Walking Progress

We’ve had Mr Deuce for over a year now and have worked through a lot of his many issues. One issue that we haven't mastered, much to my dismay, is his constant pulling when we go for our walks. I’ve tried different leash and harness combinations in an effort to try and get him to walk beside me with a loose lead. Nothing seemed to work. I also read much on the subject and listened to other dog owner’s suggestions to no avail.

When we are in the house, Mr Deuce listens to me and does what he’s told. Huge progress has been made with his anxiety and trust issues with few exceptions. As soon as we leave the house though, I become invisible to him and he’s on a mission to sniff out everything and anything he comes near. My voice is muted and my actions have little effect.

I know that consistency is the key to dog training, so I had to make a decision to not give up on a method. I did my research and went with what I thought would be best for Mr Deuce’s personality. The first thing I did was loose the harness and choke collar combination I’d been using on him. I also threw out the idea of buying a pinch collar or a muzzle leash, determined only to use a short leash on his regular collar.

The first thing I did was to make Mr Deuce sit as I attached the leash to his collar. This was never practical when using the harness as he had to stand for me to clip it on. Next step was for me to walk out the door as he sits watching me until I say “okay”, then he can follow me outside. The next rule is that if he walks faster than me and pulls the leash tight, we stop and he has to sit for a minute. The first day we barely made it out of our yard, but each day afterwards he seemed to get a little bit better -- although some days were better than others.

It’s been over a week since we started this training regiment and Mr Deuce has made great progress. Tonight was the best night of all. We made it all the way to the library and I advanced his training a bit, tying his leash to a bike rack and taking a walk around the parking lot, while he sat like a good boy. Never has his attention been so focused on me!

So many times over the past week I’ve been ready to just give up and let him pull, but I persevered and I’m glad I did. It’s just one more step towards his total rehabilitation, leaving the first two brutal years of his life behind him, trusting that he is loved and has a good home for the rest of his life.

Number One Songs

I found a very interesting web site the other day. What you do is input your birth date and it finds what the number one song was for that date. It then also lists the number one song for each year thereafter. There are also two different searches, one for the US and the other for the UK. The number one song for my birth date is Sugar Sugar by The Archies, which I thought was pretty cool -- I love that song! It even gives you a pic of the 45 single which I’ve posted below.




There are so many neat web sites that people have put together, but there is also a hundred times more crap. It’s great to feeling after sifting through all the crap to find something interesting. Give it a try, just click on the link here: Number One Songs

Bath Day For Mr Deuce

Giving Mr Deuce a bath always seems to be a struggle. He simply does not want to get in the bathtub. He doesn’t mind if we walk in the pouring rain, he never even seems to notice the water. He’ll even jump into the ocean if I let him. When it comes to water in a bathtub, he becomes a big baby. A couple of times he even went as far as whimpering -- what a tough dog!

I told Susan about our bath adventures, so she decided to come and witness the process with our camera. To my surprise, Mr Deuce took on a totally different attitude towards the bath. Having her there really calmed him down. I guess he didn’t want her to see him being a big baby. He still dislikes the bath but his fight is minimal.

Today was the second time Susan took pictures. The first time, the pictures magically disappeared from the camera before we could save them to the computer. We think that Mr Deuce somehow managed to erase them. Not this time however. I saved the pics right away, so even if Mr Deuce wants to delete them, he’ll never figure out how to get them off the computer.

Getting in the tub.

Getting Wet.

Getting Soapy.

Drying off.

Oatmeal

Sometimes oatmeal is just the best thing for breakfast. I’ve been wishing for it for a few days now, so this morning I made some for Susan and myself. I cooked it with some raisins and made some toast to go with it as well. Oatmeal is filling and warms your whole body. Not only that, it helps to lower cholesterol, just like Cheerios (which are made from oats -- go figure). It’s great to have something hot and filling for breakfast, instead of just gobbling down a couple of bowls of cold cereal, which is what I usually do.

My Favourite Musical Instrument

Here is a short list of musical groups which I listen to on a regular basis: Nine Inch Nails, Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, The Prodigy, Tool, Rammstein, Nox Arcana. Now, knowing the type of music I listen to, you might be surprised to find out what my favourite instrument is. You might guess guitar or drums which are both very prominent in my music but it’s neither of them. Nine Inch Nails uses a lot of piano and synthesizers but they are not what I’m looking for. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find my favourite instrument in any of the music I listen to. I’ll give you a hint: it’s a classical instrument. Another hint: I have omitted one band in my list on purpose, which is Apocaliptica. If you know of them, you know my favourite instrument.

When Laura was in grade six, she decided to join the strings program in her school. The instrument she chose was the viola, which is close to my favourite. If you haven’t guessed, it’s the Cello. There is something about the Cello that takes me to another place. The music goes right through me, becomes a part of me. I often go to U-Tube, search “Cello” and let the music flow over me. I love it.

I am not musical in any way. I cannot hold a tune, read music or play any instruments, but if I ever decided to pick something up, the Cello is what it would be.

Peel A Banana Like A Monkey

Banana’s are my favourite fruit and one of the few that I will eat with any regularity. All my life I’ve had the common problem of opening them without difficulty. I take the stem and bend it. Sometimes it opens easily, but most of the time it just bends. I usually have to use my nail to break the skin in order to open and peel it. I’ve never seen anyone else open a banana any other way, until the other day.

I was browsing the internet and saw a link How To Peel A Banana Like A Monkey. Curious, I took a look. To my surprise, monkeys do not open banana’s from the stem but from the other end. They simply pinch the bottom and the peel splits open with ease. It’s amazes me to think how advanced we think we are, but I just learned something from a monkey.

BTW: if anyone is interested, this is my 200th post. Yay!

Let The Right One In

Often when a movie which is based on a book comes out, the book is considerably better than the film. At least that’s what I find.

Last year I viewed a Swedish film called “Let The Right One In”. I fell in love with the movie and have watched it multiple times, in the original Swedish with sub-titles and also dubbed in English. (I prefer watching foreign films with sub-titles in the original language because so much is lost in translation when a movie is dubbed, especially the tones of the voices -- you get to hear what the director originally wanted you to hear.)

The film is an original story about a young boy who is terribly bullied in school. He ends up befriending a girl who looks his age but is actually a 200 year old vampire. It’s not a typical vampire story. The cinematography is also magnificent. So many different picturesque settings. The director, I feel, did a great job of catching emotion in the snowy landscape of Sweden.

Recently I was in a bookstore, just browsing, and I came across the book from which the movie was made. I bought it on the spot. When I’d finished reading the book, I was very impressed. Not only was it a very enjoyable read, it also proved that they did an excellent job in converting the story to film. A lot of subtle questions which were raised in the film were now answered. Some scenes were changed but only for filming practicality -- the story stood strong. Really the only parts missing from the movie were a few sideline stories and some history.

In closing I will state that the movie is still one of my favourites and I would recommend either the book or the movie to anyone, especially if you like vampire stories and want something a little different.

Movie Night

Last night, Susan and I went out to see a movie courtesy of our oldest son, Eric. Susan was dropping him off at work the other night and and he passed her some money. He told her that it was for us to go to a movie, his treat. Eric has grown up to be such a thoughtful young man.

The show we went to see was Blindside, starring Sandra Bullock, which was playing at the Roxy -- a small, one screen movie theatre. Neither of us had ever been to the there, so it was a new experience for us. Very quaint. The sound was not very good, the screen fairly small and when it rained, we could hear it tapping on the tin roof. We had a very good time. Nice to get out for a bit, especially because we were so busy over the holidays.

The movie is a true story about an upper class family who took a homeless boy, Michael Oher, into their home. They ended up adopting him and he eventually became a pro football player. It was a touching story.

When we got home, Susan searched on the internet and found quite a few U-Tube movies about him and his family. That made a bigger impact, reflecting on the film.

All in all, it was a fantastic evening. Thank you Eric.