Category Archives: relationships

animals, food, life, military, photography, relationships

Day Nine and more adventures

16/04/2015 Harmoniouscrow

Day Nine of the Gina, Azzie and Odin adventure!

It was warm, but not too bad this morning (cooler than yesterday) so I decided to take the dogs for Odin’s first walk in the Wald 🙂 We headed out from the parking lot up near the Blick and headed off on one of the slightly shorter walks, just to take it easy for him initially. He had a blast. I did let him off lead when we stopped for water, but he kinda wandered off and got a bit nervous so I put him back on and he was fine. I think he feels secure on the lead when he is in new places.
Dogs were all awesome. All pooped – all good. Odin’s a little soft, but not awful. Maybe too much marrow bone 🙂

And since Odin appeared to be quite tuckered out by the walk (it was only 45 minutes, but a lot of walking and sniffing) I decided today was the day to start his separation training.

I breezed around the apartment, acting like it was all normal, and closed the bedroom door just in case. Then I got my stuff together, put my slip slops on and got the dogs their jumbones – this is a signal to the girls that I am going out for a little while so they clearly conveyed this message to Odin because I gave him his, he settled on Gina’s bed (shame, not sure where she ate hers, as Azzie was on her bed and there was nowhere else really to eat it) and I left! Made no big thing about it, just said “bye guys, I’ll be back later” and headed out.

I asked my neighbour to keep an ear out, just to see if Odin carried on a bit (he does make a strange whine/howl noise for a few seconds when I take the other dogs down in the mornings and evenings, and when I go feed the stray cats – but it only lasts a short time) after I left, but she said she didn’t hear a peep the whole time I was gone. I was SO proud, and such a huge weight is off my shoulders now too. I didn’t push my luck of course – I was only gone about 30 minutes, max, including driving time – but it’s a good start and promising for the future. 🙂 I know my girls had a good deal to do with Odin’s relaxed attitude to the separation, and that makes me really proud of them too.

I took loads of photos on our forest walk this morning, so I will go through those today and post some later.

I have a house to clean too as my husband comes home soon – of course not sure of when, but it will hopefully be “soon” 🙂

I lost some more weight as well, so I’m feeling pretty awesome today.

All my pants are now falling down on me – which, while annoying, is pretty DAMN COOL! 😀

And all this weight loss just from my regular walking exercise with the dogs, and cutting my portions down. That’s it. Hard work, but so worth it. I have energy, my knee doesn’t hurt anymore (I mean I wasn’t OVERWEIGHT or anything – I was still in my BMI region, but at the top of it – but even just the weight I’ve lost has made a difference to that, so I cannot even imagine what a difference it makes to someone who is heavily overweight) and I sleep better at night. My hip doesn’t hurt as much either – but that could be the warmer weather, more than any weight loss. I can’t wait to start running again and see how THAT affects my weight too.

I had a “wow” moment last night: I realised I turn 40 this year. I really don’t feel like it, and I know that I don’t look it (generally) so I won’t act like it 😀 40 is the new 20!! Right?!

I also just moved my laptop back to my desk, so I am no longer sitting on the couch in front of the tv. This forces me to sit up straight so I can see the screen properly and use the keyboard without hurting my wrists, and it will help me focus on my tech courses as well. I’ve had plenty of time to veg out watching my tv series etc. When my husband gets home he will be in my place there on the couch, I’m sure! And rightly deserved after his time away.

I’m also working on a menu for the week, so I can shop for exactly what I need, and nothing will go to waste anymore. I’m tired of wasting food and buying things and not using them for what I bought them for! I’ll get some suggestions from his lordship as well. One of my ideas is a “something new night” where I take a recipe from one of my many awesome cookbooks and make that – something completely new. If it works and we like it, it can be added to the menu rotation. I’ve got enough meals for 2 weeks, including the “something new” night.

life, memories, people, relationships

Moving back

15/04/2015 Harmoniouscrow

My husband should, in theory, be coming home soon. For the last 5 months or so I’ve been sitting on the couch (bad bad, I know) with my laptop on the coffee table, while watching my tv shows (or playing my games) on the big screen using the gaming PC. It’s a fun way to multi-task, I have to admit. Everything in one place, no going back and forth.
But, since my husband will be coming back, I am (rightly) assuming he will return to his spot on the couch to catch up on all his games that he’s been missing out on! All his online gaming buddies will be missing him, I’m sure, and he will be very out of practice! Which means I need to get my stuff and go back to my desk. It’s a nice desk, and a comfortable chair but the convenience and, yes yes, the LAZINESS of sitting on the couch cannot be over stated 🙂

But it will be good to get back to my desk – means I will be more focused on what I need to do. I will be starting on my next Linux/coding/security courses very soon, as I am almost done with my Linux refresher course. I zip through it, because I do remember quite a bit of it, but it’s really helping me remember all the little tips and tricks I used to know and use without even thinking about it, way back when I was a tech-girl.

animals, food, life, relationships

Bones!

15/04/2015 Harmoniouscrow

Since today is Azzie’s birthday I got her a large marrow bone and of course I can’t not give the others, so they got too (not QUITE as big of course! :D)
I think this was Odin’s first ever marrow bone… he was intrigued and fascinated and not quite sure what to do with it at first, but after a few moments of watching Gina and Azzie get into theirs, he quickly got the idea and was soon gnawing and chewing and licking away happily.
He is so blissed out right, after pretty much getting his clean, that he is asleep on top of his.
I rinsed them all off (Gina brings me hers every now and then to clean off to get rid of any dirt or hair that gets stuck to it) and gave them back… but Gina just licked hers a little bit and then rested her head on the floor next to it, and Odin wrapped a paw around his and is relaxing. Azzie is still busy with hers – she’s actually a very delicate eater, even of bones, despite her normally “crazy” demeanour. I think it’s time for a little walk though – but I don’t want to stop her from chewing hers! She’s having so much fun!

It’s still rather warm out there, so I’ll just wait until they are all ready to go out, rather than make Azzie make that choice.

Happy dogs 🙂

animals, life, memories, people, relationships

Day Eight and Azzie’s birthday!

15/04/2015 Harmoniouscrow 2 Comments

It’s rather warm out there, so decided not to walk today but take the dogs to the small dog park (way cleaner and less chance of them picking up icky bugs)
Was pretty good fun – Azzie and Odin played and Gina joined in occasionally. She’s a bit sore though so she took it easy.
I worked on Azzie’s “i must bark at everyone that goes by” issue and it worked out quite well. She listens, I have to say. When she understands what i want, she behaves.
Odin had a blast – he even enjoyed the vet visit! Just took him in to register him, and make an appointment for his booster shots etc. Was also going to buy anti-tick stuff, and another diffuser… but I brought the wrong card! *sigh*
On the way home I RAN (and I mean RAN) into the Edeka to get them marrow bones because TODAY IS AZZIE’S 3rd Birthday!! 🙂 I hate leaving my dogs in the car – especially when it’s warm.
Didn’t take any photos, but we had a lovely play!

I think later I will take them down to the Secret Pond for a splash, as it’s definitely the weather for it, and I know Azzie loves to swim too! I’ll don my sandals and put Gina’s float vest on!

animals, life, relationships

Day Seven

14/04/2015 Harmoniouscrow

No photos from this morning’s walk, as we walked on main post (not allowed to take photos, really, and I was juggling three retractable leads and 2 bags of poop) but it was a good test of Odin’s reaction to cars and people. Wasn’t too busy, as we were there reasonably early – start of day for most people – so the only issues Odin had was with a large 18 wheeler coming by, and a very loud car (big engine sound) and Gina stepped up like a real mama dog and let Odin lean on her (literally) when he was scared and it was all good. I was so proud of all of them. We had a lovely morning walk. It would normally take us 45 minutes, but it took us about an hour with Odin – just taking it easy for him so he wasn’t overexerted. Gina is also a little sore from all their playing yesterday, so we slowed down for her as well.

Last night, another night out of the crate for little man and he was, once again, awesome 🙂 We also went to bed quite early last night, with our last “toilet break” being the one we did all together around 8pm, so it was a longer time as well, before the morning break and he was all good. The girls were also pretty tired from the playing and running around yesterday, so Azzie didn’t even wake me early. I actually woke them this morning 🙂

We’re all settling nicely – another thing that’s finally sorted itself out is traveling in the car: I showed the girls how it would work this morning and they were fine after that. Azzie in first, across to the other side (her side, behind me!) then Odin in the middle (he feels safer there) and Gina on her side next to the passenger side window. Happy dogs. Much better. Odin did lean on Gina for a bit and then moved ACROSS the seat to lean out Azzie’s window… but he got the idea eventually and curled up happily in the middle. Sometimes he turned around and faced toward the back seat, but he was snoozing, not scared, as it was on the way home after the walk.
They also waited very patiently while I dashed into the shop to stock up on treats (with the last of my money! See? They are way more important than I am – I spend my last pennies on them :D) I don’t normally leave the dogs in the car – especially when it starts getting warmer – but I needed to grab the treats rather than make a special trip later. Don’t think Odin’s ready for a long separation time yet: we’ll start with the training for that in short bursts.

Otherwise, Day Seven of the Gina, Azzie and Odin adventure and all is good 🙂

animals, life, relationships

what a difference a change makes

13/04/2015 Harmoniouscrow

Amazing how something as simple as a change of route can solve so many problems.
This time, for our early afternoon walk, instead of going up toward the skate park, we headed down what would normally be our “lunch time walk” and for our lunch time walk earlier, we headed the opposite way.
It all worked out.
Had another LOVELY play around on the grass behind the buildings (this time, lower path area – lots of open space, and Odin STILL came running to me when I called)
with the squeaky ball.
All dogs off lead – had a LOVELY run around 🙂
No poopage. Pretty sure G needed to go, but she distracted herself.. plus.. i threw a spanner in the works because OH NO, we WENT THE WRONG WAY. So she was all thrown off balance and couldn’t bring herself to find a spot to poop. Also – I think she was pretty happy playing with Odin and Azzie 🙂 Which is quite sweet, really.

animals, life, memories, photography, relationships

Day Six

13/04/2015 Harmoniouscrow

Another day in the Gina, Azzie and Odin adventure 🙂
Last night went well – out of his crate but very well behaved once again!
He DESPERATELY wants to come jump on the bed with the girls – but only really after breakfast… I’m still trying to decide if I should let him up or not, but I think the girls will let me know when he’s allowed up. They’re not ready yet, I don’t think – still a few grumbles from Azzie, and Gina EXPANDS on the bed when Odin comes into the room 🙂 She’s subtle, our Gina bear.

Lovely morning walk this morning. A bit warmer than yesterday, so we took it slowly. Went down to the forest behind the campground, and a wander back along the road.
Dogs were great 🙂 Azzie had a few “ears off” moments, so she had a run around and then went back onto her lead. All went well. All had good tummies too. Very happy.

animals, life, relationships

A better one

12/04/2015 Harmoniouscrow

Just thought I’d update, so nobody worried about the tone of my blog this morning, which upon reading my own post, might have come across a little … panicked? Upset? Well, I’m fine, really. Just frustrated sometimes. But anyway… onward and upward!

We just went for our mid afternoon walk – it was a much better walk. We went down the lower road, so only saw one dog in the distance (and it was too far for Azzie to be interested) and one little dog that we know, and she is very old and gentle. I think that the dog that we encounter is a big component of how Azzie reacts. If the dog is quiet and unresponsive to Azzie’s initial reaction, then Azzie is much calmer and doesn’t really need to go see the dog. She sat quietly – admittedly sharing her attention between my eyes, the treat in my hand, and the little dog and her owner walking by – and didn’t bark, just whined once and then just watched. She didn’t even bark when the owner, who knows me and the girls, greeted me and asked about Odin.
So yeah, I guess it’s the dog she encounters that decides the reaction.
It’s a good thing to know, I think.

It’s a bit warm too, so I think that also adds to Azzie’s calmness.

But also, I had Gina off the lead for most of the walk – it helps me concentrate on keeping Azzie’s lead short, but loose, and Odin’s as well. It works. It goes much better. She’s so good that i don’t really need to worry about her off lead. I do keep an eye on her, for sure, to see if she poops and see that she doesn’t fall too far behind (she tends to fixate on a blade of grass for a few minutes and then looks up and we’re far ahead!) and that she is paying attention to what side of the road we’re walking on… 🙂

I think the rescue remedy helped a bit. I took some a little bit before we left.

I’m still working hard… I’ll never stop. Promise.

animals, life, people, photography, relationships

Day Five

12/04/2015 Harmoniouscrow

And it’s Sunday! Which means it’s Day Five in the Gina, Azzie and Odin Adventure!

And you know what? It’s going pretty well, all things considered. Still things we are working on, but better. Azzie is behaving much better with him, especially inside the apartment, and she no longer growls at him when he comes near her or her toys. She instigates a game sometimes too.

I’ve found a good balance for Odin’s food – his tummy is doing much better and he doesn’t need any more tablets to keep it that way. He’s eating his food very sweetly, and delicately and enjoying it a great deal – because he knows that there’s another meal coming and he won’t starve. I’ve given him an allergy tablet in the evenings and it seems to be helping his itchies a great deal.

This was his second night out of his crate and it all went well 🙂 He’s chewed up his blanket a bit, and Gina’s fake fur blanket too… but it’s a comfort thing, so it should stop.

My main issue right now is the walks on the short lead – so any walk on post or in areas where they all need to be on their leads. Which is all the rest of our walks, basically. We go for 3 or 4 walks as a pack every day around post, and generally it’s fine, until Azzie sees another dog. Then she turns into a complete idiot. It’s not aggression or anything – she just REALLY wants to say hello, and of course she drags Gina with, who also gets all riled up (again, no aggression, just way too excited) and now I’m worried she’s going to get Odin doing the same thing. I try to keep them all walking calmly next to me, or behind me (as Gina likes to be) but then they split up to go sniff things, and then it’s tangles and I’m swapping leads and climbing out of the center of lead webs and they keep swapping sides and switching who they want to walk with and Gina is going ahead and then dropping behind me on the other side, and Azzie just goes ahead and then I ask her to walk next to me and she does for a second, but then she finds something else she wants to sniff so she just barges in front of me (I’ve nearly fallen over her I don’t know how many times) and if I don’t want to fall, I sidestep or stop and then I stand on Gina or on Odin and it’s becoming a nightmare. I’m getting so annoyed and it was so nice before! It’s not Odin’s fault – he’s really sweet on the lead – especially on his own. So is Azzie, and so is Gina! But our pack walks.. arg.. it starts out really nicely and then it’s “OMG I”VE NEVER SEEN A DOG BEFORE I MUST GO SEE IT NOW NOW NOW!” and I’m being dragged from one side of the street to the other, or up a grass bank, or down a line of cars, by Azzie. She’s 115lbs (over 50kg) and Gina is almost 100lbs (almost 50kg) – they weigh, together, more than I do. Even separately they weigh almost as much as I do! My hands were torn up the other day by the stupid idiot and all she wanted to do was say hello to the wiener dogs. Happened again today. And the owners just watch us with this blank expression, no correction, while their dogs yap wildly and run around going nuts and growl at my three, which doesn’t help.

And Gina and Odin had an altercation – not sure what happened as I was busy untangling my thumb from Azzie’s lead before it got snapped off while she whined and went on about the dogs ON THE OTHER BLOODY SIDE OF THE FIELD – I think perhaps Odin stood on Gina’s tail, or Gina stood on his sore leg. Something. I don’t know.

*deep breath*

And then as soon as we had sorted ourselves out and carried on our way.. Azzie was FINE. Walking next to me again. Gentle as a lamb. I think I need to get her a martingale collar or something. Just some way to GET HER ATTENTION before she turns into Idiot Dog. And I AM remaining calm. I AM keeping my temper in check. So I really don’t know why she’s still doing it. I correct her, I try distract her (with my voice, by standing in front of her, or with a treat) but it only lasts a second.

It’s a bit hard to convince people that this 115lbs of hairy “rawring” dog barreling toward their dog, dragging me and two other dogs behind her, is “friendly” and “just wants to say hi” – because that’s it, really. She totally calms down when she gets to the dog. Waggy tail, big smile, no growling no barking, nothing. Even gives them a Berner play bow if she likes them. And Gina too – she’s all puffed up silliness and then when she says hi, she’s waggy tail and sniffing faces and then totally bored and moving on to something else and ignores them. Odin is very confused. He’s not sure if he should be all big chested and boy-dog with his hackles up, or if he should hang back and pretend he’s not there until it’s all over. I don’t want him picking up Idiot’s bad habits. I want him to make FRIENDS. I want him to meet Django and Luca and make MORE friends. I don’t want him to think that every dog we see needs to be GUNNED AT, like Azzie does, until we get to them. Ah well. early days still, right?

Hoping my friend Nicole can give me some helpful tips. I don’t have anyone to help me, you see, so it all has to be done by me. Sort it OUT! Fix it NOW before it becomes even more of a problem. And it WILL become a problem if I don’t get this right. One day, Azzie will gun at the wrong dog and it will be _bad_ and I don’t want that. She’s taken a LONG time to get over her incident with Marcel, and I don’t want her to go through that again. (and it wasn’t even that bad – it was a little unexpected/unintentional nip on the ear while in a dog pile at the dog park) She’s a sensitive dog and it would really do bad things to her psyche. And then Gina would step in. While she doesn’t approve of the way Azzie behaves, Gina is a real “big sister” and she would put ANY dog in their place that went for Azzie, even if Azzie caused it. And then there’s Odin… he growled at the little dogs today… which I don’t want!

So maybe a choke chain for Azzie? A martingale collar I would prefer – I know a lot of people with Berners who use them, because they’re big dogs who just don’t understand their size and strength. It’s not to harm them, just to have a little more control and a way of getting their attention. I would never hurt my dog intentionally. I’ll discuss it with Nicole, I think.

*sigh* As Nicole keeps telling me: Azzie is different. She’s just that kind of dog that takes a bit more effort. But she’s worth it. They all are. I love them all – even Odin. I don’t know him that well, but he’s definitely nudging his way into my heart very quickly. He’s a funny little man, with a lot of attitude, but a gentle soul and I know he is happy now and that makes my heart warm.

On a better note – what a lovely morning walk 🙂

Dogs were super well behaved – Azzie had a lovely roll around in the dewy grass at every opportunity, and Odin piddled so much he had nothing left to piddle after a while and thought he’d try drinking from some puddles to refill his supply (I stopped him of course – not taking a chance with bugs in the water, thanks) so he could carry on doing it. We took a different path, and I had a good idea where it would come out, so it was exciting, but not too scary not knowing where we were going exactly. We ended up coming out near the campgrounds and had a loop around there, and then headed down ANOTHER different path and ended up back at the car 🙂 It was great.

early birds

animals, life, military, relationships

Day Four

11/04/2015 Harmoniouscrow 2 Comments

Moving on to another day in the Gina, Azzie and Odin Adventure…

We made it through a night without him in his crate! Last night, as promised, I decided to just trust in him, and I let him stay out of his crate at bed time. He was very pleased with himself and he rolled around on his… I mean.. GINA’S bed and made snuffly noises and had a big sigh of happiness and then went to sleep in seconds. I was, of course, alert all night to the slightest sound, but he pretty much stayed asleep until around 0300 or 0400 (I don’t know when exactly it was, as I was too tired by that stage to even reach up to get my phone to check) again and then paced around a little bit, got some water, came to check on us in the bedroom, had a think about jumping on the bed (but Gina told him no, and Azzie poked her head up from my side of the bed where she likes to sleep, so I told him “not yet”) and then went back to the lounge and fell asleep on Azzie’s bed.

Took them down individually at 0600, and he is a bit of a whiner when we are separated – he stands on the balcony and whines and makes a weird half yawn half grumble. It’s quite loud. So there’s separation anxiety there which we will have to work on. I’m already doing the DT, DT, NEC (Don’t Talk, Don’t Touch, No Eye Contact) thing when I come in through the door, because I found he was hanging out RIGHT by the door and trying to get my attention as I came in which I know is not a good start. I want him confident and happy, without clinging to me. But it’s only day four, so I’m not worrying too much. We’ll start with the separation training soon. Husband will have to help with that when he gets home, as well.

So I was pretty pleased with him this morning, and the girls for being so polite and gentle with him.

For our morning walk I took Odin and the girls to one of our favourite spots – one of the start points for the Bear path. I parked, he hopped out OVER the back seat from the boot. Full of energy.
I put his harness and lead on and off we went. Girls went off lead the WHOLE WALK and they were AWESOME 🙂 I was so proud. It made my life so much easier, as I wasn’t having to keep such a watchful eye on Azzie and worry about Gina getting stressed. They were both happy and playful and unstressed the whole way.
I decided on a shorter walk this morning – so that I didn’t overexert Odin, as he’s healing nicely, but by the end of the day and so many walks, he’s pretty sore. Plus, I had a feeling he would be racing around with Azzie again this morning, so I added that to his energy levels and thought it would be fine.
I was right! I even took him off his lead this time and HE came back before Azzie did, when I called 🙂
I was SO proud! All three had a blast – running around and playing and chasing each other. Just a few minutes, but Azzie was exhausted and Odin was WELL pleased with himself. Then we carried on back down the other path to the car.
He was interested in the horses in the paddock there, but not scared and not at all aggressive. He perked his little ears up, gave the air a sniff, watched them for a few seconds, and then carried on walking and sniffing things.
It was an awesome walk.

early morning zoomies in the farmland

more farm zoomies