makin' progress

this is the picture of a happy dog. she's had a good day. she's definitely making progress with the whole being social with other dogs thing. since i had the day off today i decided to take her up to c.e.r.e.s. for a coffee and spinach filo pastry. she was amazing!! we got up there and there were no dogs so i tied her up to a bench at the back of the cafe area and went up to order my stuff. she layed down and just watched me (the last few times she's stood or just sat watching me-- not quite comfortable enough to lay down). when i came back i untied her and sat at a table at the back just holding her lead while i ate and drank. she layed down on the ground and just watched me and looked around. a little jack russell came in with a woman and wombat didn't even notice it for several minutes. she noticed when the woman picked up the dog to sit it on her lap a ways away from us. wombat just took a look and then ignored it (she didn't even sit up which i was a little surprised at). then a man came in with a bigger dog about wombat's size. he saw wombat with her muzzle and took a seat near where he came in, away from us. wombat was a bit curious but again didn't even bother getting up. she just layed there and looked over every once in a while. and she whimpered a bit. then she put her head down on the ground and just relaxed (facing the big dog). she was soooo cute. i was very proud of her but i didn't want to disturb her to give her treats so i just kept talking softly to her. i even talked to zac on my mobile while i was there. when we left to come home there was a guy walking along the creek trail with 2 dogs-- 1 with him, the other was an old bag of a staffy (or part staffy) that meandered along several meters or so behind him. me and wombat sat and waited on the grass until he was well ahead of us with both his dogs. wombat just let out a couple whimpers but didn't get aggressive or weird. she took some treats and looked at me. we followed behind them under the bridge and then me and wombat started up along the grass away from the trail where the old dog was still wondering way behind his person. wombat was very good and well behaved. we pretty much ended up parallel to the old dog a few times. wombat sat, whimpered and took treats for looking at me. the one time she did lunge forward there was nothing aggressive about it-- it was a very playful bounce with whimpers. i didn't let her get too near the dog but wombat was very interested in running along side of it. i was soooo proud of how wombat behaved on her very stimulating walk. i think she'll be having a big nap the rest of this afternoon.

very smart girl

wombat learned a new command the other day-- "lie down". we just never bothered to teach her it and she knew sit and stay when we got her. i decided the other nite is was important for her to know "lie down" too. i grabbed a handful of dog food and after a few tries she got it!! i was amazed (especially since she was so into her dog food that she thought it was a reward for what she was doing). now she does it even without food (she still gets lots of pats and praise when she does it).
she also did another smart thing yesterday (that we've been trying unsuccessfully to get her to do). i was outside with her and she was chewing on one of her disgusting old dirty bones. i went inside to grab something and she followed me (i'd tried to sneak off on her twice that day while she was in the back yard and i didn't want to disturb her by saying goodbye but she'd caught on both times as i was locking the front door so she was very wary of me going inside). as i walked thru the kitchen i looked back and saw her put her head down just outside the back door and then she came in. i thought maybe she'd dropped her bone on the way in (usually when she tries to bring a bone in we close the screen door on her, tell her to drop it repeatedly, she drops it, we open the door, she picks it up to come in, we close the door and tell her to drop it again......usually takes several door openings before she is willing to leave it outside). when i went back out a few minutes later i discovered her bone sitting on the mat outside the back door-- she had put it down without being told and came in leaving it behind!!! such a smart girl!

a little too relaxed

rescue remedy is amazing! since we put wombat on it she slept thru the nite on her own bed 4 nites in a row (that hasn't ever happened since we got her 9 months ago)!!!! the 5th nite she got up and peed on the carpet (we weren't too impressed with that-- she'd never done that during the nite before and only once when we left her inside alone). the next several nites after that she got up to scratch herself and roll on the carpet. one nite she came over to the side of the bed, stared at me, went back to scratching, stared at me, went into the lounge room and then jumped into bed. the next morning i found a big poop on the carpet!!! i guess by staring at me she assumed i knew she wanted out (other times she's wanted out during the nite she's jumped on us and refuses to settle). so after that incident we've gotten up with her every time she starts rolling around on the floor and scratching during the nite. after getting up with her, trying to get her to go out (she jumps up on our bed as soon as one of us gets off) fighting to get her to go back to bed on her own bed (she makes herself a dead weight and resists all pushing, pulling and carrying her off), and tucking her back in she sleeps thru the rest of the nite until after zac shuts his alarm off (then she crawls into bed for a morning cuddle). last nite she didn't get off her bed at all, she just had a cleaning session in the middle of the nite and again at 7am (i think she was wondering why no alarms were going off yet). she went back to sleep after her 7am session and then i woke her up at 8am to tell her she was a very good girl and then got her up onto our bed. its sooooo nice not having to curl up around the dog at nite (although i'm not liking the 2am rolling on the floor and scratching thing).
the rescue remedy seems to really be helping her not be anxious at nite (and maybe a little bit around other animals) but we're thinking she might be a little too relaxed about using the carpet as a toilet (that's NEVER happened before she went on rescue remedy). she is always mortified about the incidents though (after the poo incident she refused to walk around that way to the kitchen for 2 days).

life and death

life:

these are the bud photos from a couple weeks ago. now all those pink petals are scattered around the yard in damp clumps from the wind we get in spring and there are green leaves covering the tree.
death:
on a sad note zac's dad lost his parnter last weekend from health problems. please keep the family in your thoughts and prayers.

busy

i just realized i haven't blogged in ages (well a week). its not that i haven't had anything to write about, i just kept getting busy with stuff. i have photos of some of that stuff but they're still on the camera (usually i upload photos to the computer right away but i've been that busy). i finished my doona cover a bit more (its got a back sewn on it now so i can put the doona in it). i just need to finish the bottom edge (probably velcro closure cuz i hate the buttons and snaps we have on our other ones).
i also fixed up a t-shirt i got as a gift (it was a mens small, i changed it into a girl cut t-shirt with shorter sleeves so i'd wear it more).
the major thing i've ben doing is getting the wedding invitations done (it's more like a wedding packet-- invitation, sheet with map and accomodation options, reply card and envelope. we're only doing the reply card and envelope for people we know don't use email much-- everyone else will reply by email or phone). so far zac got the photo part of the invitation printed up and the accomodation and map sheet, the reply card didn't turn out when he printed it so i think i'll just get some paper and do it at home. all we need to do is confirm the reception venue and then i can print up the printed part of the invitation and put the whole thing together...... hopefully in the mail by tuesday.
i'm working all long days starting tomorrow and all thru next week so it's still gonna be crazy busy then the week after i think i'll be working at least 6 hrs/day (if not 10 hrs) for 4 days of the holiday program. then we're off to canada!!!!
i just noticed some really cool spring photos on my camera but i'm too tired to upload them now. will try on saturday if i don't get a chance in the hour i'm home tomorrow afternoon after work.

its magic!

we were in the pet shop the other day looking at halters and stuff and we came across one that had this drawing on the back:

i tried to convince zac that it would work based on this picture (look how happy she is in the after drawing!). it also came with the guarantee that if it didn't work the inventor would eat his hat (and refund our money). we were in a pretty over-priced pet shop so i thought i'd look into it on ebay. i looked up the sporn training halter on and found some really positive customer reviews (including one that was a 57lb american staffy that was constantly pulling on her lead and her person had tried everything, just like us. the sporn halter worked so well the dog's person was almost in tears on her first walk with the dog using it). i found one on ebay for a pretty good price (almost $15 cheaper than the pet shop, including shipping!). it is AMAZING! i've only had time to take wombi on 1 proper walk since we got it 4 days ago but i've taken her to the park several times and it is sooooooo nice! zac has done several nice walks with her and even ran into a bunch of dogs(not all at once but over the course of the walk) the other day (and i ran into a couple on the 1 walk i did) and she is a lot better with them-- pretty whiny and stuff but she doesn't look like an idiot whipping her head around trying to get the gentle leader off her face. much less embarrassing for us and i think she's not quite as nervous.
we've also put her on rescue remedy this week. that may be helping as well (we are those crazy dog people-- our dog is our child)
she doesn't look as scary either when she's got less stuff around her face (still has the muzzle though for safety if a dog did make her get aggressive or a cat flies at her face)

the chaser guys arrested. again.

i'm sure the abc is considering cancelling the chaser after the amount its probably costing in lawyer fees for these guys.
their latest stunt (trying to get past security into apec by posing as the canadian delegates-- and one of them dressed as osama bin laden) got several of them arrested. they did managed to get past part of the multi-layered security zone.
here's the article
here's the video clip

a week ago

 

i finally remembered to email myself the photo of my cake that was on the work camera (that somebody kindly downloaded onto the computer even though a few people have adopted the rule that if the work camera is in the office, its assumed that whatever photos on it have been downloaded and they will be deleted).
the cake above was the amazing cake that one of my co-workers made for me. it not only looked really cool and had a maple leaf on it but it tasted great too!

another meme

Favorite Food: mexican. san diego hole-in-the-wall mexican.

Favorite Month: depends. in australia i love january-- its summer, i don't work. in canada its july-- its kinda warm. 8)

Favorite Movie: i walk the line


Favorite Sport: to watch: hockey or aussie rules, to play: basketball (but i suck)


Favorite Season: summer-- its warm!!


Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: fudgy wudgy from the edaline dairy in lyden washington. also ben and jerry's funky monkey

Favorite Time of Day: mid-morning or evening


Last Cigarette: never

Last Drink: saturday nite (maybe sunday afternoon-- i can't remember.)



Last Car Ride: my birthday. zac got a flexi-car to take me to dinner

Last Movie Seen in a Theater: simpsons movie (its actually pretty funny)


Last Phone Call: i can't remember. i think zac called home about something yesterday. either that or it was my friend myuki calling on sunday.....


Last CD Played: tim mcgraw greatest hits


Have You Ever Been on TV: i was on a local show back home for our high school counterattack (against drinking and driving) in high school. i was in the background of the jamie kennedy experiement or something like that in pheonix(we walked past and then they made us sign releases to use the clip on tv)


Thing You're Wearing: 3 layers of tops, jeans, socks and underwear and no sweat shoes


Thing You've Done Today: ran with the dog in the park. listened to the dog whine for walks (and more walks), installed a new doorbell (with a metal clip screwed over the top so it can't be stolen without a screwdriver) and made lunch (and now i'm going to work).


Thing You Can Hear Right Now: dog talking- wants a 3rd walk. kids yelling in the kindergarden across the road.

Thing You Can't Live Without: oxygen. food. music.



Thing You Do When You're Bored: music (play or listen), walk, ride bikes, play with the dog.



Coke or Pepsi: neither.

Hot or Cold: HOT! definatly hot



What Do You Want To Do Before You Die? travel lots

and now i ahve to go to work-- i'll only be 2 min late!!