Tagged!

Whoa! We've been tagged by Redberry Cottage and by Volunteers4Paws!

Gather 'round guys, this is going to be fun.

And in my usual fashion, I started this post before Sandy was adopted, so I'm going to leave the answers that refer to my former foster dog. Maybe her dad can confirm (or deny) that they are fitting.

1. Describe yourself in seven words.

Lamar: Soft, silly, silky, loving, reactive, athletic, deserving

Sandy: Hyper, loving, frenetic, kissing, cuddly, hungry, jumper     

Fozzie: Cuddly, large, strong, sleek, loving, velvety-mouthed, worried  

Florian: Flexible, verbose, hilarious, Euro-stylish, outdoorsy, loving, world-class dancer

Kirsten: Musical, loving, serene, veggie, activist, treehugger, professional boat-rocker

2. What keeps you up at night?

Lamar: Those foster dogs coming too close to the bed.

Sandy: Being forced to lie on my own bed eek how can I possibly do that HELP let me up there pleeeese this is terrible!       

Fozzie: Nothing, as long as I am nestled deep in the arms of my Swiss Guy.

Florian: Thees postmodern dance crap, Zuzi can you believe these people telling me that my neck is too extended? I say to them oh yeah, do you know who I am, I been in the Washington Post at least 12 times and I danced on three continents. Where have you danced? I'm going to show those people what dance is about, even though my bunion is killing me.
Zuzi, you gotta massage the bunion.
Oh yah, and Zuzi, I know you're tired, but just leesten to thees...

Kirsten: See above

3. Who would you like to be?

Lamar: Prince, so I could wear purple sequins.

Sandy: Kim Kardashian, so I could star in a video about physical intimacy.

Fozzie: Matthew McConaghey, so I could vacation in warm sunny spots with my shirt off.

Florian: Do you know who I am?

Kirsten: Janis Joplin without the drug abuse.

4. What are you wearing right now?

Lamar: A Celtic-inspired collar with tags that jingle.

Sandy: I'm naked!

Fozzie: A striped "Olly Dog" collar in earth tones.

Florian: A dance belt, under distressed Euro-style jeans and a purple tie-dyed T-shirt with a unicorn on it (Just kidding guys. My girlfriend have thees fantasy).

Kirsten: A sarong and a tank top. 

5. What scares me?

Lamar: Fozzie.

Sandy: Nothing!

Fozzie: My harness, my head halter, when mom and dad have intense conversations.

Florian: My girlfriend's impulsiveness with respect  to fostering dogs.

Kirsten: Losing any member of my family, human or animal.

6. The best and worst of blogging:

Lamar: Well, hmm--I think--

Sandy: Blogging? Blogging? Did you say blogging? Lemme tell you what I think about blogging! Its--

Fozzie: That blog, well, sigh, I really feel that its--

Florian: Zuzi, your blog? Its-

Kirsten: Pipe down guys! This is MY blog. I love the community and the support and learning about each others training and struggles. I love the outlet and the ability to archive amazing insights and memories. I dislike when my life starts being about my blog, rather than my blog being about my life.

7. What was the last website that you visited?

Lamar, Sandy, and Fozzie: WE CAN'T READ!

Florian: Youtube, for videos of obscure choreographers

Kirsten: Youtube, for videos of the Doobie Brothers and Moby Grape.

8. What is the one thing you would change about yourself?

Lamar: My thick undercoat, which Mom seems to think calls for use of the Furminator.

Sandy: Nothing! Life is Good! Yipee!

Fozzie: My occasional impulsiveness, because it makes people misunderstand my true nature.

Florian: My bunion.

Kirsten: Lingering shyness that makes it difficult to pursue my other passion, of being a musician

9. Slankets, yes or no?

What's a slanket?

10. Tell us something about the person who tagged you.
Redberry Cottage is a beautiful blog about a bevy of dogs whose mom somehow entertains them all and makes it look easy. 
Volunteers 4 Paws is the new incarnation of the old Inu-Baka Blog, and chronicles the rewards and challenges of volunteering for the betterment of dogs. It is an inspiration for anyone who volunteers at shelters or is considering doing so!


And in lieu of choosing new victims, I am going to direct you to the blog list in the right-hand pane--all worthy of your patronage. Visit someone new and make a new online friend today.

Wordless Wednesday

High-Value Treats

I am noticing a range of fascinating behaviors among my two gents when it comes to high-value treats.


These seem to vary in accordance with the level of value. There's your high-value treats like homemade dehydrated steaky-bits. Perfect for training in distracting situations, or for "trading up" in resource guarding training. It's hard to imagine the dog to whom these would not be high-value, and pretty much any dog knows just what to do with them: inhale them. 

Then there's the high-value treat like Greenies. Lamar loves his Greenies and savors them when given the chance. Fozzie, on the other hand, seems to understand their value enough to huddle over his when Lamar comes near, but not enough to actually eat it. 


Then there's the treat whose value is so high it just blows their little minds. Like this huge rawhide bonie that I can't give the guys without close supervision, because of its potential to cause warfare. 


I broke it out the other day during band practice, because I thought it was one thing that might occupy Fozzie and make him stop pestering us for a while. 


He couldn't even handle it. He huddled over it a bit but wouldn't chew it. He just didn't know what to do. I traded up for some steaky bits and put it away, because I felt uneasy with Fozzie huddled over something in the presence of people who don't know him like I do.







Then the other night, after a certain discussion about responsibility with a certain significant other, Fozzie knew I was upset and so was lying in my arms, cuddling as close as was possible. I wanted Lamar to have something rewarding to do too, so I gave him the big bonie.


 

He didn't know what to do with it either. So he walked around with it for a while, until I thought to put some peanut butter on it.



Then he knew just what to do! 


 What do your dogs do with high-value treats?

New Grooming Client

This past weekend I groomed a heavily matted golden doodle, and a couple of equally matted bichons, one of whom was very anxious. The people were very happy with my work and I felt good about it too, so I guess I was feeling cavalier about the whole grooming thing overall. 


So cavalier, in fact, that when I was approached by a brand new client, a client who wasn't even of the same species as my usual clients, I didn't hesitate. 

Now I do specialize in grooming anxious dogs, and I've come up with a few tricks that allow me to do a reasonable job on most dogs.


But an anxious Swiss guy? That presents a whole new frontier of challenges.


I don't think I've ever had a client who stood up every five seconds when I was trying to cut his hair to check himself out in the mirror. 


But a little TTouch to the scalp, some soothing talk, and even this client was able to settle down and allow me to groom him. 

I won't be adding "Swiss guys" to my list of breeds I'll work on anytime soon, but I think I did a pretty good job for a first time!

Wordless Wednesday

And Now for Something Completely Different: Ear Infections

When I was in grad school and living with my parents, I sometimes had the thought that I really should have gone to veterinary school. 


Then I took Dizzy to the vet when he had an ear infection, and was cured of that impulse. Of all the horrifying smells dogs are capable of generating, I think the ear infection must be about the worst. 

I encountered it powerfully with some senior cocker spaniels I used to groom, and I've learned to recognize that unique aroma long before I look in a dog's ears. 


As you might imagine, though, Dizzy's ear infection was really in a class by itself.

That incredible smell is why I was so delighted when my mom gave me some of the dog stuff she's accumulated over the years, and there happened to be a bottle of Vet Solutions Ear Cleansing Solution. That stuff smells like paradise. I don't know what they put in it, but to me it smells like a romantic, sensual potpourri of ylang-ylang, jasmine, and rose. 


Ear cleansing solution? Forget it, I'm using that stuff as a parfum. 


Bring on those cocker spaniels, those Bassets, those nappy, dreaded, oozing, foul-smelling ears. I am no longer afraid. 

Rollercoaster

Although I have had some mental shifts with regard to keeping Fozzie, something in me is not able to fully embrace that thought. 

When I have band practice, I sometimes wish my dogs were peaceful little things that could just calmly hang out on their dog beds. 


I can't believe sometimes that Fozzie is 3 years old, has been with me for 2 of those years, and he still exhibits this behavior. Its a big part of the reason it took me so long to emotionally decide that I'm probably keeping him, and its the reason there's still that "probably"--the reason I sometimes think that if I met someone, not off the internet and not just anyone, but met really the ideal person, I would let him go to that home. 

Sometimes I just want a life where I can have guests over without a dog attached to my waist, without worrying about the gate being firmly and completely latched every time someone comes in to prevent a mad chase after every feral cat that has ever left a trace of scent on my street, without having to keep one eye and the corner of my mind always on Fozzie, even when I'm in the middle of singing a song for god's sake. 

But then I look into his eyes and I do a great big flip-flop.

What I do love about Fozzie is that he's the most sensitive dog in the world, which means that when I have these thoughts, which I already feel terrible about, he knows. He picks up somehow that I am having an intense thought, and that it's about him, and he starts to look worried, and he comes over and buries his head in the couch. Or curls up in a tiny ball against me with his head on my lap. 

And then I love him. I love having this big brindled nonhuman person who lives with me and listens and cares. I love having this big scary-looking muscular brute who is really just a big sensitive New Age dog. So here I am, right where I've been for two years--I love Fozzie, even as he drives me crazy. 

But you knew that already. Thanks for your continued indulgence. Please don't stop reading my blog and I promise I'll occasionally write about something other than my tortured ambiguity about Fozzie. 

How about a nice post on ear infections?