Got the idea from another blog to explain how the dogs got their names.
River seems reasonable for a Portuguese Water Dog. My short explanation - the kids named him for the nearest body of water; our property backs up to the Conestoga River. His registered name ( I like them to fit together)- Rockhill's River Valley Boy. We have used River Valley Homeschool Academy when we needed an official homeschool name.
Noche - Spanish for night,chosen because he is primarily black. Spanish because it's the langauge of Cuba, origin of Havanese. His registered name Bella Dulce's Starry Night ( he has some white markings) and there are other "stars" in his pedigree - Starborn Black Tie Affair ( Posh, love that call name) is his sire and NorthStar Bella Dulce Liliana ( Lilly, his dam).
My previous dogs - VicTerre's Shanagarry Girl "Shana" . Shanagarry was a castle in Ireland owned by William Penn's family - so perfect for an Irish Terrier from PA. Then Shangarry's Trailblazer "Blazer" was the first out of the whelping box, from our first litter and he had a white blaze on his chest ( not a preferred marking, but there it was). Pacific Poppy (I forget her kennel name at the moment)"Poppy" was born in California and she was a dark red.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
March KPETS Roundtable - Dogs & Doorbells
River could "crawl/under" the bridge made by a child leaning on a therapy ball. Don't step into the ring until the judge calls you (DQ!); don't step even one foot out until your dog is leashed (-10 pts). Tips we learned today - one for AAT visits; the others (hard-earned) applied to rally competition.
The challenges of training your dog's reactions to the door were also discussed. The best tip from a trainer - teach them to come to you when the doorbell rings. The best story - the doorbell that produces multiple animal sounds.
Hmmm, we don't have problems with River. He will announce visitors and quiet on command. Noche is another story; he is very vocal in many situations and sometimes entices River to join in. His vocalizations range from "singing" along when I play violin ( and River has been making that a duet lately); to frantic barking when we return from an outing - it translates as "please release me from my crate now!and how could you ever leave me". He also has happy barking - morning greetings as the family comes downstairs, play barking - when he is chasing River for a toy and alert barking - "I heard something and I want everyone to know it!" Excitment barking - when he is watching River run agility and he wants his turn - this reaction to a flyball demo got him an invitation to train when he is a bit older. Noche has quite a vocabulary of barks and they are all quite loud for his size. Our goal is to get it a bit more under control. His bark needs an "off" switch.
The challenges of training your dog's reactions to the door were also discussed. The best tip from a trainer - teach them to come to you when the doorbell rings. The best story - the doorbell that produces multiple animal sounds.
Hmmm, we don't have problems with River. He will announce visitors and quiet on command. Noche is another story; he is very vocal in many situations and sometimes entices River to join in. His vocalizations range from "singing" along when I play violin ( and River has been making that a duet lately); to frantic barking when we return from an outing - it translates as "please release me from my crate now!and how could you ever leave me". He also has happy barking - morning greetings as the family comes downstairs, play barking - when he is chasing River for a toy and alert barking - "I heard something and I want everyone to know it!" Excitment barking - when he is watching River run agility and he wants his turn - this reaction to a flyball demo got him an invitation to train when he is a bit older. Noche has quite a vocabulary of barks and they are all quite loud for his size. Our goal is to get it a bit more under control. His bark needs an "off" switch.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
March Arrives, Schreiber Visit
River's friendly competition when he visited at pediatric physical therapy today - he soars at "over" the hula hoop, but she bested him in crawling "under" and the most "roll overs". Her reward- a vanilla milkshake; River settled for dog biscuits.
According to her therapist, this was one of Pink Girl's best sessions, as far as her being cooperative. It varies considerably session to session and even minute to minute during a session. We hadn't seen her frequently; it's been 3 weeks and weather and illness conspired to keep it to only one visit each month in Dec and January.
Her mom was helping her stretch over a "jelly bean" when we arrived and we positioned River on the mat in front of her so she could reach out and pet him. I think she enjoyed when Amanda hit "the spot" and he did that reflexive back leg scratching. She was eager to demonstrate rolling over for him and was even enticed to roll both directions (one is more difficult for her, so she prefers the easier).
Megan dashed in from the pool to start the session. She had Pink Girl sitting upright on a low bench to brush River. Grasping the soft plastic brush is a challenge for her and she preferred to just pet him. He prefers to sit or lay down, so both Amanda and I help him maintain a stand for this. Pink Girl did put a bit of weight on his back, using him to help her stand upright. This was not the therapist's goal - or ours, but I don't think he was hurt at all; she is a tiny thing. She had along a favorite pink teddy bear today that her mother explained had been in her isolette when she was a newborn ( premie at 26? weeks) and the bear was bigger than her. River kept wanting to play with it. We'll have to bring a stuffed toy of his along next time. We should try to dress him up a bit, too, a bandana at least, as she is always attired in coordinated outfits with cute hair accessories. Maybe that's just done by her mother, but they both might enjoy seeing River accessorized, too.
Standing for her and holding the hoop for River is always a favorite. She likes to mix it up with him doing "over" and "under". He won't always wait for the command. Megan(therapist) got her to show River both crawl/under and crawl/over. She got compliments on her crawl versus River's; he likes to pop up. She really seemed to enjoy showing River her crawling and rolling prowess today.
Next, she did a bit of walking too, some with a walker and they also tried a "cane" (it had a tripod base). The "chase River's tail" scenario works only a little with her. I think the walk to a certain point and rest while he does a trick for you went a little better. There was a distraction when another therapist brought over a little girl in a stroller to see River (she was a bit shy of him), but I think it made Pink Girl want River's attention back on her. She didn't quite make it to the water fountain, so she got to see River have a drink from his bottle, while she was happily slurping down her milkshake.
According to her therapist, this was one of Pink Girl's best sessions, as far as her being cooperative. It varies considerably session to session and even minute to minute during a session. We hadn't seen her frequently; it's been 3 weeks and weather and illness conspired to keep it to only one visit each month in Dec and January.
Her mom was helping her stretch over a "jelly bean" when we arrived and we positioned River on the mat in front of her so she could reach out and pet him. I think she enjoyed when Amanda hit "the spot" and he did that reflexive back leg scratching. She was eager to demonstrate rolling over for him and was even enticed to roll both directions (one is more difficult for her, so she prefers the easier).
Megan dashed in from the pool to start the session. She had Pink Girl sitting upright on a low bench to brush River. Grasping the soft plastic brush is a challenge for her and she preferred to just pet him. He prefers to sit or lay down, so both Amanda and I help him maintain a stand for this. Pink Girl did put a bit of weight on his back, using him to help her stand upright. This was not the therapist's goal - or ours, but I don't think he was hurt at all; she is a tiny thing. She had along a favorite pink teddy bear today that her mother explained had been in her isolette when she was a newborn ( premie at 26? weeks) and the bear was bigger than her. River kept wanting to play with it. We'll have to bring a stuffed toy of his along next time. We should try to dress him up a bit, too, a bandana at least, as she is always attired in coordinated outfits with cute hair accessories. Maybe that's just done by her mother, but they both might enjoy seeing River accessorized, too.
Standing for her and holding the hoop for River is always a favorite. She likes to mix it up with him doing "over" and "under". He won't always wait for the command. Megan(therapist) got her to show River both crawl/under and crawl/over. She got compliments on her crawl versus River's; he likes to pop up. She really seemed to enjoy showing River her crawling and rolling prowess today.
Next, she did a bit of walking too, some with a walker and they also tried a "cane" (it had a tripod base). The "chase River's tail" scenario works only a little with her. I think the walk to a certain point and rest while he does a trick for you went a little better. There was a distraction when another therapist brought over a little girl in a stroller to see River (she was a bit shy of him), but I think it made Pink Girl want River's attention back on her. She didn't quite make it to the water fountain, so she got to see River have a drink from his bottle, while she was happily slurping down her milkshake.
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