Velcro dogs and tear-jerking poems

So I was just thinking about that phrase "velcro dog" and thought that it fits Ace pretty well. Whenever the pups are asleep and I'm chilling on the couch and need to get up to go to the kitchen or bathroom or whatever I try not to wake them up - cause they take forever to go to sleep in the first place. But it seems like whenever I get up and no matter how quiet I am, Ace knows it and follows me around. As I was meditating on him being a velcro dog, I decided that that's not exactly an accurate description. It's more like it's a bungee that connects us. Because when I "pull away" it's like he "snaps back" to wherever I am. I can never go very far before he just appears at my side. I think he just likes to be able to see me. Because when I got up earlier to go into the bathroom he just laid down in the hallway and watched me. He didn't even come all the way into the bathroom! lol

I found this poem that someone else posted... I have no idea who wrote it, but it is very touching. My husband would say that I'm a big sissy, by which he means I cry at everything (even Lowe's commercials at times) and so this poem, of course, made me cry.

My family brought me home cradled in their arms.
They cuddled me and smiled at me and said I was full of charm.
They played with me and laughed with me and showered
me with toys.
I sure do love my family, especially the girls and boys.
The children loved to feed me, they gave me special treats.
They even let me sleep with them - all snuggled in the sheets.
I used to go for walks, often several times a day.
They even fought to hold the leash, I'm very proud to say.
These are the things I'll not forget - cherished memory,
because I now live in the shelter - without my family.
They used to laugh and praise me when I played with that old shoe.
But I didn't know the difference between the old ones and the new.
The kids and I would grab a rag, for hours we would tug.
So I thought I did the right thing when I chewed the bedroom rug.
They said that I was out of control, and would have to live outside.
This I did not understand, although I tried and tried.
The walks stopped, one by one; they said they hadn't time.
I wish that I could change things, I wish I knew my crime.
My life became so lonely, in the back yard, on a chain.
I barked and barked, all day long, just to keep from going insane.
So they brought me to the shelter,
but were embarrassed to say why.
They said I caused an allergy, then they each kissed me goodbye.
If I'd only had some classes, when I was just a little pup,
then I would have been a better dog when I was all grown up.
"You only have one day left." I heard the worker say.
Does that mean I have a second chance?
DO I GO HOME TODAY?


Did you cry too? :P Well, I think it shows exactly why dogs need training and why so many dogs end up in the shelter! Please make sure this doesn't happen to your dogs. Please train them! Behavioral issues and lack of training is the number one reason dogs go to shelters. And it's the easiest thing in the world to fix most of the time.  Here are a couple of quotes I found that I really like as well.

Properly trained, a man can be dog's best friend  -   Corey Ford

In order to truly enjoy a dog, one doesn't merely train him to become semi-human. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog.  -  Edward Hoagland

If there are no dogs in heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went - Unknown

Well I have to go into work tonight for a few hours to cover classes again. I guess I should stop thinking of them as K's classes and think of them as mine, since they are mine now, but I didn't post the class or schedule it or have the students from week 1 so it's hard to think of them as my students. Well I'm only going to be in half an hour before the first class and stay half an hour after the second class- just to give me enough time to set up and then clean up. I wish I didn't have to cover classes on Saturday since my hubby has a 96 this weekend (meaning time off- he doesn't work Friday through Monday) so I'd love to have more than one full day with him. I work Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday, so I have parts of all those days with him and then all of Monday. Still, if K hadn't resigned, I would've had all of Saturday with him too. Ugh. Oh well. I get the commission. I am happy about that. lol.

Well, gotta start getting ready soon. 

Thanks for pawsing. :)

Don't dog ear these!

Just wanted to jot down my list of dog books that I thoroughly enjoy. And since I am against dog ear-ing pages of books, please use a book mark with these. :P

Inside of A Dog by Alexandra Horowitz. Truthfully, I haven't finished it yet, but so far it is very interesting. When I flew from VA to CA, the man in the seat behind mine saw me reading  Reaching the Animal Mind and recommended to me the book he was reading at the moment, which was Inside of A Dog. Although I'm enjoying it, I just haven't had time to finish it yet.

Encyclopedia of Dog Breeds by D. Caroline Coile. This isn't really a good "read" but it's got a lot of great information and is organized very well in my opinion. I like to study it so that I will be able to know a little bit about each breed.

Reaching the Animal Mind by Karen Pryor. This one goes into the method of clicker training- and I thought that it would be a bit like a text book- kind of dry to read with a lot of information shoved into it, but it was very funny and a really quick read. There was a lot of information in it but it wasn't given to the reader very obviously. It made me cry- there were a couple very touching and sad stories in it.



Animals Make Us Human by Temple Grandin. I read this for a class I took in college on Animal Minds. I really enjoyed it- it has chapters on different animals: Cats, dogs, horses, cows, chickens. I especially liked the chapters on cats and dogs.


51 Puppy Tricks by Kyra Sundance. I love the way this book is set up- the tricks are very easy to understand because there are step by step pictures accompanying each one. And then there are little troubleshooting tips for each trick as well. Although some of the methods used to teach the tricks aren't exactly in line with what I would do, I like the book for the most part. Mostly I just use the book to give me ideas of what to teach my dogs next and then I come up with my own technique for teaching it. (I'm not saying I'm inventing new techniques, I'm just doing whatever comes naturally- which could be based on things I've read in the past).



And I am hopefully going to begin reading It's Not the Dogs, It's the People! A Dog Trainer's Guide to Training Humans by Nicole Wilde, High Energy Dogs: A Practical Guide to Living With Energetic and Driven Canines by Tracy Libby, and Don't Shoot The Dog! by Karen Pryor soon. As soon as they come in. I ordered them almost two weeks ago... so hopefully it won't be long now.

Also on my "To Read" list regarding animals and dog training...

101 Dog Tricks: Step by Step Activities to Engage, Challenge, and Bond With Your Dog by Kyra Sundance
101 Ways to Do More With Your Dog: Make Your Dog a Superdog with Sports, Games, Exercises, Tricks, Mental Challenges, Crafts and Bonding by Kyra Sundance
10 Minute Dog Training Games: Quick and Creative Exercises for the Busy Dog Owner by Kyra Sundance
Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin
Dog Language: An Encyclopedia of Canine Behavior by Roger Abrantes
Training the Hard to Train Dog: Effective Training Techniques for Working With Shy, Controlling, and Stubborn Dogs by Peggy Swager
The Power of Positive Dog Training by Pat Miller
and the list goes on and on......

I still have yet to read Marley and Me by John Grogan, and although the following books have not as much to do with dog training, I still want to read them. From Baghdad With Love: A Marine, The War, and a Dog Named Lava  by Jay Kopelman, Oogy by Larry Levin, One Dog at A Time by Pen Farthing, Saving Cinnamon by Christine Sullivan, and Until Tuesday by Luis Carlos Montalvan. All of them are about dogs- and the majority are about dogs in Afghanistan or Iraq as military dogs. Since my husband is a Marine, the books are combining my two biggest interests right now.
When I finished my training to become a trainer, the area trainer gave me a huge list of books I should read. I think I'd already read maybe two that were on it. And I haven't made that dent any bigger because my books have not come in! They should arrive by next week. Hopefully. Well as soon as I read them, I will review them!