More Papillon Paraphranalia

Fired clay head, with glass
spangles

I've accumulated a few more Papillion items and added them to my Papillon Paraphranalia page today -- a quilt and a license plate, and a photo of the aforementioned custom wind chime of Maxie acquired last year.  It took me awhile to scan in/scrape together the photos.  Hot, muggy, rainy days are good for doing this, and it sure beats pulling more weeds.

One treasured item is a quilt, given to me on Christmas 2010 by my neighbor, Judy Holley, a veteran quilter who does pet portrait quilts.  This one measures 3.5' x 4.5', based on this photo.  She can do one for you too. The background is a tie-die cloth that she made from scratch, using all natural plant dies.  This quilt resides on my guest room bed, but also has a pole slot on the back for hanging on the wall.  It's a signed piece I'm very proud of.




Maxie (L), Willow (R)
Christmas Portrait 2009



Last week, Kathy Roy (who bought one of my papillon puppies) and keeps in touch, surprised me with a gorgeous papillon license plate, which is now on the front of my Grand Marquis.

She got it off of E-bay, but then she located a source for all breeds of Dog License Plates.  I added a link to that page at Papillon Paraphranalia 

I'm always on the lookout for more items and will add my acquisitions to that page whenever I find something.  If anybody runs across a source for more items, please let me know.

Upwards and onwards!

Online Courses/Tutorials/Communities

In her recent post, Susan Garrett claimed to be the first dog trainer to present a dog training course via online tutorials (Improving Your Mental Game, Recallers, Puppy Peaks).  I don't know if that's true, but there is no doubt that online tutorials of any kind are a new phenomenon (last 10 years), great for distance learning, and can reach a world-wide audience. 

Thru the Cajun Clickers Computer Club, another club I belong to that's doing great work in our community, I now work with some very dedicated volunteers bringing computer literacy to hundreds of local folks. One of CCCC's recent projects is to encourage members to take advantage of the thousands of Online Tutorials available, mostly free, and to guide them through the process.  For it turns out, many people won't complete tutorials on their own -- they are more successful with shared experiences.  At home they get stuck on one point they don't understand, don't have anyone to ask questions to, and eventually give up.  I think that's why Susan Garrett sets up online "communities" for each course, so her students can talk about their problems, brag about their successes, express gratitude, and share what they know.  Online communities, videos, audio, and contests make the online learning process feel more "human".  Smart move, Susan!

I recently completed my first free online tutorial, Powerpoint 2007, from GCFLearnFree.org, and after about 9 hours of watching videos and doing assignments within the program, I ended up with an ability to put together a pretty good Powerpoint presentation.  The course was interesting, well organized, graded by an instructor, plus I will receive a Certificate of Completion that counts for Continuing Education Credits.  I look forward to signing up for their Excel 2007, Word 2007, and Windows 7 classes.  I had the additional advantage that John is taking the Powerpoint course too, a few lessons behind me, and it is funner with us both working the program.  I will one day attempt to insert a Powerpoint presentation into this blog.

I also have the advantage that Phil C, the CCCC Education Director and a good friend, is setting up some Wiki pages, another relatively new internet phenomenon, also free, for his Online Tutorial students to enjoy their own online community around these courses.  I'm helping him fiddle with that, too.  Whew!  So much to learn.  So much to do.  So much new stuff coming at me, it's like standing in a peach orchard at harvest time.   So much fruit you don't know where to start picking. It boggles the mind.

Upwards and onward!

5 Minute Formula To A Brilliant Recall - Online Course

In May, I enrolled in Susan Garett's 5 Minute Formula To A Brilliant Recall Online Course.  I watched all 3 2 hour webinars and took extensive notes, then read each day's material and watched all the videos, one recallers game a day for 31 days.  It's basically a one month regimen, 5 minutes a day per dog. It was a good intellectual exercise, much of it interesting.  But I didn't lift a finger to do the exercises.  By the end I was feeling I'd been jipped out of $300!  And there she was, shamelessly promoting her next e-course, Puppy Peaks, at $400.

Due to my built up angst, you might not understand how/why today I got suckered into buying the Puppy Peaks course, too. We all know "throwing good money after bad" is bad. Of course I want to know all about training puppies to be the most awesome agility dogs, and of course Susan Garett has the highest of training credentials and every day for this entire year she is videoing how she is training her new puppy -- a powerful draw.  But I enrolled mostly because, if you sign up by today the price is only $200, and because of the 30 Day No Questions Asked Money Back Guarantee.  I figured I could take a gander for a month and if it's as lipid as the Recallers course, I can get my money back and learn a little something to make up some of my previous losses.

While waiting all morning for the enrollment info on the Puppy Peaks course to come into my email, with little else to do this dismal rainy day, I took another look at the 5 Minute Forumla website, and saw that now there were 3 consolidated e-books to print out that weren't posted before.  So I spent this morning printing them out, again to recoup as much of my losses as possible. To my shame and surprise, something new jumped out at me that I hadn't grasped before -- I am supposed to actually DO THE EXERCISES, with my dogs, to get the benefit!

Dog training is NOT an intellectual exercise! But in my weak defense, Susan could possibly realize some of us can't endure her pace. I'm not yet that dediated. She could have doled out the exercises in every-other-day or twice-per-week increments.  I for one, watching her daily videos back in May, began to despise dog training like a treadmill I couldn't get off of.  I don't want to train my dogs every single day.  Sometimes we just like to cuddle, and besides, I have a life beyond my dogs.  Dogs.  Dogs.  Dogs.  They aren't everything!

I woke up this morning telling my husband I had nothing more to blog about, life over, end of story.  He suggested I blog about what it feels like to have nothing to blog about.  I'll have to put that one aside til later, because now I must mark how dumb I am sometimes, then get my arse in gear teaching my dogs some brilliant recalls, and taking a new course, too.

No, my dogs aren't "everything".  But I do play with them every day, and I do want them to always come when I call.

Upwards and onward!

House Guests vs. My Dogs

House guests who don't like dogs pose a unique problem.  What is my responsibility?  Is it to the guest, or the dogs who live in the house?  I've been pondering this dilemma this week, as a house guest's visit has extended from "a few days" to "over a week", with no definite end in sight, and no thawing of the problem.

My routine when I have a party, or when guests first arrive, is I usually put my dogs outside, let the guests settle in so they won't be accosted at the door with 4 curious maniacs who want to sniff and greet, lick and paw.  Then, when we're more or less sitting and settled, I let the dogs in.  There are a few minutes of frenzy, which quickly winds down, especially if the guests go ahead and make eye contact and pet each dog for a minute or two.  If the visit extends a few days, I am willing to crate the dogs during meals and various other times if they become obnoxious.  Mostly, they just lay around and sleep.

BUT, if the visit lasts longer, if they distinctly don't like dogs, have never been around dogs, have no desire to befriend dogs, are as afraid of dogs as I would be of your pet snake on the loose, then no matter how much else we may have in common, this becomes a real problem.

In my case, our house is gated in the middle.  The dogs want to be with me on whichever side I'm on.  I'm either on the kitchen/den side, or the living room/bedroom wing side.  Anyone who wants access to the kitchen from the bedroom wing usually has 4 dogs greeting them at the gate.  This particular guest keeps calling me to get the dogs away so he can pass, get coffee, breakfast, etc.  He keeps telling them to lie down, lie down, lie down, lie down, which they don't do for him as he has no rapport with them, but he keeps repeating it.  The repetition annoys me. I wrestle with dicotomous feelings.  Do I run constant interference, or let him either learn to deal with my dogs, or starve?

We usually eat the evening meal in front of the TV, me in my rocker and John in his recliner.  Lucky voluntarily goes into her crate, Fooh Fooh lies at my feet, and the papillons hop up on the red couch and wait for plates to lick.  Alas, this is also the only place for guests to sit.  If the guest refuses to sit there unless the dogs get down, or constantly tells them "Shoo, shoo, get away, down, off, back", what do I do?  For a few days I left them on the back side of the gate, in the kitchen, where they whined to be with me.  Last night I declared that this is my dog's spot and the guest would simply have to get used to it, or push them off the couch himself.  He said, "but then I'll have to get up and wash my hands."

That did it for me.  My dogs aren't dirty.  Besides, nothing else in my house is immaculate and I have news for him.  I touch my dogs then touch my door knobs, keyboards, chairs, upholstery, drawers, and everything else he touches.  It's all in his head. Besides, a little dirt is good for us.  Keeps up our immunities.  I told the guest it was my dog's couch and if he didn't like them there maybe it was time for him to move on.  It came out of my mouth before I knew what I was saying.

I know I would be pretty darn offended if you chose to let me leave rather than put your pet boa constrictor away during my visit.  Is that an equivalent comparison?  But how many people have a lifetime to become used to dogs and cats compared to snakes and iguanas?

Maxie "averting his eyes", waiting for release.

Truth is, it does take some getting used to to be stared at while you eat.  I've trained all my dogs to avert their eyes and lie off at a distance when I say "no begging", but basically they still make their presence felt and will stare from a distance and creep in closer if they are allowed to.  Maxie does this best, and is the absolute cutest thing when he averts his eyes.

I would hate to turn my own flesh and blood away if they had to come live with me, but the criteria pretty much has to be "can you live with my dogs"?  People who aren't "dog people" are not used to bending and swaying to accommodate the needs of what they consider their "inferiors".  They are, I find, selfish and kind of "brittle".  Even many dog people are only accommodating to their own dogs. They don't necessarily like other people's dogs.  And old/crippled people would find it hazardous to walk thru my house with the big dogs brushing up against their knees, the little dogs underfoot.  I've learned to drag my feet, and brace myself.  Still, I couldn't possibly rehome my dogs, nor leave them outside or crated up all day, to accommodate even a dear relative.

Should I feel guilty for putting my dogs before people?  If I limit myself to only friends and family who love dogs, that's pretty limiting!  Cuts me off from at least half the population.  What is my responsibility?

If anyone cares to comment on this or give me some advice, I'd appreciate it.

Upwards and onward!

Why Do I Blog?

Two days ago, on the day of my blog's 1st anniversary, it so happened that Google's Blogger Buzz forum leader asked the question: 

Why Do You Blog?

After reading the other bloggers' comments, I gave it some thought, then posted my own comments:

"I've been wondering why other people blog, and these responses are illuminating! It seems we all want a chance to sort thru and organize our thoughts, record our lives, examine our feelings, share our insights, express ourselves, and be heard! Many times my blog is the only sounding board I have, it lets me speak my truth whenever I'm ready, take as long as I want to develop and edit my points, it remembers everything I said, and reflects me back to myself! That is extremely satisfying. In fact, after I've blogged about something to my satisfaction then people ask me how some episode went, I frequently respond "I just blogged about that.  Go and read it."  I don't feel the need to talk about it anymore.  If I do end up talking about it, my descriptions are more concise because I've thought it through.

The publishing world and news editors have for too long had exclusive power to pick and choose what gets published and shape the culture with their selections and omissions, their rules, their preferences and prejudices. Blogging, YouTube, and social media are now leveling that playing field such that we might finally get a truer picture of what appeals to, concerns, and interests the human race. The silent majority has found it's venue, and the free flow of ideas, the desire for community, people wanting to share what they know, in their own voice, and make their mark, is very confirming to me of an intelligent, benevolent, generous, and diverse free society."

The Google Buzz Team and all the 100+ contributors gave me a unique 1st anniversary gift -- I felt they were raising their voices in toast and encouragement for my own straightforward, undiluted personal expression, and for me that could spell another, perhaps bolder year of Upward and Onward!

Y8W25WD2558Y

Maxie's 4th Birthday

Continuing from yesterday's post on the 1st Anniversary of this Blog and Maxie's 4th Birthday, I woke up yesterday eager to make a pile of heart healthy Oatmeal Cookies in papillon shapes!  After trying my hand at shaping and baking a whole dog, I realized the baking process spreads the cookies out considerably, so I settled for 1 cookie shaped somewhat like a papillon head, sitting atop a pile of regular cookies.

Willow (L), Maxie (R)

I dressed Max and Willow up for a little photo shoot.  They were not terribly thrilled and the smell of the cookies was driving them crazy, but they were patient with me and I got a couple of decent shots.  Then I stuck 4 candles in the cookie pile.

Maxie (L), Willow (R)

John, myself, our house guest Wy Ming, and all 4 dogs gathered around the kitchen table, we sang Happy Birthday, and of course I blew out the candles for Max, wishing for many, many more.

John and Maxie, Wy Ming and Willow



Lucky (left), Fooh Fooh (right)

Then commenced an eating frenzy with 4 dogs at my feet, waiting for their morsels.  I am SURE they knew it was a party the way they pranced around. 

Particularly adorable was when Max and Willow did the tango. 

The whole party took all of 15 minutes.

Maxie and Willow TANGO!

For everyone else the party was short and sweet, for me it lingered on as I reviewed and processed a lot of really cute photos which are now posted to my Family Web Albums, here.

It's been fun over the years fashioning Maxie's little cakes from whatever was around the house at the time. I've never done a birthday cake for any of my other dogs. Don't know why. Maybe it's because we designated Valentine's Day as Fooh's birthday and we are already including him in that celebration. Or maybe Maxie's cute little face just lends itself to being sculpted. How would I make a Lucky cake? A Willow cake?  They'd rather have a frozen chicken neck anyway!

Sorting birthday photos today, I took a little trip down memory lane regarding Maxie's earlier cakes.


His 1st was a store bought carrot cake in a little tin.  I think it cost $1.00  I decorated it with plastic balloons with a wallet photo of him on top.  John, Audrey and I went with Maxie, Willow and Fooh to Highland Road Observatory, the dogs ate the cake, then we all went hiking in the woods, then fig picking. 

Maxie's 2nd birthday -- no cake, no party.  My brother Fred had died and my niece got married at my house during that period, and I simply lost track of the date.  Shame on me!

Maxie's 3rd birthday cake I used an upside down shortcake, with torn ham for the ears, carrots sticks for the ear feathers, whipped cream for his blaze, and raisins for eyes and nose.  Just whatever I could find around the house.  Again, a little party at my house with John and Audrey, nothing much, some photos to mark the event and let Maxie gobble up the whole cake, carrots and all (excepting the raisins)!

I love it that Maxie and the blog have the same birthday. I don't remember planning it that way, but how fitting.  And you'd be surprised how often he sits at the keyboard with me as I write about our adventures.   As I mumble to myself, he probably thinks I'm talking to him.

Last night John also brought me a little bouquet of flowers and a FoohMax Agility Blog Happy 1st Birthday card.  That was sweet!  It has sat by my computer all day and helped make me feel very happy despite the week of rain we're having and my dental appointment tomorrow.

Upwards and onward!

1st Anniversary of my Blog

Today is the 1st Anniversary of this blog.  WOW!  A whole year, 241 posts, 36 drafts not yet published, and all of them, one way or another, about my dogs and me. 

At first I was just talking to myself, recording thoughts and challenges, frustrations and fears about dog training, trialing, and my involvement with other dog people.  It was a place to store a few photos along with extended captions.  Truth is, I've always loved writing and have started two other blogs, (my dreams, my poetry) but never had a subject that held my interest until it was "My Dogs".  (Well, I did publish a serial website a few years back on wild food foraging that took a few years to write.  That one is still up, but after Hurricanes Katrina, then Rita, then Gustav hit us directly, I quit foraging for edible weeds.)

Eventually, I sent out a few blog links to "persons of interest" -- husband, sister-in-law, son, mom.  Then a few cousins or friends if I was writing about them in particular.  A few dog club mates. Then, this year, my small handful of agility students. My site meter began to report 30-45 visits a week.  That was pleasing.

Then several weeks ago, I added the web address to some comments I made on a few other agility blogs, because they provided a space to add it.  Readership increased, and this week I had 221 visitors. Besides the US, the map shows some readers in Alaska, Canada, Australia, Russia, UK, France, Sweden, and more. Who can they be? It would be incredibly rewarding to know.

So if you land on this page, whoever you are, please help me celebrate my blog's birthday by leaving me a short comment.  Consider it a candle on my "blog cake".  I'd like to know where you live, how you found me, what you think of my blog so far, etc.


Every morning this past year I've woken up pondering what I might write about today. This morning I woke up thinking maybe I've written about all there is to write.  I will soon have all the nearby Trial Site Summaries completed, my 2011 titling goals met for Maxie and Lucky Lucy, my basic handling maneuvers and exercises recorded. I've conveyed most of my struggles getting to the point of being comfortable in the ring, hopefully encouraging other shy, un-atheletic, uncertain competitors like myself to persevere. What else is there to say?  Am I about to lose my mojo?

"Adoring Eyes"
Maxie's 1st birthday cake with his wallet photo on top.
July 17, 2008

At least I can share how I am celebrating this day.  Turns out, today we celebrate Maxie's birthday, too, so this morning I baked him some heart healthy oatmeal cookies in Papillon shapes, and tonight when John gets home we will sing Happy Birthday to him, toast the blog, and take some pictures which I will post tomorrow.  That will be celebration enough.

See, what makes my world go around is looking into Maxie's adoring eyes several times each day. I melt into his eyes (plus 3 other pairs)!  I feel such love coming from him, he totally accepts our mutual co-dependancy!  We need, and want to need, and don't give a crap what others say about people not supposing to need, each other.  What fun we have!  And my only birthday wish is:

May all this fun continue!

Upwards and onward!

P.S.

John also brought me a little bouquet of flowers and a FoohMax Agility Blog Happy 1st Birthday card.  That was sweet!  I placed it by my computer, where it will keep me company tomorrow as I process photos.

High Cholesterol!

Undergoing a complete physical for the first time, trying to figure out all the little quirks in my body and whether they are cause for alarm, urging myself at last to "Do It, Do It, Do It" so I can keep playing agility with my dogs, I have learned the following about myself:

Liver is good
Blood pressure is good
Thyroid is good
Mammography clear, no lymph swelling
No diabetes
Strong heart
Good circulation in both upper and lower extremities
Nothing wrong with my female plumbing except a few small fibroids.

So far, so good!  BUT, why, then, do I tire so easily, feel cotton-headed at times, have muscle twitches and electric twinges, and why all these charlie horses of late?  Why do my knees go numb and my left heel feels like a wooden peg sometimes?  And my ovaries ache. What brought on the bursitis? 

Only thing they found wrong is my cholesterol is "through the roof", the highest my doctor has ever seen, she says.  And my triglicerides are way too high, both raising the alarm for heart disease and stroke.  Smoking doesn't help.  My maternal family's record of high cholesterol doesn't help, since it's hereditary.  And of course I need to lose 25 lbs.

So, she put me on Vitamin D 50,000 mg/week, and Lipitor, which one of the common side effects is muscle cramps!  Muscle cramps!   I sought out medical attention in the first place because of muscle cramps. I can't afford muscle cramps. Crap, crap, crap!

So, I'm cruising the internet again, looking for alternatives to lower my cholesterol without drugs: oatmeal for breakfast, Niacin, more fruit, more vegetables, less fat.  I made a big fruit coctail last night, including 3 bananas, 1 orange, 1 apple, 1 sm can chunk pineapple, 1 tbsp sugar, and fresh rasberries.  I am about to go eat a cup of that. I could probably eat the whole tub in one sitting it's so scrumptuous!

I still have more tests to undergo, including a colonoscopy.  I'm not allergic to anything, so that's good.  These tests are costing a fortune, so I hope they give me a clear picture of my health so I can enjoy another 25 years of active living.

After this regimen, then it's time to visit the dentist after 3 years away.  I've never had good teeth though I brush and water-pic religiously.  Sometimes my gums ache, sometimes I chew and hit a nerve (very painful) and I'm sure I need some work by now.  It's depressing.  I don't want to think about it except there should be some supplement pregnant women can take by now that ensures their babies will have good teeth and bones.

That would definitely take mankind another step upwards and onward!

Travel First Aid - Hot and Cold Packs

At home I keep a large reusable Bed Buddy Back Wrap I can microwave for 1 minute anytime I need dry or moist heat, large enough to velcro around any body part.  I also keep a reusable soft gel ice pack in the freezer (plus a 2 lb. bag of frozen rice that coutours around any body part and holds the cold pretty well).  On the road is a different matter.  Most motels don't have freezers worth a damn in the best of rooms, some don't even have refrigerators or microwaves. My pop-up camper has no refrigerator. So, while still taking it easy with my calf and hip, I've been cruising the internet reading up on Hot and Cold Packs for my Travel First Aid Kit.  

Cold Packs: The throw-away cold packs vary in size from 4" x 6" to 6" x 9", operate by squeezing a water pack into one or another chemical for instant cold, are relatively cheap at about $.75 apiece. There are so many brands out there, I can't begin to name them all.  I can probably pick up a few at Walgreens.

Hot Packs:  Throw aways also available, brands too numerous to mention.

On the other hand, unless I'm actually driving down the highway or in an area without facilities (hiking, camping, at our agility field), I am always at a destination -- a motel or trial site, or a McDonalds, where I can just about count on being able to access hot tap water and ice.  So, I finally remembered my Mammy's, GrandMammy's, and Great GrandMammy's old Hot Water Bottle, with the wide mouth you can also fill with ice cubes. 

Wondering if they sell those any more, I looked them up and found several brands ranging from $7-10.  Voila!  I found my solution, and I'll keep one in the side pocket of my dogs' travel bag from now on.  I also have one of those chemical disposable Cold Packs in the First Aid Kit in the trunk of my car, where it has resided, unused, for nearly 9 years.

Hopefully, I won't ever need any of these items ever again, but hanging around at agility trials, there's bound to be some sports injuries that need nursing, mine or other peoples'. it's always good to be prepared.

Upwards and onward to research my next health issue -- High Cholesterol!

Bursitis - OUCH!

On Tuesday, July 5th, I woke up with horrible pain in my left hip. Excruciating pain, out of the blue. I could not find a pain-free position to lie in Tuesday night, so got no sleep until I took a Lortab.  Fortunately, I had a doctor’s appt scheduled for Wednesday the 6th (at age 64, I'm in process of having my first complete physical). Fearing I couldn't drive or walk into the clinic without fainting, I had John take the day off work to drive me. After pointing to my outer hip, the doc diagnosed it immediately as hip bursitis, a condition where the bursa sac swells up and becomes inflamed.  This happened overnight, without any apparent cause.

Big relief, at least I don't have a hip fracture.  I couldn't teach my Wednesday night agility class, and over the next few days I followed the prescribed regimen: rest, ice, anti-inflammatories, and as needed, pain killers. Within 2 days I felt almost normal, a bit of trouble lifting myself up stairs on that leg, and soreness when I first sit down, otherwise walking normally.

I kept thinking, what if I wake up tomorrow morning with bursitis in both hips?  Shit!  Then I won't be able to walk at all.  I better get acquainted with this condition FAST!  So, while sitting on my arse for 3 days, I surfed the web, read up on bursitis, and found I could have stressed the joint limping around with a pulled calf muscle at the Monroe Trial (though I tried so hard not to limp I was taking baby steps the whole weekend).

Here is an informative website describing Hip Bursitis, aka "trochanteric bursitis".  There are several, all saying pretty much the same thing. More interesting to me, I read several online testimonials that ultra sound works wonders on bursitis, injured tendons, ligaments, reduces inflammation, etc, and there are home kits one can buy, ranging in prices from $99 to $299. I've been wanting one of these for years, and a TENS unit, to treat our periodic lower back problems, John's tennis elbow and shoulder bursitis, etc., because I suspect that what heals you at the chiropractor's office is as much the 10 minute sessions lying on the table with the TENS machine and ice pack, plus the at-home exercises, as the adjustment itself. With a long history of back problems, I have logged in a lot of time at the chiropractors' office and long ago was taught how to pop my own vertebra back into place.

After doing my research, I decided to order the $98 MPO US 1000 3rd Edition Professional Ultrasound Unit and the $75 MPO-8000 - Combo Professional Digital TENS & Muscle Stimulator.  If they work, they will be in my First Aid kit when I go to trials, and anybody there that pulls a muscle can use them.  FYI, I tried buying these items from a local Medical Supply house and was told I needed a doctor's prescription, so I had no choice but to order online.  It really ticks me off when I'm told I'm not allowed to take care of my own self.

I also want to add instant ice packs and heat packs.  I'll look that up next.

Upwards and onward!

.