Playing Catch Up

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Our weather has been a bit crazy lately.  From low 30′s to the 80′s.  Today we have scattered thunderstorms and it’s cool, while yesterday hit 91 degrees.  So trying to get the necessary spring cleaning done has been a bit more tough than usual.  This makes irregular salon peeks.  People don’t like to drag their dog out when it’s wet or cold, they feel they ‘need their coat’ to stay warm or don’t want to walk through the rain after a day of grooming.  In Chicago, especially the north side where I work, tend to walk to most places.  Having a car isn’t a necessity.  South side is a bit different, which is where I live.  Different life styles for different areas of the city.  So with slow days, I try and accomplish as much as I can, that I have pushed off through out the winter.

Wednesday, windows were all open!  I love heat and warm weather!  So I used that time to take the dogs out, they’ve been getting board.  We went to the beach, and then they had to be cleaned since they took a bunch of sand home with them.  They really loved the water since it was so warm out.  Then I had to sweep all the sand that was blown out of Yuki’s coat, so I used the rest of the day to sweep, mop, clean the ceiling fans, and beat the rugs.  The kids tried to help as best as they could.  I couldn’t get a picture of Yuki dragging the rug outside, I was laughing to hard.

Yesterday I had windows and doors open again!  I dropped off lunch for Julio at work, and the kids were happy to see dad on his lunch break, and then I went to home depo to gather some flowers for the garden.  Now in Chicago, we don’t have to much land space on our properties.  Especially in the more apartment lifestyle.  When we moved in, we just had a line of rocks, and this really ugly bush in this 12×6 dirt plot.  Since we live in the basement level, we are below the sidewalk, and living so close to Sox park, lot os people walk by and our little dirt plot collects a good amount of garbage.  Every week there is a day of venting about the new papers and trash collecting in here.

Usually we just use this area for the dogs bathroom area.  They both know that the dirt plot is their potty area.  Sometimes we’ll let Aladdin go and pee on his tree so he can doggie facebook with the other dogs in the neighborhood that always stop to leave their mark.  I was tired of dirt, which turned into mud when it rained.  So I gathered measurements and went off to get plants and mulch.  All pre-annuals as to let them get big and take over, of course with some guidance from me.  And when we do decide to move, pre-annuals are easy to separate and take some with us!  The dogs took well to the mulch which will help with the muddy paw problem on rainy days.

While trying to take an after photo, he was already soiling my garden :P

Today is scattered rain.  So we focused on finishing up the cleaning on the inside of the house.  I measured Yuki today and found my color pencils.  Julio’s version of cleaning is finding an empty spot and putting it there.  So I was able to color in all her growth marks that I’ve just been using pencil for.  My markers and color pencils were placed in the utility closet… not sure why, but they are now back with the rest of my art supplies. :P

I’ve also been taking a few veterinary classes to help solve problems I see a lot with grooming dogs.  Being aware and knowledgable always helps, so I always try to further my education.  I also have a lot of planning to do.  The new year is starting for us groomers, if you follow the grooming competitions.  Our years are biannual.  So every two years we start with a new slate for competing.  This allows new competitors to try for Groom Team USA.  I’m also working towards my masters and with all the shows that are closer to home, it makes it easy for me to take my practical tests.  Of course Yuki will be my non-sporting test, I just have to find a Cocker Spaniel, long legged terrier, and short legged terrier.  It’s hard than you would think.  So it takes a lot of prep time.

The last thing we’re going to try and fit into our schedule is Park Day 2.0 Bingo!  We have a few things already done, and you’ll be able to see with all our pictures of what we’ve been up too.  You can play too!  You just pick a bingo card, we’ve picked bingo card #2.  Then post a blog about it!  I have a few more to go before we get a bingo!  You can thank Gizmo and Finn for hosting this fun little game!

Friday Fun Day!

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Julio and I both at what is my ‘weekend’ off, Thursday and Friday.  So we left for Cyrano’s place so everyone could play.  Unfortunately, Yuki caught kennel cough from work.  She is vaccinated, but like the common flu vaccination, you can still get a variation of the cough as you can’t vaccinate for all variations.  So we’ve been dealing with that.

Aladdin ended up catching it towards the end, who is also vaccinated, but I’ve been leaning towards the more holistic life style and picked up some Manuka honey and virgin coconut oil.  Both will boast their immune systems.  And it will be good for Julio and I to also start eating a healthier life.

I use both of those ingredients in my holistic sugar and salt scrubs for grooming so I try to always have a good amount on hand.  They weren’t so fond of the taste at first, but we mixed it in with their food and of course, Yuki gobbled it all up and Aladdin nibbled a bit unsure if he should be eating it.  I can tell the honey stop the tickle and he has stopped coughing.  The cough has not effected their energy or their appetite, so we are in no fear of it being time for the vet yet.

I also got my new grooming table to start grooming more from home.  It’s heavier, sturdier, and can be raised and lower.  I also have a sturdier grooming arm, so those crazier dogs don’t have a chance to bite me.  This means more business for home, and the start of my own  business.

We went to the park today.  It’s been pretty rainy on my days off (it always works that way :P ), and since Yuki is in her fear stage right now, we want to make sure she experiences as much as possible.  Luckily Aladdin, the brave kid he is, helped us show Yuki, it’s not as scary as it seems.  Of course mom and dad are there to help and encourage!

“Here we go!”  Momma and Yuki learning what a slide is.

Aladdin prancing at the bottom, after he slide down.  Crave little Yuki trust mom to take her down safely!

We’ve made it safely to the bottom!  YAY!  We did it again, but Yuki did it by herself this time!  Of course, not until Aladdin did it again before her (he loves the slides)!

Just like that Yuki!

All by herself!

With all the exersion, they coughed a little, so we made sure that the car had water ready for when we returned!  This nifty cup holder helped out! :P

We also noticed this ‘weekend’ that Yuki has officially started teething.  I noticed one of her little teeth fell out of her front bottom row.  When I went to show dad, she had a few more missing.  You can see here she has an obvious missing tooth.  You can see her bottom row to well, but she is missing two there.  She goes for all her toys so far and she’s being very good about not grabbing our things.  Such a good girl!

At the end of the day, when it starts to rain, there is nothing wrong with just playing a game of tug inside the house.  Mom and dad love the way our children play!  They have truly grown to love each other!  Hope everyone has a fun weekend! :D

Dog Beach

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Since I had Monday free I took the kids to the beach.  It was Yuki’s first time so I was excited.  Julio ended up getting out of work early, since he’s waiting on his code guy to finish his side before he can move on in the project, so he met me out there.  It was a great family event!

Yuki went into the water after some hesitance, and Aladdin, well he just walked in as if he was never scared of the water.  Everyone there asked why Julio and I were so excited, and we explained the story and before we knew it, we had 8 extra cheerleaders cheering him on to get the ball.  He even had doggie friends who were there to help him out, incase it went in to deep.  The dog community is such a great place!

We also had to take care of some things at the dealership with our brand new car. It’s pulling to the left and a light keeps coming on. Also, someone has already hit and run us. It’s definitely a pretty decent scratch that we now need to get fixed. Neither of us noticed until the dealer pointed it out. We were both frustrated. We can’t even make our first payment without some jerk ruining our brand new car. But while Julio took care of that, I was off doing a photo shoot with my pups!

It felt good photographing again. I might make Hillison Studios more pet photography friendly and start to drop doing weddings. Weddings are long drawn out process.  Dealing with bridezillas and mother-in-laws can be stressful.  On top of it, my bosses are starting to see $$ and are getting greedy, so I don’t need more stress than I already have.  Working with dogs is the only thing keeping me sane.  And I’ve had a few people who want me to photograph their dogs, once they saw some of mine.  So I’ll be switching some of the website over.

I found some photos I took of when we first brought Yuki home.  Amazing how much Aladdin’s opinion of her has changed!

And of course, a slideshow of all the photos I took.  You can always visit my site for more photos too!

Monday Mischief

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This weekend, everyone was out enjoying the weather so the salon was a little slower.  I do not mind a little down time to enjoy it with my kids!  So we set up a ton of play dates! :D

Yuki got to meet my friends dog, Rouge for the first time.  Rouge is 1 year old pit mix who was rescued.  She has tons of energy and so we took it out at the dog park.  Look how pooped Yuki is here!

We also had a play date with the other poodle we meet in our doggie day care from work.  This is Layla and poodle moms tend to stick together.  So when I got out early, I headed over for a little play date!

Of course we made a trip to our usual park as well.  They finally fixed the fencing on the one side so now we can feel comfortable letting Yuki play there.  Aladdin knows his call back so the broken fence didn’t matter for him.  And he will be so focused on the ball (as you can see) that he would have no intension of getting curious.  Some of the regulars were there as well!  They were happy to us and meet Yuki.  She didn’t know what to think about the Great Dane, Rufus.

And today I had zero dogs scheduled, so we’re going to continue our weekend to the dog beach!  It will be Yuki’s first time, and Aladdin has been getting more brave each time we go.  He is slowly getting closer and closer to the lake!

This is a Blog Hop.  Visit our sponsor’s blogs,  Alfie’s Blog, Snoopy’s Dog Blog, Luna, a Dog’s Life, and My Brown Newfies to find out what other mischief has been going on this weekend!

Training

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Today I had a few meetings with possible trainers.  It was a beautiful day out, and I’m glad most of them choose to do their display outside.  It also allowed them to meet my dogs and show me they were willing to work under distraction.  The park was pretty active today.

Aladdin being trained to use a friend’s doggie door. He still has problems getting back in.

I’ve trained most of my dogs growing up by myself.  Of course, as a child, I didn’t have bills to worry about, a job to get to, or a house to clean.  Everyday I could simply dedicate however much time I wanted.  I enjoyed training my dogs, so time was always spent outside training.  Now that I’m older, and I know more (and I can drive!) I can take my dogs to the park to learn.  But I can’t do that every day.  My time as of right now is just to packed with things to do.  I like the idea of having a trainer because it makes me make time.  I’m a person to always honor my appointments.  Especially if my money is involved.  So the likely hood that I would miss out on someone/something I paid for is slim.  No excuses.

I just can’t believe how much prices have inflated.  Not that I’m complaining, I understand they too need to make a living and they price their time and efforts made into the time for me.  Even when I took Aladdin around for training to help with some growing aspects of his new life, prices we not that high.  So Julio and I have been sitting down discussing options.

Aladdin graduating from puppy class 2011!

He’s so good to me sometimes.  He has his hobbies, and I have mine.  Unfortunately, mine always involve the dogs and business and end up costing substantially more than his hobbies.  He trusts my decision and knows I would never do half way.  He’s given me a few suggestions on what we could and couldn’t do.  He still insists that I train them myself, that I’m good at it.  But it’s always nice to have back up, incase I get stuck.

There are a few options when it comes to training.  I have always been the positive training with a correction tool, noise for me.  I’ve talked to a few trainers today though, each offering different methods.  One was all correction.  I was to ignore bad behavior.  One was offering the same type of training I was used to with a clicker.  One same, but without clicker.  The last one I talked to does electric collar training.  I’ve felt the collars shock, and it’s lighter than a 9-volt battery (the kind your parents make you lick as a joke when you’re a kid).  The trainer even asked if he could try it on both my dogs.  I allowed and they both responded beautifully.  Aladdin, who is already responsive to commands (except when it comes to dad and few other people), did everything the trainer had asked.  He gave his full undivided attention.  He even got Yuki to heel, and stack in a couple of minutes, something I’ve been slowly working on since I got her.

We are hoping Aladdin will help train her the proper way to fetch, but right now it’s just a fun game of chase!

I’m just torn.  I loved the results of the light shock collar, but I know there are a lot of ignorant people out there who would love nothing more than the degrade the type of training method.  Even though I know not every same training method works for every other dog out there.  Aladdin was super easy to train.  He’s very treat motivated, especially when we got him.  He was starving.  Now he’s even toy motivated.  One squeak of a toy and you’ll have his attention until it’s thrown.  Yuki is different.  She is a picky eater and she sometimes pays attention to toys, and other times she could care less.  Sometimes praise is all she needs while other times it’s a hassle to even get her to respond to her name.

Crate training was a breeze!

We have a lot to think about before we invest money.  Especially with what I have planned for the rest of the year.  We try to not put a price tag on our or our dogs education.  But with all the plans and traveling I’ll be starting this year, we can’t go crazy!  Advice is always greatly appreciated and until we make an official decision about which trainer to go with, I’ll still be looking around for treats to inspire Yuki.  As for Aladdin, maybe he’ll even learn a new trick too! ^_^

April’s Floods, Bring May Muds

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We have had rain for the past week and a half. This causing a lot of flooding issues, even in Chicago. We did get a day of sunshine though, so we decided to take advantage of it. Mom, dad, and two fur kids made their way to the park to get some excersise. Today were back to rain.

Aladdin could play fetch until he passed out or died.  Yuki now chases the ball, but forgets to bring it back.  When no other dogs are there to chase what she so happily caught, she’ll bring it back… sometimes.  We also took this time to teach her recall.  I brought some of those duck treats with and every time I called her, and she came back, I gave her a treat.  Soon, she would just run up to me and check in.  She loves these duck treats!

Yuki is 16 weeks old today!  We have a few meetings with trainers on Friday and a date in the dog park on Thursday (if the rain could ever stop).  So everyone is still trying to meet and greet.  But May is almost here and we’ll be able to have more doggie play dates in the parks.  Our Chicago style living doesn’t really allow use to have all the dogs in the apartment at once.  One day though, we’ll have a house and a yard and all the dogs and come and play!

Yuki’s stack at 16 weeks old

We still have mostly puppy coat, but she is looking less of a Bedlington Terrier (with her roached back) and more poodle.  Her stack is coming along, but getting her to stay that way for long is tough to do.  I was pretty pleased with the picture I was able to grab!

Hope everyone has a good Wednesday!

Something to Bark About

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I’ve been reading a lot of little reviews and I couldn’t help but to give it a try.  I also had a $10 coupon so I took advantage of it.  It’s called BarkBox.  Our first one came into the  mail this week and the pups didn’t know what to think.  It was filled with a lot of goodies, and actually a lot of treats that Yuki (and my garbage disposal Aladdin) loved!  I also love getting and trying new things and toys.  It allows me to stay up to date in the industry.  So I figured, once a month when this goodie box comes in the mail, I’ll write about the products I got with it!  Unfortunately, I didn’t think of this before Yuki and Aladdin went to town on some of the treats we got, so I’ll have to make sure I get them all next time around! :P

As you can see we got a huge tug rope.  I chose dogs for 20-50 pounds as Aladdin is 20 pounds and Yuki will finish at about 50 pounds.  So I figured that would work for both  We also got Duck jerky treats, and some beef tendons.  Which were eaten right away!

Aladdin and Yuki were a little skittish at first when I put the box on the floor and opened it.  But when I opened the duck treats, Yuki was digging her nose in there.

I’m excited to get the next one!  I promise, I’ll take photos of all the goodies before the dogs dig in! ^_^

So Much Going On!

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I don’t know how I let time slip by me so easily!  We have had a lot going on and I’ve been trying to manage a household and a shop since my employers are having mental melt downs!  Thank goodness I have Julio to take care of the small things like dishes (even if he complains about it lol)!

Julio picked out the model and color, I just brought the discount! We are now legally bound by car loan! All I need now is a pretty ring to go with it :P

My car finally said enough.  So last week we went to a car dealer and picked out a new car.  Both my parents retired from GMC so I get a nice little discount on GMC made cars.  So this is our brand new 2013 Chevy Cruze.  Julio really wanted a BMW, but he’ll have to get a better job for the car he wants.  This car gives us great gas milage for all the running around we seem to do.  The best part, insurance didn’t really go up, and it gave use pretty cheap payments so I don’t have to worry about budgeting to much. :P

At least she stacks! I’m hoping that roach back look will slowly disappear lol

That little mark is her today, but Julio hide my color pencils from me!

Yuki is getting pretty big.  She’s over 17 inches now and eating like a horse.  Her hair is starting to thicken too, which means that leisure brushing habit we have had needs to change.  I also found her first mat (hair tangle ball) and I don’t know how it got there.  We had brushed all out, she went to day care, and later that evening I noticed it just dangling on her tail pom.  We brushed it out, but now I’m a little more paranoid with hair clumping up fast.  She gets brushed every night now.  She always looks so fluffy!  Until you wet her again, then you can see how awkward she looks!

Her paws look so big when she doesn’t have that fur to make her look bigger.

I have also set in her puppy show cut.  She is growing tons of hair in the back end of her, but not the front where I need it.  Her pre-continental/puppy cut is still a pretty sad sight.  But we’re getting there.  Her top know is growing, but it’s not long enough to pull back so it’s always floppy and in her eyes.  Bows with alligator clips are on their way!  Everyone makes fun of her saying she’s glaring at them.  Especially when they try and correct her when she is doing something naughty.

“You’re not my mom.”

Aladdin and her play together wonderfully.  Although Aladdin plays a little loud with growling and grunting.  Sometimes we have to stop play, especially when other people are around because they don’t understand it’s not mean.  He’s use to playing loud with Cyrano, and now that Yuki is bigger than him, I think he needs to talk more game.  They are becoming so close, they even drank out of the same water bowl together!

Yuki’s favorite playmate though is Layla.  She is from day care at work and she is a black poodle.  Layla is about 6 weeks apart from Yuki.  Maybe closer to 2 months.  But they will play together, ignoring the other dogs and then crash next to each other.  Everyone at work jokes that the other dogs want to be part of the poodle club, but they are not allowed.  Yuki is definitely the leader in the play group, all the other dogs follow her lead.  It’s a good thing we’ve been working on behaving, other wise we would have a pack of wild dogs in day care! :P

Yuki and Layla

And a few other fun puppy pictures!  Have a good friday everyone! :)

This is Layla, Yuki’s favorite playmate at work!

 

Aladdin and Yuki playing. They make time for play every night, once everyone is home from work!

Dad tucks Aladdin in on the couch every morning and Yuki goes to work with mom. Spoiled little guy!

 

Yuki loving the new car! lol

Happy Easter!

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Luckily, some groomers don’t work some holidays.  I’m one of those lucky groomers, so I took the day off to enjoy it with the dogs.  We went and visited with Cyrano and checked out the park.  It was suppose to rain, but it was beautiful if you could look past the gusty winds.  Of course, we took off our Easter outfits before we went out to play!

First we checked out the dock.  Cyrano doesn’t like it’s unsteady floating feeling, but Aladdin and Yuki, don’t seem to notice.

Then Yuki started some of her puppy zoomies and went right into the pond.  It turns out she’s a pretty good swimmer.  We tried retrieving some sticks, but she hasn’t quite got the retrieving down yet.  We have plenty of time to work on it.

We also measured Yuki on her chart a couple of days ago.  You can definitely tell she is taller than Aladdin now.  She’s getting big.  Still no scale, so I can’t tell you how heavy she is.

After the day, Aladdin and Yuki settled down and were playing with their bunny.  We didn’t do eggs this year, we just didn’t have time to go out and pick some up for the pups.  But the bunny was good enough for them!

Happy Easter everyone!  Hope everyone got to enjoy their day! :)

Monday Mischiefs

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We had a pretty busy weekend.  Finally got my own car back, and it still doesn’t drive right, so we’re in the market for a new car.  We have a lot of things to take into consideration, like our fur babies.  So we’re looking towards something more family size.  Since my parents both retired from GMC, i’m looking towards a Chevy to put that discount to good use.  We would love a BMW, but we don’t quite make that kind of money.  :P  The decision is still up for discussion, according to Julio, but I’ve made up my mind. *laughs*

I also feel we’ve accomplished crate training.  We went 5 hours at work this weekend in a crate because I got to busy to let her run and we had a dog aggressive dog, so he would bark when he would see any dog.  She didn’t make a peep, and as soon as he left, she and I took a potty  break and played in the day care area that is empty on the weekends.

Yuki will now go up and down stairs.  She is still a little hesitant, but she follows.  So we always give super encouraging attitudes when she makes each step!

Yuki and Aladdin went with us to Rockford to pick up my car and they got to play with Link.  This was the first time that Yuki got to meet Link.  They got a lot just fine!  Link always plays very well with the other dogs and it looked a like a giant ball of fur when they were rolling around.

We measured Yuki, and she has grown!  Not much, but people started commenting, so we made sure to take the time to measure her out today.  She is just as tall as Aladdin now.

For her training, she now knows sit, shake, down, and sit pretty.  She comes when called, most of the time.  As for stay… we’re still working on it.  She just can’t stand the thought that someone is doing something without her.  I was trying to work on her stack, but that’s still a work in progress too.  She’ll be 11 weeks old on Wednesday though, so I think we’ve set a good pace.

Of course we can’t forget about Aladdin.  He played in with the two fur  balls, and he is always there when I try and train Yuki.  He knows all these commands and he does them immediately.  His treats are not the glorious size of Yukis if she does it by herself, but he still gets to enjoy training sessions too!  He gets his own treats too, especially since he isn’t as picky.  I let him pick them out the last time we made a treat stop.

This is a Blog Hop.  Visit our sponsor’s blogs,  Alfie’s Blog, Snoopy’s Dog Blog, Luna, a Dog’s Life, and My Brown Newfies to find out what other mischief has been going on this weekend!.