I'm going to do NaNoWriMo again (I know you're not surprised)

October is almost done, and the website has rebooted, so it's NaNoWriMo time again. I know you're excited. (Well, maybe you are. Maybe you should participate?)

Wordless Wednesday April 2 2014

Monday Mischief: Dogs chewing books

Occasionally, a red-faced dog owner brings a chewed book back to the library.

I've posted pictures of them before, and thank the good Lord frequently that Elka is not a book chewer. She's not an inappropriate chewer anymore at all, actually (/knock wood).

This latest offering is 61 Hours by Lee Child. The dog owner was doing the right thing by having his dog crated when the dog, a Rottweiler, could not be supervised. However, the dog knocked the crate against the table where the book was, knocked the book off said table, and then drew it into the crate with his paw to have his snack. So good problem solving skills there!

I asked if it was all right to take pictures for my blog, and he said it was fine. We had a good talk about dogs needing mental exercise as well as physical, and I told him about the magic of a frozen  peanut butter Kong, even if it's "just" the dog's normal kibble and not anything more treats-y.

Product Review: Kong Dental Dog Toy

February is Pet Dental Health Month, and in recognition of that, we were offered a KONG Dental Dog Toy, Large, Red  for review. Kong products are a staple in this house, and have been since Elka first came home, when she had her little blue puppy Kong and little blue puppy Kong Flyer (don't impose your gender roles on her!)

New toys are always cause for joy (and we've got another toy review coming down the pike), and Kong toys inspire a certain love and concentration in Elka, as will of course be seen below. Wisely, the Kong we were sent was of the X-Large persuasion; Elka does okay with a Large, but sometimes the bigger ones make her work harder and longer.

Conversations with Dogs

Every time we have a "new" person, they must acclimate to Elka. I don't mean in the "we let her do what she wants and so they have to deal with it" way. I mean in the "this dog is as intelligent as a toddler and that can be kind of mind blowing at times" way.

Elka tries very clearly to communicate with us. I sort of get the impression that a lot of Dobermans, and other intelligent breeds, do as well. They want to get their point across. And because we've always talked so much to Elka, her comprehensive vocabulary is pretty good. I've never tried to count how many words I think she knows. I don't mean cues or commands specifically, I mean words in general.

It's that time of year again (....almost)

So, seeing as how it's almost the end of October (finally!), I've been thinking about National Novel Writing Month.

As happens to me very often, I had an idea at the beginning of the month  (an urban fantasy novel about an occult biker gang, to put it in a nutshell). I started planning it out a bit, did some reading, started watching Sons of Anarchy again (I'm only partway through season 2, no spoilers please!), that kind of thing. So I was ready, right? Then I looked up and it was only October 16. So.

Now I'm thinking of writing something that takes place at the Jersey Shore, where I'm from (surprise, right? Writing about a place I know). But of course there are ten days left before November. So. I still don't really know. And I may or may not have already started the other novel (also urban fantasy), which may or may not be cheating if I use it (it is).

So I need to lay in some toys/treats for Elka to occupy herself with so I can shoehorn some writing time in evenings after work. Remembering to freeze Kongs will help. Getting a couple new squeaky toys will help, as they only last so long. It's funny, Elka didn't used to like squeaky toys, but she sure does now! I can just watch her play with one, and they are an enforced "No, you play with that yourself" toy.

Any of you novelling this year? How does your dog occupy him or her self when you write?

Some blasts from the past

I've been unpleasantly sick this week, so little "real" blogging is to be had. I figured I'd take today to link to some of my older posts, from "before I was cool" (I tried this on my writing blog, with what seems like minimal success. I guess that one isn't cool yet?) Truth be told, without the computer and blog, I'd be pretty confused regarding what day it is; missing work does throw one for a loop. But there we go, it's after Wordless Wednesday, so that means it's Thursday

Wordless Wednesday May 15 2013

Elka, wondering why my sandwich isn't hers.....

There's a certain, intent, "Are you gonna share that" look that Elka has. She's very polite, so long as she knows you aren't intimidated by her (she can be very pushy on people not willing to tell her  things like "off", "down", etc.)

Pictured here is a combination of "Are you gonna share that?" and also "Why are you taking my picture again?"  Perhaps "Why are you taking my picture instead of sharing that?"

Playing a game? Don't you need these?

This is a fun story to share, but a difficult one not to overexplain.

We're gamers in my house, of varying sorts. Video and computer games, but also tabletop role playing games. When you're playing tabletop games, you need various different books, and also dice. The dice are very important.

Dishwasher Safe

Every once in awhile, like a mother pulling a security blanket (or security stuffed animal) from a child, I'll run Elka's puzzle toys through the dishwasher. I should probably do it more often, but really, she licks her butt. How concerned can I be?

The little Kong looks about good as new

Intelligence: a two edged sword

I may or may not have mentioned it, but I do so love blog hops (you might have noticed). I get to read all kinds of new blogs that I hadn't discovered before, and new people come to me as well! One of these new blogs was Bites and Tales, who commented on last week's Wordless Wednesday and who I went to check out.

Scrolling through, I adored the picture, and then came to a post on a topic near and dear to my heart: Smart dogs.

Product Review: Kong Squeezz

Ever since our recent Gummy Bear success, Elka has been a lot more interested in squeaky toys. She no longer seems to think that she's hurting the toys when they squeak, and will actually play by herself with one. This is nothing short of miraculous, I assure you. Elka is a sharer, of the highest caliber.

So, when I received an email asking if we'd like to review the Kong Squeezz with rope toys, I said "Yes please!" We love new toys at Casa Elka, and I love Kong toys pretty much as a rule. They're durable, they don't smell funny, and Elka tends to react well to them.

Blog the Change, April 15, 2012

Well, I daresay my Blog the Change platform is the same as it was back in January.  Train your dog! Your life, and hers, will be better.

I don't know a lot of dog owners, at least not to talk to at length. I try to "spread the gospel" anyway, as it were. One library patron got a puppy a few months back, and lately has come in describing how the puppy is chewing everything up. Oh, we've dealt with that, haven't we? I recommended feeding her only out of Kongs, which would contain her regular meals but mixed with a bit of yogurt and freezing, to use up that mental energy. Apparently the puppy does well in other realms, with sitting nicely for her meals, and retrieving. 

One of my friends, when visiting somebody else, taught the dog in that household "touch". Another friend's dog knows "roll over", which Elka does not, by the by. Any time Elka is on her back, it is on her own terms, and it's typically on a couch and on an object of her vigorous affection.

"Touch" and "roll over" might seem like silly tricks. "Touch", however, can lead to other things, like closing doors or cabinets, or send aways in agility and other dog sports."Roll over" might be pure fun, but you all know that I think trick training is valuable in and of itself. When you do trick training, you're still spending time with your dog and bonding, and working together. When Elka and I trick train, it's also typically when I bust the clicker out, and she's overjoyed to see that happens. The clicker means treats, and Elka loves treats. She also kind of likes getting something right, which is nice. 

Elka's "drop it" is still quite nice. She had a piece of candy in her mouth that somebody had let fall on the floor, unnoticed (a Sour Patch Kid). My fiance said "drop it", and she did immediately. I'm so very proud of that in her.

Dogs that you spend time with aren't bored. Dogs that you train don't tend to get cast aside and end up in shelters. Rescue, maybe, because sometimes home situations occur that are unavoidable. I think it was in Playtraining Your Dog that Patricia Gail Burnham said something about how people will sell their conformation champions, but asking somebody to sell their titled Utility Dog? No way, José. Granted, there's also a degree of training that goes into conformation dogs, and I don't know that owners give them up that easily either, but every owner is different, and competitors may be in it for different things, to be sure.

One Year Blogoversary!

Funny to think that it's been a year already!

And yet, here we are. I thought it would be fun to kind of do a "year in review" roundup (though different from the New Year's  post!)

Successful Kong use

Elka loves toys that we can stuff food in.  Even if it's just a schmear of peanut butter, she'll spend (what I feel) is a disproportionate amount of time rolling it around, holding it down with her paws, dropping it, and licking it.

This kind of "work for your food" activity, no matter how short, is good mental stimulation.  The Kong rolls around, has knurls inside that trap the food, and doesn't really have a big enough opening to entirely accomodate the DoberTongue.  Frequently, mental stimulation can be more tiring than physical exercise; perhaps it just puts dogs in a mental mindset, so that they recognize fatigue?  That's my best shot at speculation.

I can't claim to be the canniest of Kong users, but I do have a few tips for making a Kong last longer than five minutes.