next week, we'll have a new, yet to be named baby girl puppy in the house!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
new puppy!
i suppose we'll change the blog title as theres a new addition on the way.
next week, we'll have a new, yet to be named baby girl puppy in the house!
next week, we'll have a new, yet to be named baby girl puppy in the house!
Monday, August 4, 2008
tin can camping
this weekend we took our maiden voyage with our newly purchased 2005 22' safari.. wheeeeee!
we went south towards santa barbara, to the santa ynez mountains & met some friends at the upper oso campground.
Of course, we brought our best camping buddy with us, beef!!!
guard doggin:
after a roll in the dirt:
poking his head out of the top of his kennel in the pathfinder, a move we call, "the alligator"
we went south towards santa barbara, to the santa ynez mountains & met some friends at the upper oso campground.
Of course, we brought our best camping buddy with us, beef!!!
guard doggin:
after a roll in the dirt:
poking his head out of the top of his kennel in the pathfinder, a move we call, "the alligator"
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Beef turns One!
Beef's Birthday!
Our wonderful little buddy turned one today... we gave him ice cream and cannolis ( made for dogs) to celebrate.
we love you beefers!
Our wonderful little buddy turned one today... we gave him ice cream and cannolis ( made for dogs) to celebrate.
we love you beefers!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Indiana / Chicago Trip
June 19th - 23rd we took a trip to indiana for my grandparent's 65th wedding anniversary. along came beef, as always.
we stayed in a great rental house with many of my relatives. it had a huge backyard to play in.
we went to explore the dunes state park, near lake michigan
and we walked all around chicago
most of the time, we carried beef in his sturdi bag
all that traveling makes a beef tired.
we stayed in a great rental house with many of my relatives. it had a huge backyard to play in.
we went to explore the dunes state park, near lake michigan
and we walked all around chicago
most of the time, we carried beef in his sturdi bag
all that traveling makes a beef tired.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Beefs dusty desert weekend
This weekend we went camping with a group of pals on a dry lakebed in the mojave desert, near ridgecrest, ca.
We brought beef with his new ruffwear boots to protect his feet from all the sharp volcanic rocks and random sharp things (metal & glass) that seem to be all over the place in the hills. Another dog was there, a young olde english bulldog named haley & they had a blast playing all weekend!
on a hike, the lakebed behind him
hanging out on a chair
fun with hulahoops
hiking dog
desert skies at dusk
dirty
dirtier
dirtiest! (someone found the ultimate sunbeam)
very dirty dog!
We brought beef with his new ruffwear boots to protect his feet from all the sharp volcanic rocks and random sharp things (metal & glass) that seem to be all over the place in the hills. Another dog was there, a young olde english bulldog named haley & they had a blast playing all weekend!
on a hike, the lakebed behind him
hanging out on a chair
fun with hulahoops
hiking dog
desert skies at dusk
dirty
dirtier
dirtiest! (someone found the ultimate sunbeam)
very dirty dog!
Monday, May 5, 2008
dog pron. viewer discretion is advised
bom chika bom - bommmmm..
lookout, ladies. hes barely legal. i think.
lookout, ladies. hes barely legal. i think.
a cornucopia of the beeferton pics
beef poolside in palm springs
showing us the chickenbutt/frogleggs
BATHTIME?!?!?!?! oh noes.
i has a stick.
i has a giant tennis ball!
i rule the albany bulb!
beach time!
showing us the chickenbutt/frogleggs
BATHTIME?!?!?!?! oh noes.
i has a stick.
i has a giant tennis ball!
i rule the albany bulb!
beach time!
long awaited update?
lots of beef to update here!
ok, so last weekend we went to palm springs, to the coachella festival. we brought beef with us, since we had a retal house with a few friends & there was a pool. it was a must to get beef in the pool. heres how it went:
beef has a lifejacket, just to make things easy for him. fortunately, it makes carrying your pup a sinch!
not very happy about this idea, at all.
and him being highlarious.
ok, so last weekend we went to palm springs, to the coachella festival. we brought beef with us, since we had a retal house with a few friends & there was a pool. it was a must to get beef in the pool. heres how it went:
beef has a lifejacket, just to make things easy for him. fortunately, it makes carrying your pup a sinch!
not very happy about this idea, at all.
and him being highlarious.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Shark mouth!
beef has a newfound love of hanging from his sock. I fear this will inevitably lead to his teeth getting yanked out, but hes having fun for now... he seems to love flying!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
another LA trip
we went to LA last weekend for the angels & airwaves show at the wiltern, then hit up a boston terrier meet up in brentwood for a bit.
lots of boston action!
more pics from the meet up are here
then we went & met up with Floyd the pug
flpyds pretty cute
but im partial to this guy
lots of boston action!
more pics from the meet up are here
then we went & met up with Floyd the pug
flpyds pretty cute
but im partial to this guy
Monday, March 3, 2008
Thursday, February 7, 2008
beefy at the vet!
Mack took beef to the vet yesterday to get his heath certificate as we're all flying to Seattle for the weekend, celebrating Macks 30th birthday, visting our good friend Danielle, and catchign a killer show by our pals pete & Tim, otherwise known as bassbin twins & uberzone.
21. 7 lbs!!!
21. 7 lbs!!!
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Staying Power
We recently met with another trainer from Superdog. This time we focused on down/stay, sit/stay, leave it, and a little bit of the come command.
Beef is an solid B+ student when it comes to learning new things. I'd give him an A if he wasn't such a little stinker when he tests us here and there on his commands. He is smart and knows how to work the system, so we are put to the test every now and then when we give him a command. He has been stellar with the Heal and Back commands when we walk him and it makes him much more of a joy to walk with. Meaning he doesn't tug on the leash or try to eat everything he can.
Anyway, about this training session:
For the down/stay command we spent time putting Beef in the down position, which is basically a lay down position. And then we would give him an immediate stay command. The thing I learned immediately is that when I was saying "Stay" before, I was doing it the wrong way. Stay should be a one time command and then you should turn and walk away as you want to and not look back and not move away slowly from the animal. The idea is that you create the type of situation you want him to respond to. I was creating a type of nervousness where I would walk away slowly, watching the dog and repeating "Staaaaaaaaay", "stayyyyyyyy" and giving repetitive hand signals and ultimately this wasn't being very effective.
While Beef was in Down/Stay we created lots of distractions. We would walk in and out of the door, talk with each other and the trainer, throw his toys and things around him to make him interested. And if he began to get up or show interest in a toy, we'd give him a "leave it command" or say "no" and then give him another "down and stay" command. He did very well.
The ultimate goal is to be able to get Beef to be down and stay for 30 to 60 minutes at a time without him trying to get up and walk away. So far this week he has done very well. At one point he kept getting up and it was confusing why he would keep getting up because he was doing so good, but then all of a sudden he started peeing. So, the lesson here is: When your dog is doing very good at something and then all of a sudden doesn't do it, he's probably gotta pee, very badly. So, lesson learned.
We also went over the Sit/Stay command and had Beef sit for 5 to 10 minutes at a time. It's not as comfortable of a position for dogs and especially on tile that is slippery can be difficult for them to stay up long. So he did very well with sit/stay also.
When we did want to release Beef from any of our Stay commands we would use "CLEAR" to have him come over to us and then give him praise and pet him and so on.
We also went over and taught Beef how to "Upsit" from a down position. He is off and on with this one and occasionally needs a slight lift up assist to get him up, but he's learning it quickly.
We are taking Beef to Seattle with us this coming Friday the 8th, so that should be fun for him. We got a new airplane travel bag for him and he will reside under the seat as usual. We'll be sure to post some pics of Beef on the big trip.
Beef is an solid B+ student when it comes to learning new things. I'd give him an A if he wasn't such a little stinker when he tests us here and there on his commands. He is smart and knows how to work the system, so we are put to the test every now and then when we give him a command. He has been stellar with the Heal and Back commands when we walk him and it makes him much more of a joy to walk with. Meaning he doesn't tug on the leash or try to eat everything he can.
Anyway, about this training session:
For the down/stay command we spent time putting Beef in the down position, which is basically a lay down position. And then we would give him an immediate stay command. The thing I learned immediately is that when I was saying "Stay" before, I was doing it the wrong way. Stay should be a one time command and then you should turn and walk away as you want to and not look back and not move away slowly from the animal. The idea is that you create the type of situation you want him to respond to. I was creating a type of nervousness where I would walk away slowly, watching the dog and repeating "Staaaaaaaaay", "stayyyyyyyy" and giving repetitive hand signals and ultimately this wasn't being very effective.
While Beef was in Down/Stay we created lots of distractions. We would walk in and out of the door, talk with each other and the trainer, throw his toys and things around him to make him interested. And if he began to get up or show interest in a toy, we'd give him a "leave it command" or say "no" and then give him another "down and stay" command. He did very well.
The ultimate goal is to be able to get Beef to be down and stay for 30 to 60 minutes at a time without him trying to get up and walk away. So far this week he has done very well. At one point he kept getting up and it was confusing why he would keep getting up because he was doing so good, but then all of a sudden he started peeing. So, the lesson here is: When your dog is doing very good at something and then all of a sudden doesn't do it, he's probably gotta pee, very badly. So, lesson learned.
We also went over the Sit/Stay command and had Beef sit for 5 to 10 minutes at a time. It's not as comfortable of a position for dogs and especially on tile that is slippery can be difficult for them to stay up long. So he did very well with sit/stay also.
When we did want to release Beef from any of our Stay commands we would use "CLEAR" to have him come over to us and then give him praise and pet him and so on.
We also went over and taught Beef how to "Upsit" from a down position. He is off and on with this one and occasionally needs a slight lift up assist to get him up, but he's learning it quickly.
We are taking Beef to Seattle with us this coming Friday the 8th, so that should be fun for him. We got a new airplane travel bag for him and he will reside under the seat as usual. We'll be sure to post some pics of Beef on the big trip.
Monday, January 28, 2008
the good the bad & the disgusting.
the good:
we're all going to seattle on the weekend of Feb 8th! visiting with beefs auntie juju & maybe even a boston terrier playday? who knows...we're excited to take the trip & bring beef, tho. since hes terribly big for his first carrier, tho, i got him a nice navy blue sturdibag for the adventure.
also, this past weekend, we left beef at home for the full day so we could go snowboarding a few hours away. we limited his food & water in the morning, took him on a solid walk so he could get everything out early on & took off, hoping for the best...we were gone almost 12 hours & beef was fast asleep when we got home & a very happy boy. in the future, for these day trips, im going to make sure we planned ahead for someone to come walk him, or to watch him for the day so we dont have to stress about having him alone for so long.
the bad:
at the park yesterday, it was very very muddy. Beef got very very muddy & i wish we took pics, coz it was very very adorable, of course. i dont even recall what happened, it all happened in such a flurry of dogs rushing past me, but i lost my balance & fell butt first into a huge puddle of mud & whok nows what else. im not sure who was dirtier that day, beef or myself.
the disgusting:
i heard beef rustling around int he kitchen & walked in on him fully IN the litterbox, eating...well, everything he could eat. and then we have everything that was mushed and smeared all over his face. sigh. a truly low point right now.
we're all going to seattle on the weekend of Feb 8th! visiting with beefs auntie juju & maybe even a boston terrier playday? who knows...we're excited to take the trip & bring beef, tho. since hes terribly big for his first carrier, tho, i got him a nice navy blue sturdibag for the adventure.
also, this past weekend, we left beef at home for the full day so we could go snowboarding a few hours away. we limited his food & water in the morning, took him on a solid walk so he could get everything out early on & took off, hoping for the best...we were gone almost 12 hours & beef was fast asleep when we got home & a very happy boy. in the future, for these day trips, im going to make sure we planned ahead for someone to come walk him, or to watch him for the day so we dont have to stress about having him alone for so long.
the bad:
at the park yesterday, it was very very muddy. Beef got very very muddy & i wish we took pics, coz it was very very adorable, of course. i dont even recall what happened, it all happened in such a flurry of dogs rushing past me, but i lost my balance & fell butt first into a huge puddle of mud & whok nows what else. im not sure who was dirtier that day, beef or myself.
the disgusting:
i heard beef rustling around int he kitchen & walked in on him fully IN the litterbox, eating...well, everything he could eat. and then we have everything that was mushed and smeared all over his face. sigh. a truly low point right now.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Beef in Training
Friday we had a visitor to the apartment, a nice trainer named Melissa from SuperDog Inc., a network of trainers in the bay area, all utilizing the same "dog psychology type of skills". She met with us for close to 3 hours and taught us some very valuable lessons about certain body language when dealing with Beef, and also certain ways he reacts to these gestures.
The basic idea was to establish yourself as the dominant pack animal above him, and to not allow his overtaking, reacting as the alpha dog would when a lesser pack member would act up..sorta.
What we ended up was instant results with jumping, biting, heel commands & really honing the social dynamic we expect.
Mack & i were very pleased in the results we had & will continue to work with beef on these aspects. his next class day is the night of the Feb 1st.
The basic idea was to establish yourself as the dominant pack animal above him, and to not allow his overtaking, reacting as the alpha dog would when a lesser pack member would act up..sorta.
What we ended up was instant results with jumping, biting, heel commands & really honing the social dynamic we expect.
Mack & i were very pleased in the results we had & will continue to work with beef on these aspects. his next class day is the night of the Feb 1st.
Friday, January 11, 2008
choppy chop
so this morning, we got up bright & early to drop beef off at the vet's office to get fixed. not that we thought he was broken, but his manly bits had to go. he was so clueless when we dropped him off, he just dorked out & was all over the vet tech that took him away.. he didnt even look back or seem to notice we werent with him.
On one hand, it felt kinda like dropping your kid off to school the first time or something & getting all stuffy in the chest...a smidge of separation anxiety, i spoze is what this is.
At home, Orange dosn't seem to mind at all. big shock. He's celebrating by sleeping on the bed. in the same place he sleeps all day regardless. He's very festive.
The city fo berkeley offeres a spay/neuter voucher program for $25, thru a select few vet clinics or the local humane society. The majority of the reviews i read on Yelp for any of the places offered were borderline crappy when it came to anything surgical was brought up... i figured that it was best not to seek discount surgery when its the health of my baby pup at stake & just took him to our current vet, where the procedure will be what im estimating at about $300, including his microchip alien implant. I feel that i made the right choice for our peace of mind that he'll be taken care of by a staff we're familiar with.
Im dreading bringing him home tomorrow... what sort of condition will he be in, will he be in pain, how shitty is that lampshade going to be, etc... i really have no idea what to expect. I dont remember ever nutering any dog ive ever had.. most of my pets have come to me prix fixe.
Im just hoping the lil bugger dosnt hate us after all this.
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