I know busy busy, not really all that interesting LOL. But right now I've had some personal things I've been working through and haven't been doing much FUN stuff.
The fun things right now: Mr. Rocky is settling in well. He was very cautious of me the first week, even though I really wanted to 'do' things with him, I realized that I need to bond with him a bit to let him know that I'm his buddy and there isn't anything to be afraid of. So I've just been spending time with him, going out and giving him ear rubs & stuff like that. The other night he did something that just melted my heart. I had fed them in my typical fashion of spreading hay all over the track, right up to the donkey shelter. Rocky was coming up the alley way, nibbling at each little pile. I decided to get out of the pen - let him eat in peace, but I stood by the gate. He slowly approached me, sniffing me. Then walked into the donkey shelter, came back out and sniffed me again. I grabbed a handful of grass, and he came over and ate it. He walked around a little more, then came back and literally positioned himself right up to the gate so that I could scratch his shoulders! It was almost like he was saying 'thank you for the tasty grass, I will let you scratch me now, your my buddy'.
It sounds really stupid, but I thought it was really neat, so I think we're on our way!!
On the garden front, my lettuce has been sprouting like crazy. I haven't planted anything else, and I need to!! My friend is bringing over seeds this weekend, hopefully I can get some more dirt in the planter boxes, I've only got one quarter of the boxes full.
But here's my cute lettuce!!
Zoey ( my pup) did something really cool this morning. I've been reading a new book on positive dog training. I love it, I had just gotten through a section on calming signals - dogs speak body language not english. LOL. I was having my coffee and Zoey was going all nuts because Cricket the kitty was walking around the yard. Zoey in typical Zoey fashion was running around barking and hollering at Cricket. I decided to try one of these calming signals, I yawned nice and slow ( fake yawn LOL) and then licked my lips. She literally walked over to where the sun was shining in the dog run and curled up and took a nap!! Holy Crap!! I thought that was amazing. I didn't yell at her or do any of the 'shhhh' business, I didn't make a sound!! I was really shocked at how fast she calmed down!
yay for positive training!!
Also on the doggie training front, I've been training Zoey to accept the peticure dremel on her nails. we've had two sessions and I think it's going well. She's not afraid of it at all, she doesn't mind the sound. I can touch her feet with it ( it has the guard so no worries about her getting bit by it), and I can hold her paws in my hands in the fashion I would need to be able to trim - holding her toes/spreading her toes etc. So now we're working on being able to touch the peticure to her feet while I'm holding them. This is a very big thing for her. Right now it seems like it's slow going, but I know it'll pay off in the end and she'll be more than happy to have her nails trimmed.
I like knowing that when I'm working on something like this with her - she WANTS to be there. I'm not holding her on a leash, or pinning her to the ground or forcing her to do anything. I'm simply asking and rewarding her for complying. It makes our relationship feel really good, because she is a dog you can't force to do anything, she has a lot of power when she wants ( insert trying to get ear drops in ear here, after one time I realized it wasn't worth ruining our relationship over!! and yes, her ear ended up being fine! Never will attempt to force her to do anything - yes I hit myself over the head with a newspaper after that time, I'm only human).
Also I was super proud of myself because I fixed the peticure thing, the bearing at the top had froze up, I disassembled it and added some lube to it, worked it loose and put it back together! yay I don't have to get a new one! Now I will be cleaning it after each use and probably oiling it too!
Ok, I have to share this site, warning: do not look at unless you have it least an hour to kill!! LOL There are way too many awesome things on here!!!
http://craftgawker.com/popular/favorites/Have a great day!!
Rocky Donk!
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