Cat update!

I don't get to talk much about our cats - and since coming back after Christmas break, they've been a little distant and hiding upstairs. It was frustrating to say the least. However, over the past two weeks they've finally come back around to giving and accepting love from us and sniffs from Yogi. It's great. They're so fun and curious, playful and cool.

 Last Friday we had our guest bedroom (which holds the bed they hide under, aka: their safe zone) skim coated by some painting professionals. It left a fine dust on the walls and after a day of giving them access to it, Marco's eye flared up (it does this every couple of months, for mostly no reason) and almost swelled shut. We decided to close off the room until we could wipe it down, clean it up, and paint it. So for a week they had to live without their safe zone. They did amazingly well! A big credit to Yogi for not going ape-shit-crazy finding the cats out of their normal hiding place - he held it together, casually sniffing and stepping back and no barking! And the cats thoroughly enjoyed their cat tree next to the window, bathing in all the pacific northwest sunshine.

We've found that when we act cool and non-reactive or overbearing, that Yogi and the kitties also act with some more calm and collected reactions. We used to excessively treat yogi for not eating them, and he probably had no idea why he was being rewarded and instead got super excited that he was getting treats and took that energy back to the cats, which were less enthusiastic about it. Now we acknowledge when he's being a "Good Dog" and ask him to "leave it" or "who's that?" when a cat comes up to him. He does a lot of waiting, like when we are scooping out the cat food behind the baby gate, and knows that he'll get a treat if he stays calm.... a treat that comes at the end of all this waiting.


My favorite cat things lately:

cats tote bag - $16

Oversized cat tote bag - $30

Cat cave - $80

toddler "right meow" tank top

I'm by no means a professional, licensed trainer - these are all my opinions from experience. When in doubt, find a positive reinforcement trainer in your area - they're usually amazing and can quickly solve any problem.

Dogs. In my experience.

I've spent a lot of time, in Yogi's youth (he's turning 5 in September!), finding the perfect dog boarding place. It also took me a year to figure out what type of place Yogi needed.

I would first like to point out that Yogi wasn't always crazy, I think. You see - owning an active/ smart dog is a lot of work and more than I thought it would be. As a soon-to-be college graduate when I got Yogi, at the ripe age of 8 weeks old (End of October 2008), I thought dogs just had an "instinct" to do what dogs are supposed to do. Turns out - No.  So I was constantly learning and reading about what to do -- the internet is full of conflicting information, so it wasn't much progress on my part.  Anywho, his first problem was the crate - Oh gosh, he hated it. And he hated it until we got a trainer in Spring 2009, after I made the transition and move to Seattle from Pittsburgh. Among other things he counter-surfed, chewed on anything with a corner (bedding, rugs, chairs), and had major separation anxiety (yes, that's why he hated the crate).

Long story short, when I made the investment in Yogi's training, he was really, finally manageable. I super highly recommend lifelong training. 

After I moved to Seattle, I just couldn't find the time, living by myself, to wear Yogi out enough to put up with the crate when I left for work. Also, I didn't want to leave yogi in the crate/at home for longer than 8-9 hours so I couldn't do anything after work. Life was very stressful to say the least. So I found a close Doggy Daycare place and set up a 3 days/ wk plan until I could get his separation anxiety (constant barking in the crate) under control.  This is where I think Yogi picked up his dog anxiety at. The close quarters, lots of dogs, and lots of chaos makes Yogi one very stressed out dog. So when I hear "I love my Daycare, my dog leaves exhausted!" It makes me nervous, because that's not always a good thing. Unfortunately I didn't have any other options between being a Single dog mom and his separation anxiety.

Finally, around Spring 2010, I got smart and had figured out what made Yogi tick and what Yogi needed to not be anxious or stressed out when he was boarded.

a) space!  Lots of boarding places have one big yard and kennel them in a dog run at night. I knew I needed a place that was comfortable (kennel-less or standard crates you can tuck away) and a large yard Yogi could run around in, only play with equally energetic dogs, but also give him a place he could hide or zone out in (i.e. needed trees or hills or distractions).
b) Owners/ Handlers that knew how to actually handle a dog. Oh, you love dogs and that makes you able to open a boarding place - not good enough. I wanted former trainers, certified handlers, and people who knew how to break up a dog fight and see the signs of aggression. Handlers should never step between dogs or put their hand between fighting dogs, that's the stupidest thing to do. I literally interviewed a half dozen places and asked how they handle dog fights. The answers were a great measurement guide to their training style (Cesar Millan vs. Nicole Wilde).

FYI - We found that at Dogs-A-Jammin had what we needed - acres of land, sectional fencing, lots of movement, and skilled handlers. 

Working with Yogi is a never ending project. We are constantly adapting and training; whether it's on a walk or learning how to live with the cats, there's always a training opportunity available. 

Some other great resources on owning a crazy dog - 
Nicole's Blog
Yellow Dog Project
YouTube videos for training
local radio show about dogs and cats

Yogi the thief

So yogi has notoriously always been a thief and a digger. By the time he was 13 or so months old I was able to finally wan him off of his vices (to the point of he only digs once a week for like 5 seconds on my bed).

So now a days he does something so cute I can hardly be mad at him::

He has started stealing socks.

Before, when he was terrible, he would steal ANYTHING, eventually, by ignoring and not reacting to it he stopped stealing. With the socks he stealthy steals them, but comes back 30 seconds later - whining - until I take the sock back out of his mouth. It is so goofy I can't even describe how cute it is.

I wouldn't trade my psycho/ bipolar/ retarded dog for anything LOVE!