Morning Routine

Hi y'all!

Leon and I are doing okay. I've been having some crazy syncope/heart stuff, so we've mostly been resting at home the past few days (got out for a few hours yesterday, but it was rough). I see my cardiologist on Thursday.

I saw this video on YouTube about a cat vs. dog trick contest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5dIB2oF6sQ&list=FLodC-thEUDY4sU51bK9uvLg&index=1&feature=plpp_video

It inspired me to do some "for fun" clicker training with Leon and Marzipan (I've really not done much training at all in a while, to be honest). Would be something fun for us to do while I'm here at home --mental stimulation for both animals (Marzipan will do ANYTHING for her Feline Greenies --and Leon, well, he's a Lab and loves FOOD --so he will work well for his kibble/special treats).

Here is a video I took this morning of our "morning routine" of doling out breakfast. Marzipan's "sit pretty" --I taught that using the clicker and shaping her behavior (it serves a purpose --keeps her from getting in the way while I'm pouring her food into her bowl).

Lastly, I leave you with this photo of Leon and Marzipan:

Until next time. :)

Food Bowl Retrieval

For those that remember the whole food bowl ordeal when Leon and I got home from training (where he suddenly decided he was terrified of his stainless steel food bowl and could not possibly retrieve it--even though he had been retrieving it for quite a while) --well, we overcame that issue after a little over a month of trial and error (and with help from knowledgeable people at Service Dog Central). He has retrieved the bowl without issue ever since.

Finally got a video of him retrieving and carrying the bowl. This was taken at college group last night --he had been running around playing and was thirsty --so he picked up his bowl and carried it to the water fountains. :)

I also got video of him playing, but have to fiddle with the video a bit, so I'll post that when I get it finished.

Sorry!

Holy cow! Has it really been 2 months since I have updated this blog?!? I am so sorry! Life has been a bit nuts for a while.

Leon and I are doing okay. We moved into my new apartment on December 1. He now has enough room to play inside if the weather is yucky and a big yard outside the building to play on (on a long line) when the weather is good.

I didn't wind up graduating with my M.S. I have a good GPA, but didn't pass one section out of three on my comprehensive exam, so I didn't get to graduate. :(

Trying to figure out where to go from here. Looking into another program --will be meeting the adviser in January to go over things. Looking for part-time work still.

Getting back into really working with my dog --I kind of went on auto-pilot a bit with him for the past month and a half and let some things slide that I shouldn't have. But we are working on it and he's still working wonderfully! He takes really good care of me!

The Wed. before Christmas, we went to Santa's Wonderland in College Station. HUGE place, lots of lights and people --very overstimulating place for me (but had fun) --Leon thought the hay ride was boring (he laid down and took a nap), but thought the hustle and bustle of Santa's Town was fun! He was a little sniffy here and there, but overall he kept his focus well and did fantastic!

At my family's get-together on Christmas Eve, he even handed out presents to everyone --and didn't drop a single one! :D

Have to head to bed soon, so I leave you all with a photo of Leon at the church before our Santa's Wonderland outing. And, yes, he wore those for the entire outing. :)

Filler Post

I did get video of our Rally runs at the dog show the weekend of the 8th and 9th, but I haven't uploaded them yet (I know...I've been slacking off in that area). I have an exam this week and comps this weekend, so I will try to get those videos up on Youtube before too much longer.

Life has been hectic and crazy. I had a 2 night hospital stay. Had medical tests done the past couple of weeks --have a new diagnosis to add to my slew of health issues (neurocardiogenic syncope --which explains my dizzy spells when I stand for more than a few minutes in one place). Getting ready to move into a new apartment hopefully sometime in November --graduating with my Masters in December. So I've understandably been behind on updating the blog!

Leon has been doing well --having a bit of an issue with him poking people with his nose when they walk within reach. Otherwise, he does his job well --we will be addressing this issue at our next session with our local trainer. He is a retrieving fool and also has gotten very proficient at throwing things away in the trash for me.

Anyway, today we went to the Fall Festival at a church I volunteer at with the youth group. He and I were butterflies!

We had fun --are both very tired from a long day of church, getting materials for the costumes (I already had my wings) and the Fall Festival.

Hi --Sorry it's been a while

School started in August and life has been crazy --have had a lot going on, so the blog kind of got pushed aside for a while.

Leon and I are doing okay. He really is a wonderful dog --his eagerness and enthusiasm for life inspires me. I mean, a dog doesn't really own anything --yet he is very happy. And he works so hard for me --all for kibble, praise and some butt scratches. Man, he LOVES to be praised --his eyes just light up. I love it.

Anyway, I'd like to let y'all know about my YouTube channel. I have a couple of videos of Leon posted and one of my cat Marzipan. Here's the link to my channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Agriculturemajor?feature=mhee

I know, Agriculturemajor ---I could have chosen a better name. But I was probably really tired and brain foggy when I made the account.

Here is my latest video, taken on Thursday the 5th at my allergist's office.

First, he wanted to lick the tasty leavings. Then he was too excited and eager, so he kept dropping the cup. But he finally did it! And even took a bow when I praised him, the big ham. :)

Leon and I will be competing in Rally Obedience Novice Level in a local show on Saturday and Sunday. I was wanting to enter in formal Obedience Novice, but have taken no classes nor have I had any experience with it. So we decided to go with Rally for right now. I am excited! It's going to be fun!

I'll see if my friend I am competing with can take video of our runs. She's competing in another class (Rally Advanced Excellent 2), so she may be able to.

Public Service-Dog Announcement

From a friend's blog, a must-read for all members of the public regarding service dogs and how to interact properly with a team:

http://blog.workndog.org/hopesclan/2011/08/25/public-service-dog-announcement/

Not much going on. We're still working on "put it in" (throwing something away in a wastebasket or dropping say, a shoe, into a basket.) We're having some difficulty --he still is insisting that the best thing to do is hand the object to me and will drop it on the floor if I insist otherwise.

This is something he's done successfully many times, but we're still working on consistency.

I will keep y'all updated.

Good dog :)

Leon and I had a good day yesterday! :)

We went to my allergist's office to get my next allergy shot. We parked out in the parking garage. In the waiting room, there were 2 boys playing with toys (making sound effects, rolling cars and a random single wheel around) --and Leon looked at them, but then immediately looked at me. He's really getting this "automatic attention" concept! After the shot, when we went back to the waiting room to wait out the 30 min we're required to (in case of allergic reaction), there was this toddler who kept coming up to me to show me his toy/book. Leon was under the bench I was sitting on and he stayed there --he adores little kids, so I was proud of him. :) And he's doing wonderfully at "find the car" --he took me right to it! :D

After that, went to PT and OT --and everything was as normal there --he had a good nap. :)

Went to the church for a meeting and then had some time before my group met, so we did some tasks for fun --he tugged off my sock 3 times, retrieved my shoe from across the room and threw away my water bottle (which is a big deal b/c we have been having trouble with "put it in" --he keeps wanting to hand the object to me instead of dropping it inside the basket/trash can.)

During my group meeting, he started yipping in his sleep under the table. One lady in my group said, "I didn't even know there was a dog in here!" When our group leader said she was transitioning to another topic for a moment, he groaned loudly in his sleep --and the leader said she was going to talk about it anyway. Haha.

So we had a good day. :D

I'm sorry I haven't put more photos here yet. I still have not been able to find the cord to my digital camera.