What We Got For Christmas: Leash Silhouettes

Since adopting Trinity we have bought many things for her from custom collars to many types of leashes. For the longest time we have been hanging her things in a bag on our coat hanger. This Christmas I decided that both dogs need their own leash holders for their many accessories. I was looking for something unique and custom fit for both dogs. Rama's mom from Raising Rama posted a picture of her custom made leash hangers from Artisan Metal Shop. All of a sudden I heard angels singing (well maybe not but you get the idea) and I said, 'That's just what I've been looking for!' I decided back in November that those were just the right gifts for the girls for Christmas.

Artisan Metal Shop has many custom made metal art work to choose from. Their dog silhouette options are numerous. Looking through them I noticed that. being my dog's are mixed breeds, the body frames were not exactly what we think their breeds are. It took me a while to figure out which breed best fits thier body frame. For Trinity I decided on the Pointer silhouette and for Kylie I went with the Manchester Terrier silhouette.

Add caption

They are very well made, not to heavy and easy to hang. Our house does not have very much room in the entry way so we hung them in the basement hallway. I definitely recommend them for any pet owner.

Snow Dog

Our New England weathers are finally here. We had our first snow storm yesterday and I already hate it. I'm a warm weather girl and hate the temperature dropping below 50 degrees. But guess who does love this stuff...Trinity. She didn't see much snow last year but she absolutely loves it. She made a maze in the backyard with hopping and leaping through the snow.

This is from about an hour into the storm.

Kylie figured if she just plays she will be warmer.

 I decided to hang out the window at 10:30pm to get some cool pictures of the Christmas lights and snow.

Our neighbors flag pole.

Looking up

 This morning Trinity went playing in it while Zach shoveled and Kylie and I rested on the couch.

Attacking the snow

"When you gonna throw this white stuff at me dad?"

Snow dog.

 I stood under the deck to take all these pictures. It was really cold and my feet started to freeze.

Unfortunately the storm rendered us unable to go to our show-and-go at training this morning. The event was still being held but we didn't go. Oh well, there will be plenty more to attend when we don't have a foot of snow to shovel out.

P.S If your wondering why my pictures came out so good. I got a new toy for Christmas. Product review coming soon!

Happy Birthday Trinity!

Today Trinity turns 2 years old! Wow! I can't believe it, it went by so fast. Last year she was a crazy puppy now she's a crazy teenager (I hate saying that, time fly's enough as it is). This year has been wonderful.

8-week old Trinity

 Who would have known 2 years ago that a stray dog would have found a loving home and birth 3 puppies just in the nick of time! I thank God every day for Trinity's mom's family and to know how lucky all four of these dogs are to be here today. It shows me that one act of kindness can go along way.

Trinity, Jackson & Indiana. Three puppies in a basket!

Trinity during the summer. She loves the pool so much!

 Happy Birthday to our little pumpkin! We love you so much!

Our Post-Christmas Blues

We had a wonderful Christmas yesterday! I can't wait to show you what we all got from each other. I'll post something soon but today I must go back to work.

"Huh, is Christmas over yet? My birthday's coming up soon!"

Merry Christmas

We hope you all have a wonderful time this holiday season. 

No matter what you celebrate make sure you spend time with the ones you love.

We wish you a Merry Christmas (cause that's what we celebrate)

from all of us at Trinity's Love!

"And make sure you get lots of gifts. So you can tear the paper up, then spit it out. Cause that's what I do" -Trinity

Bloopers!

Tomorrow we will show you our family's official holiday picture but today you get the behind the scenes of the pictures that did not quite look right on a card. Enjoy!

Setting up the camera

Still setting up the camera

We weren't ready yet

Kylie hopped out of her sweater

My oh-no-im-not-ready-for-the-picture-yet smile

Off center

Kylie really loves her daddy

I thought making a noise would get the dogs to look at the camera.  Trinity didn't know it was coming from me.

Almost there!

 

Trinity Turns Me Into A Liar

At training class yesterday we were working on push up sits. Trinity has had issues with this. She likes to push up her front paws then 'butt scoot' into a sitting position. I tried a few times to get her to sit correctly but it wasn't working without luring her to do it. So, I asked my instructor about how to get her to sit without a treat in my hand. We went over a few ways to get her to do it. But we came to the conclusion that it is a distance problem and that I've been using a verbal command prior to the hand signal (in this exercise you don't use a verbal, just a hand signal). I decided to just use the hand signal and if she didn't do it the first time to use the verbal command so she will begin to anticipate the verbal and she will sit on the hand signal. I started to do this and the first time I signaled to her, she sat, correctly. *face palm*

Yup Miss. Trinity she turns me into a lair. I think she heard what we were talking about and decided to skip the anticipation part and just do it. I wouldn't put it past her. She's to stinking smart!

Wordless Wednesday: Kylie the Anti Santa's Helper

Santa's Little Helper decided to unwrap some of our presents last week. I spent all day friday buying & wrapping presents and on Sunday, Kylie decided she didn't want to wait a week to open the gifts. Apparently she really liked our nephews gifts cause all of his were unwrapped. Of course Trinity really can't resist peer pressure cause she joined in on the action to, which is odd cause she never did that last year. But no pictures from it cause I was really upset by it. So here's a picture of Kylie in her new pajamas!

Kylie Gets Some Training

Trinity an Kylie are both very different dogs not only in breed but personality as well. When we first adopted Trinity I began her training almost as soon as possible. I had a lot of time to train her throughout the day and bring her to class. I loved it and the training world was a big eye opener into how my dog acted.

"If I stand here like this I'm the same size as Trinity!"

Once we adopted Kylie I knew I wanted to train her as soon as possible but unfortunately her illness has prevented us in going to training classes. So for right now I have been attempting to train loose leash walking and very basic obedience. Being a small dog (only 15lbs) I hadn't really attempted to do this with her. I think I did what many owners of small dogs do, slapped a harness on her and let her pull me to where she wanted to go. I never even realized she was doing it half the time because she's so tiny that her pulling is nothing compared to Trinity who is 65lbs. When we first adopted her I told myself that I would not be that small dog owner and let her get away with things that I don't let Trinity get away with. For the most part I had not except the leash walking.

"I'm so small I sometimes think I'm a cat."

So, I decided to go for a walk with her. I did what I had been taught last year and brought my clicker and a handful of treats. I told myself again not to let her pull me and to attempt to get her to walk by my side. I started off by clicking her for looking at me then delivered the treat on my left side. I was so amazed by this. I used to think small dog's were harder to train than large dogs (yes I know how narrow-minded that is). She's doing so well at this. She now knows when she hits the end of the leash she needs to come back to me. I'm working on duration with eye contact and keeping her at my side instead of in front of me. I also love that she takes treats outside on walks. Trinity never did that. She only likes treats given to her in a building or in our backyard this makes walking difficult for us.

"No matter what you think this is very comfortable."

Kylie is doing very well with this. I've been trying my best to walk her when I have a day off from work and when it's not dark and super cold. Where I live there are no street lights and Kylie gets so cold at night. We are going to start basic obedience after the holidays I'm ready to get her going and learn how to train her to her own specific needs.

Have you allowed certain behaviors in one dog and not in the other? Are your dog's training styles different?