Gratitude

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There is research out there that correlates thoughts and feelings of gratitude to better health, both physically and emotionally.  One of our social-emotional learning (SEL) goals we are focusing on with our students at school is optimistic thinking: focusing on the positive.  It’s very hard to teach optimistic thinking and not have it trickle into your own life.  I am ashamed to say though that in the busyness of life, I don’t stop often enough to reflect on what I am grateful for.  It doesn’t take long; it just takes intentionality.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving today, I am grateful for so many things in my life but here are a few:

My wonderfully supportive husband, family, and friends…wish I could post pictures of everyone who supports me.

(I take absolutely no responsibility for the matching shirts!)

I have a job that I love. 

(Positive Thinking Hats I made with our 3rd-6th graders for Standards Based Assessments.)

Two dogs and two cats who love us unconditionally.

Pongo has not ingested a rock in over 6 months…knock on wood!

We have a roof over our heads and food soon to be on our Thanksgiving table.

And what makes this Thanksgiving even more special is that Sarah, the vet tech at our amazing vet graciously met us today at the vet’s office to give one very sick kitty fluids.

Blown Away

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Pongo goes to work with Steve on Wednesdays.  Usually, he is kenneled in the car with occasional potty breaks or a visit to Papa’s office. And even though Pongo has plenty of office toys and chew toys, he gets bored after about 20 minutes and will begin to bark, so back to the car he goes.

This past Wednesday Anchorage experienced what felt like hurricane force winds.  It wouldn’t have been so bad if it hadn’t also been frigidly cold.  Fluctuating between -23˚and -30˚ was the windchill reading on the temperature gauge, at work.  On this particularly gusting and bone-chilling day, Steve brought Pongo into the office to warm up.  I think Pongo made the conscious choice to be a good boy, to avoid having to go back out to the car, because he spent 6 peaceful hours snoozing in Papa’s office!

It also could have been that he was trying to avoid having to wear his car coat…

Snowtastic

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We’ve come to realize Pongo is a true snow dog.  Forget the hot, sweltering Australian sun of his ancestry, he is a true Alaskan. He loves the snow: burying his head in it, digging for his toys in it, and most of all playing in it.  Anchorage has received well over a foot of snow the past week or so.  While the constant shoveling can be tedious, I’d rather be shoveling feet of snow than sliding, skidding, not able to do anything, on rain and ice.  I just hope a warm front doesn’t move in, before we can strap on our snowshoes and go exploring with the dogs!

It was going to be just a quick play session outside so we didn’t put Reid’s coat on.  10 minutes later, the poor girl was cold and ready to come in.

A pooped Pongo after playing in the snow.

Thirteen

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Reid turns thirteen today.  I’ve always been told, “Big dogs don’t live to be that old” but thankfully, she’s proving us all wrong!  Besides a few more bumps and lumps and a little more wobble and hobble, she’s still chugging along like she’s a young, spry whippersnapper.  Plus, she’s come leaps and bounds in her old age: walking on those scary wood and tile floors that she’s avoided the past 12 years!

On the birthday girl’s agenda:

Posing for birthday pictures with her pesky brother and Kona the cat.

Enjoying homemade smoked bison sausage and cheddar cheese cookies.

Shoveling the driveway with Mama, while a very upset Pongo watches from inside because he can’t be trusted to stick around.

Playing some frisbee out in the freshly fallen snow.

And…putting up with her goofball of a brother.

Happy birthday Reid!  We love you!

Intro To Treibball

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We been taking our first Treibball class the past 6 weeks and just finished up last week.  It’s a herding sport but instead of herding ducks, sheep or cattle, the dogs herd different sized and colored balls.  You use the same commands as you would in a true herding situation.  We thought this would be a good alternative to herding actual animals because Pongo already has a hard enough time refraining from chasing (i.e. herding) our kitties.

I do have to be honest, this was a pretty frustrating class for both of us.  You have to be coordinated, which I am not.  Plus your dog has to have enough impulsive control to not bite or pummel the balls which as of now, Pongo does not.  I think this will develop with age but right now, Treibball for Pongo is all about attacking the balls.

We are going to stick with it though because he is one tired out pup, mentally and physically, when we get home and that is so worth it!  Our next Treibball class starts at the end of November.  We still have some time to really practice with Pongo so that our next class is less frustrating and more enjoyable for the both of us.

Our trainer, Liz Williams of Alaska Dog Sports took this video on our last day of class.  This is the best class Pongo had; he really was getting the “push” command down, which I will eventually change to “drive” so it doesn’t sound like we’re trying to have a baby!

Fun Police Pongo

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I am really dragging my feet writing this post.  I’ve been hemming and hawing on whether I should tell the real story because almost 24 hours later I am still focused on the events of yesterday, or just stick to the “happy” version out of pure embarrassment.  But, this blog is about the trials and tribulations of raising a Cattle Dog so I need to be transparent.

Last year’s Howl-O-Ween party went so well: Pongo was a happy-go-lucky pup running around playing and visiting with all the parents and his doggie friends.  This year I expected the same but I think that was biggest problem–I had expectations.  I was excited because Steve was in town and was going to see Pongo in daycare action for the first time; plus, Pongo’s Howl-O-Ween costume was pretty darn clever, if I don’t say so myself.

Recently Pongo has been receiving a lot of dings for fun policing on his daycare report card.

So, I went with that theme and was able to find a K-9 cop costume that I altered.

We arrived at Dog Tired Doggie Daycare around 2:00.  We put Pongo’s costume on and headed into the building.  First obstacle down-no problem.  We were ushered into the back where the door to his classroom is. The staff member looked in the classroom and gave us the go-ahead.  WAIT!  I thought.  Pongo still has his collar and leash on and we are entering, for all I knew, a classroom full of dogs.  But, did I speak up?  Did I say, “Can we take his collar and leash off before he enters the classroom?”  Nope.  I figured they had a protocol for this special party so I kept quiet.  SHAME ON ME!  I need to advocate for my dog and set him up for success not for failure.

Steve and Pongo enter the classroom first with me following.  There is one dog, one parent, Miss Peg and Miss Kari in the classroom and Pongo has honed in on the one dog.  He starts his barking, lunging, growling routine.  Steve pulls him off to the side and tries to get his attention.  Pongo is having none of that.  Steve was instructed to take his leash off.  As soon as the leash comes off, Pongo goes full throttle for the other dog and a dog brawl ensues.  Thankfully, Miss Lindsay is right there and grabs Pongo.  It’s all over within a couple seconds.

Pongo has gotten in a few fights at school but I’ve never actually seen him in true action.  I’m a mess: shaking and on the verge of tears trying my best to hold it together.  I’m apologizing to the other parent thoroughly embarrassed by our dog’s poor behavior.  She thankfully appears to be understanding.  My greatest fear though is some other parent is going to demand that Pongo be removed from daycare because of his behavior.  What many people who witness this leash reactivity don’t understand is that this is not the only side of Pongo.  He’s 99% sweetness with 1% of pure scrapper attitude on top.

Miss Kari and Miss Peg distract Pongo by taking his picture in front of the Halloween decorations. We take off his costume and collar and off he goes to be with his other doggie friends that have joined the party. We can tell Pongo’s still stressed and is trying to control the situation by barking. One epiphany we had yesterday, through observation, was that there is some protective factor in Pongo’s behavior.  When another dog approached us, he was right there to herd the other dogs away from Steve and me.  A year ago, he was not herding the other dogs away from me.  He was off enjoying himself.

Even though Pongo took his job as Fun Police to the extreme yesterday, he was finally able to settle down and hopefully enjoy himself.

Mr. Crankypants

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Really, it was a good plan.  Today was a grading day for teachers, which means no kids.  Which means I could take things a little slower this morning.  I was going to drop Pongo off at daycare and then take Steve’s truck to get an emissions test before heading into work.

Lately, Pongo has been battling getting into the car and into his kennel.  I don’t know what’s going through his mind; he’s done it a thousand times but has decided he doesn’t want to load up.  I was expecting a battle so I was prepared: I had Pongo’s kennel all ready to go in the truck and told him in a happy, excited voice that he was “going to daycare today!”  I took him out to the truck and oh boy was he excited to be getting in-tail wagging, even whining a little!  Who was this dog?!?  I was very confused.  I went with it though.  Usually, he settles in and lays down for the ride to daycare but today he sat up the whole way looking out the window.

Then it hit me.  This was Papa’s truck.  This was the car we took to drop Steve off at the airport. And now, Pongo was anticipating picking Papa up from the airport.  He was going to be sorely disappointed when we pull into the daycare parking lot.

I dropped him off seemingly happy to be at daycare, quickly get the truck’s emission tested, and head to work.  I had settled in for the day and hear my phone buzz with a text message.  I see a message from Miss Peg:

Jen, your boy seems unusually cranky today.  It isn’t a big class and we can manage him.  Just letting you know that if you are doing things after work, a long day might be more than he can handle.

Uh oh.  I had set up our boy for a bad day.  I let Miss Peg know I could come pick him up early if she needed me to but she said that wouldn’t be necessary.  I tried my best to leave work to pick him up early but it just wasn’t happening today-too much going on.  I worried about him all day; just hoping he could hold it together.  And, he did…for the most part…

I sure do hope Steve is able to make that plane out of Dillingham tomorrow afternoon because I’m dealing with a very sensitive soul, who really misses his Papa!

A Tribute

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Design by Jonathan Mak

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement Address

The world lost a brilliant man on Wednesday.  Someone who knew how to dream big and live life to the fullest.  You have put a ding in the universe so rest in peace, Steve Jobs.

Count Your Blessings

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…if you have a dog that you can walk any time of the day, anywhere, and your walks are actually pleasant.

…if you have a dog that calmly exists around other dogs without going absolutely berserk if one looks at him funny.

…if you don’t have to do U-turns when you’re out walking your dog because another dog is coming toward you.

…if you don’t give a sigh of relief when you pull into an empty daycare parking lot.

Which is what I did when I pulled into daycare today–gave a sigh of relief because the lot was empty.  I was going to get Pongo into daycare and off to my early morning meeting stress-free. But, we all know things don’t necessarily go the way we expect them to.  As I was unloading Pongo, I realized someone had pulled in to our right.  The driver and I made eye contact and gave me a little nod, which I read as: go ahead and finish unloading your dog; I’ll wait.  I unloaded Pongo, walked up to the door and all of sudden Pongo was going nuts.  I thought he had noticed the dog getting out of the car that had pulled in.  I think I’m pretty good at reading non-verbals but I guess I was way off today because when I turned around, the dog and owner were less than 2 feet from us waiting for us to go in the door.  There was NO way Pongo was going to make it in the door calmly so I walked down the sidewalk, telling the owner and dog to go ahead.  While Pongo continued to flip-out, a car pulls into the parking lot with two big dogs barking at him through open windows.  That was the straw that broke the camel’s back.  There was no reeling Pongo in; no getting his attention in attempts to calm him down.  So I awkwardly scooped Pongo up, got him into his kennel, and told him, as I backed out of daycare and drove to work, he could spend the next couple of hours in the car thinking about his poor behavior.

Living with a reactive dog is frustrating and exhausting at times.  What is most frustrating is not knowing what’s going to set him off and then not being prepared for the reaction you get.  It is very apparent Pongo chooses when to be leash reactive and when not to.  If he’s working (i.e. Nose Work) or has other distractions, he is 95% OK with being on a leash around other dogs given he has enough distance between him and the other dog.  If we are just walking or he sees another dog out the window, he immediately amps up and is out of control.  It’s embarrassing and I’m more than sure pretty scary for others to watch. He spins, he lunges, he growls, he barks all out of pure frustration.  But, less than 20 seconds after he’s had his blow-out, he’s fine.  I, on the other hand, have to deal with the residual feelings of my own frustration and anger.  The self-doubting and ruminating of what I could have done differently, and the constant questioning of WHY?  WHY such a sweet, tail-wagging, kiss giving little guy can be hell on wheels when he’s around other dogs?

Just an FYI: Pongo did make it to daycare today and had a good day.  I do believe he was somewhat remorseful about this morning’s outburst…or at least it makes me feel better thinking he felt just a little bit guilty.