Axe didn’t bring his “A” game and his catch percentage was on the low side. So we have no pictures of actual catches. These two turned out pretty nice, though. Once again, behold the beauty that is Axe!

Unfortunately, a later shot in the sequence showed the frisbee bouncing off his face. He is not allowing me to post it.

He still has fun with the misses. He chases after them and pounces on them like a cat. Remember, he was raised by Oliver, the kittyweiler.

Hopefully, we’ll soon have some photos of actual frisbee catches.

(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 12 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 169 of 274)

Free Flash and graphics that I do like

July 11, 2009 by kathi

I know I have ranted in the past about free Flash website introductions and the so-called webmasters who think these non-unique creations are making their websites better. That does not mean I am against all free stuff, though.

If you can customize it enough to make it your own without violating someone else’s intellectual property rights, I’m fine with it. If you are trying to get started learning by analyzing someone else’s work, I’m fine with it if they are.

FlashDen, along with the other Envato Marketplace sites, is now offering a free file of the month. July’s file is a nice photo gallery with quite a few customization options. I am a fan of FlashDen in general. As someone who is very weak in Flash but who needs to use it for projects now and then, I really appreciate having a good source of affordable and customizable Flash files like FlashDen. Not every file is a master work, but the buyer ratings and comments help in selecting something that is worth the price.

I also try to remember to log in to iStockPhoto weekly to grab the Free Image of the Week. It’s not always something I can use right away, or maybe ever, but I’ve definitely grabbed a few images that fit into themes that will come up in time. Again, I am a fan of the site for its reasonably priced royalty-free stock photography. I am not a great photographer, so when I can’t provide my own photo illustration for a project, it’s good to have an affordable source with quality images to choose from.

Some free stuff is definitely worth a lot more than the asking price!

Quick Rottweiler update: Freya is now in the stopped-up phase of her current IBS digestive upset episode. I always worry about a blockage at this point, even if she seems like she is feeling better. She is usually back to normal about 24 hours after the stopped-up phase so hopefully I can stop worrying tomorrow evening. Axel has some tummy troubles of his own today, but probably related to either grazing (most all of our dogs have been like black and tan cows and I wish I knew what kind of grass might taste bad to Rottweilers) or heat. Since we have had almost no actual warmth this summer, the heat seems to be affecting both dogs a little quicker than usual.

Quick jagoff update: Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised, but a few jagoffs still have firecrackers left over from last weekend. Guess where I would like to shove those firecrackers (hint: like Butt Rocket, only with higher-powered explosives).

(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 11 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 168 of 274)

Rottweiler ramblings

July 10, 2009 by kathi

Freya is having another bout of IBS-related digestive upset. Since her last episode was only a month ago, I’m a little concerned. Her diet hasn’t changed and although we are trying to prepare for a trial on July 25, I didn’t think that we were training hard enough to raise her stress level in any significant way. Mine, yes: maybe she’s picking up on that? I’ve read a lot about the effects of diet and supplements on IBS. I know that stress can worsen IBS, but I don’t really know much about it. Time to do some research.

Axel almost gave me heart failure by escaping the yard to visit another dog. Across the street. Since we live on a busy street, and he is not always great with other dogs, this was a high stress situation indeed. He did not get hit by a car, he and the other dog sniffed each other and did not fight, and he was kind of oblivious to the other dog’s people. Yes, I am thanking God profusely for the non-dramatic outcome.

What bothers me the most, though, is that someone apparently unclipped the front gate sometime between 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., which is why Axel was able to get out so easily. This is the front gate to our back yard, which is set back quite a distance from the sidewalk. The meter reader, the UPS delivery person, or our lawn service might leave it unclipped after exiting the back yard. None of them would have been there at that late hour. There is pretty much no reason for anyone uninvited to be near that gate in the evening.

There are a number of jagoffs in the neighborhood, but I hope this was just a one-time thing with some kid messing around. I don’t want to think that someone nearby is that big of a jagoff to purposely unclip our gate to create a potential problem. I really don’t want to have to put a padlock on the gate, and inconvenience ourselves, the meter reader and the lawn service guys just because of the existence of jagoffs.

(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 10 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 167 of 274)