I'm a cat magnet. Even cats I've never been around adore me. I'm a legend at the vet hospital. My cats are gorgeous and spoiled to the max. Mom said I spoiled Sam also.

Dear Virginia Needlewoman, I can only hope to be to Heart what you are to your cats!  Love in Him, Deb

Dear All, This AM, I tried to medicate Heart with the recommended muzzle & got nowhere.  More successfully, I was able to measure her Service Backpoack & adjust it (which just amounted to cutting off lengths of straps).  Many, many treats.  Then here's the story of what happened with Ana the Trainer, just as I told it to my best friend & my Darlling brother:

"The Trainer was here f 90 minutes.  She taught me to say Wait at doorways till I go through.  My doggie already knows Sit, Down, Wait, Pretty Sit (begging), & can learn new games (Touch the Hand).  Ana, the Trainer, says that Heart is the  perfect dog f me.  Ana administered the meds w/o the muzzle, nearly being nipped.  She said that the Vet had apparently had the same experience, so had recommended the muzzle, but that w lots of high-value treats (LIVERWURST!), it can be done w/o teh muzzle, as Ana  so proved.  With a LOT of work & LIVERWURST, Ana got Heart to go into the crate & stay there w the door closed f a minute. 

It's really great getting to know Heart through your loving words!  Thank you!

May I ask why you need a crate?  You see?  Maybe?  Just putting Heart in the bathroom with food and water (depending on the duration) and a pillow ~ would be better for Heart?  There are even pet gates that open and close, and still keep the bathroom door open. 

As for getting in and out of a high bed?  Some poodles develop back problems from too much and too high jumping.  There are ramps and stairs that are made just for this purpose.  We used a sturdy coffee table, covered with carpeting to prevent slipping.  Always keeping it permanently either on the side of the bed we didn't use, or at the foot of the bed, so in the dark was no problem.  You know, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Isn't it great and wonderful to have Heart to love YOU? 

Back when I had a dog, I was advised to coat pills with a little peanut butter or administer them in a small piece of cheese. Due to e. Coli, raw hamburger balls are not recommended.

If you can be outdoors with Heart on restraint when the planes come through, I'm certain you can get her to understand that those noisy things are Up There and  no threat to either of you.

Sounds like a great match--hope she heals soon.  Do you know anyone who can lend you a folding step stool for her to use to get on the bed until she is healed?

what a blessing Deb for you and Heart .. keeping you in our prayers. .

Dear Just Me, Teh crate is a den where the doggie feels safety & is able to see the Great ROom through the wires.  Putting Heart in teh bathroom would be a punishment, & I would NEVER punish Heart in any way, that was purposeful or that I couldsee she might interpret that way.  She has healed, & is jumping off the bed now easily, thank G-d!  Just as you saay, it is great to have Heart love me, but greater for meto have her to love!  Love in Him, Deb

Dear Little Pitcher,  Her official healing from the spaying a week ago today is on Saturday, but she seems to be all healed now.  Love in Him, Deb

Dear Gayla, As always, I deeply appreciate yoru prayers.

Dear All, Learning to be a somewhat-decent Mommy is a long learning curve.  My Triner, Ana, told me to feed Heart only when I am training her.  She ws thus eating only 1/4 c of kibble/day (her ration is 1 c).  She was jumping up on me in a begging mode, but it took me 36 hours to realize that I have to feed her 1/2 c 2ce/day anyway; the treats are just extra calories (& she is so skinny that she needs them).  Also, she always jumps up on me when I put her lessh on & I just realized yesterday allmost accidentally that she wants to be petted at that tiime.

Yesterday, when Jewish Family & Childrens Services came to the door for the food delivery, I forgot to put her on the leash.  She got out & zoomed/ran up & down the yard-long hallway 6 times before I could finally catch her!  I am being made to do things beyond my supposed endurance!!!

Yesterday afternoon wsa the last tiime that I have to prepare teh apt for the Exterminator, because the building manager & my friend Karla felt sorry for us -- my poor baby had to endure MAJOR time in the laundry roooom & beign kept to the pace of the shoppinig cart.  Of course, she will have to do this for regular laundry (2 loads),, but for 5!!!  Then I vacuumed for the first time since she arrived (I'd been trying to put it off, just sweeping gthe carpeet), & that too was an upset. 

She barked 2ce last night & once the night before at what she must have thought of as prospective intruders -- homeless peoooooople in the alley that my windows face.  Now, she is barking at tall men.  It only this morniing occured to me what I had read, to say & reward a Sit if she starts to bark -- she can't do both things aat once!  My Trainer, Ana, is in close communication with me, but this has happened overnight, & she has a night owl schedule & won't get back to me till later.

She is such a beautiful creature that many  people stop us on teh streeet to pet her as she does a "pretty sit" (beg posture).  I adore her.  Now that I understand her needs much better, she si behaving like an angel.  BTW, she seems to understand that her ear meds (yeast infection) are to help her -- she hs never fussed except for the time that I tried to follow the vet's advice & muzzle her.  (It seems that I shouldn't follow ALL advice!!!)

Yours in Him, Deb

Thank you so much for the crate explanation!  I love the idea of Heart's Den ~ put that way, it's so positive! 

You have discovered exactly how really intelligent some poodles are!  They actually do have a thought process, and Heart will be able to learn new things all the time!  Her main job, right now, is to love and please Her Mommy! 

Yes, it's scary, when a pet escapes.  Since she sits perfectly, upon your command...maybe your next step will be to reinforce sitting whenever anyone knocks at your door, rings the bell, or when the door opens?  Having her STAY, until the door closes?  With one of our poodles, because she was as quick as a wink, we kept a long leash on her while in our apartment.  This way, we could catch her and be in control.  It got to the point, where she would carry the leash (it was made of material, not plastic nor leather) in her mouth, as a treasured toy and she never resented it! 

She was able to learn the sit and stay, while on-leash, even when we walked entirely around her (and out of sight)!  Only to move, when we would say:  okay! 

Always before crossing any street, street light or not, we would do the sit, stay, okay.  Actually, she learned to sit and stay at each curb and not move until she heard:  okay     You might want to ask Ana, your trainer, for her opinions on what I've written above??? 

Poodles do need activity.  So when there were two of us, we would stand at each end of our long hall in our apartment building and let them run back and forth between the two of us.  This was their fun-running time. 

I'm so happy for you BOTH!

Daer Just Me, Yes, so far as not crossing a street before OK, Heart hs that down pat.  Love in Him, Deb

Dear All, I inadvertently taught my fast study, Heart, to growl all night long.  Hopefully, as yessterday when she had forgotten what she had learned the day before about barkign at tall men (my personal physician, Peter, is very tall & she barked neither aaat hiiiiiiim or aaa any other talll man yesterday), she will forgeeet by tonight about the growling.  I was inadvertently reinforcing her growling by caressing her each tiiiime to try to get her settled & happier.  I don't want to give her treats in bed for being quieet, but I haave anotehr idea, I can take her out of bed when she growls & let her stay up on the bed (I'm certain that she'll just jump back up) only when she is not growling.  It will keep me up, but it can't be worse than it ws overnight.  In so many ways, this is like having an infant in he house.

I'll post agaiiin laaaater about our excursion to the grocery store, her ears, eeetc.  Yours in Him, Deb

Dear ALl, THis is froom my journal on Heart's life with me:

Yours in Him, Deb

I so enjoy Heart's updates!  They warm my heart!

I learned decades ago to use the phrases:  First Business/Second Business, for "you know what"!  In fact, when other's have heard me use them ~ they too started using those phrases.  Just a thought! 

As for the barking...we had a sort of problem like that too!  We trained our pooch to "down", meaning lying down, upon barking!  If the barking continued, we would use the phrase:  LONG down.  Sure, we had to hold our poodle lovingly down on her side and continue the phrase:  LONG down.  Believe it or not ~ in the end, it was loving kindness for her!  So for the first couple of years, whevnever the barking didn't stop, we would stop whatever we were doing, go to her and gently/lovingly put her on her side and hold her with the phrase:  LONG down!  When she would "quiet", we would praise her verbally and with lots of kisses! 

Eventually, when we would suggest "down", she would roll over on her side and stay quiet!  No longer having to use the word:  LONG!

Likewise, when we wanted her to STOP anything, we would voice:  STOP and put our hand so she could see it, as a policeman would use his hand to "stop traffic".  So......................................at one point she learned when we would put our hand in that position and where she could see it, she would stop the behavior that was inappropriate!  Yes, poodles are that intelligent!

What I write are only suggestions, I'm not telling you what to do............only to enable your life to be more comfortable and loving.