February 7, 2014

Clock says Its Friday......Carlene is not feeling well.......And We (Maria & Meg) have commandeered her computer in a attempt to write some sort of DD for all of you to read.  :)

I have now idea where to start or what to say.

Let's see how about how WONDERFUL all the following people are Maria, Megan, Theresa, Janine Tracy, Allison, Paula, Pam, Grace, Lesley, Skip, Earlene, Paul, Bud, Lori, Steve, Deb, Jack, Laura, Devin, Giuliana, Bailey, Sheila, Walter, Margaret, Denise, Betsy, Colleen 1&2, Blue Gwen/Greg, Kelly, Early Sandy, Sunday Sandy, Jackie, Amy, Cindy, All the Davids, George Meyers and all his staff, Jackie from IN, Kitty, Beckys, Priscilla,Roast Beef Jim, Erin/Ben, Tess, Lynn and everyone else who comes to crazy acres for the dogs!!

Paul saved us yesterday. He showed up in the morning and played in the tractor all day now we can park more than two cars!!!!!  Chaos was so excited to spent the day chasing the tractor around.

Meat Chipper Steve revved up the snow blower and widened the driveway.    

Arena cam is up and running so tune in there to watch puppies play and for some on site training.

The Globe was here yesterday taking picture for an article ...stay tuned for that

Margaret went into the bathroom yesterday and the toilet decided it would rather be a fountain.  Spraying all over the ceiling.  Dave 1 gets a gold star for replacing the handle.

Bud2 is still working on the youtube training videos.

In celebration of the new arena cam - Megan and I will be in the arena at 10 for a scuppie training session.  We are hoping to make this a regular thing throughout the week.  

Noel told Megan this morning she is pregnant but don't tell anyone it's a secret!!

We are armed with 3x6 cardboards, leashes and lots of attitude.

ON WE GO........  COFFEEEEEEEEEEEE

  

February 6, 2014

maybe... just maybe... the arena camera will be live today.. i told jonathon we woudl feed in the arena at 8:30.. let us pray... it looks great... and will allow you all to see more of what goes on around here... along with  not having to feed  dogs in th e pouring rain..

and yes... now we have some cleaning up to do... it can no longer be my  overflow closet...

stats... it is 60 across and 80 long-- built by clearspan- who did a great job...  - actually the crew they sent to put it up did a terrible job-- so i took pictures of the bolts and supports and the company sent another crew from iowa who took it down and put it back up again... this time perfectly...  nice compay to deal with...

it was the building of that arena which made the town building inspector angry that i did not choose  his contractor--which caused him to say   "you are out of your league- you are only a woman"

one of those statements burned into my head.

it is wonderful to have.... the dogs can really run in it and not have to worry about  the footing of ice..

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it does tend to collect large objects...  like the amish buggy .. or oversized chair  

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 the push of the month--- i now have a bunch of business cards which just tell of the cameras etc - i got them for our volunteers-- and then realized all of you might want to hand some out... if you do... you will get them quicker if you send me a self addressed envelope-- so i don't have to look for envelopes and stamps-- probably take 2 stamps for a bunch of cards... i will weigh some today-- no theresa will weigh some today and let us know... i think 15 cards will need 2 stamps.

just for fun lets see if we can double the daily addicts

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the boston globe photographer will be here at 10 to take pictures  both here and at the local hospital annex where we train dog about things like elevators etc...

funny story---

when i started this training, i knew of that small hospital annex-- not very busy and had all the pieces i needed ... so i walked in with a properly labeled service dog in training-- (which has pubic access as long as they behave).. the recetpionist  immediately told me i could not come in with a dog--- very innocently i told her  i just wanted to train the dog in the elevator..  

she spun around and called security "i have some nut in the lobby wanting  to train her dog in the elevator"

we have since become  good friends...

we practice falling down on the 3rd floor there... because there are not too many people -- i used to practice falling in the papergoods section of costco-- a back corner-- but it still caused too much commotion...  plus that was years ago -- now megan falls... she is younger.

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for a moment...  think... you fall  and whack your head-- someone calls 911 and a bunch of  huge looking  monsters in fluffy  black coats and boots arrive  and try and bend over you-- and your 130 pound dog says "i don't think so"   --- so they have to try and be prepared for that too.

 before i was into trianing  serv dogs, i had one of my bigger dogs  --bruno --crossing eht street infront of my house  when i twisted my ankle and fell--   bruno did n't know what to do  so he opted to protect his fallen hero... me..  and stood over  me  so no one coudl get near me-- and i could'nt get up because i got to laughing -- all anyone could do was stop traffic til i crawled away...... 

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so i know that kind of thing...

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and then the big PIA ( pain in you know where).. 

we are accredited by assistance dog international--- and that is a good thing... the industry needs some structuring---and have standards set...--- all except i don't want to deal with having exit signs over every exit-- or the chemical contents of every chemical on the property listed in a folder.... yet along with the training of dogs, they insist i run a business in a business like fashion... 

we have to be re-accredited every 5 years...

this  is annoying...  and this is the year...2014

but it is what makes us legit 0ver the guy who hangs up a "dog trainer" sign  ..

they ( the ADI bunch) come in and talk with  our recipients, trainers..&. volunteers.  thy look under , over and behind everything...  and go thru papers.... they love paperwork...

got to describe our policy of everything..

and before they come, we have to submit a "pre packet" of all 45 pages of info... to prove we are ready for them to arrive.

now the real problem is  when i am forced to read something not particularly interesting, i tend to nod off - sound asleep

this tendency is going to make this next assignment  very legnthy.--  and it is not something  i can get someone else to do...

first thing i have to do is to read  th e  directions..."ADI minimum standards and ethics"

  uses words like "complience"  and   mandatory"

darn...

i best have at it...

feb 5 2014
i got up this morning hoping to start plowing in my heated cab--- and no  snow yet.  but it looks promising.

last night's mail call was colorful-- as the olympic dog sled team...and the star of the show... was bailey... she had a wonderful time participating on her own-- no instructions given...  it is on our web/photos/favorite sites/SDP links and information/mail call...

it is a perfect example of an educated dog behaving within a group.  she rode in on the toboggan- on -wheels with me-- and saw all the fun happening so she did not want to get on the sofa-- she wanted to join in-- which she did  finally getting the basket and explaining it was worth  another can of  treats...

this is a dog who does not know a list of commands--- if you stuck your finger at her and said "sit" she would look at you like you were  nuts... and rightly so..  but if we were doing a commercial and i needed her to sit in a certain place, i could explain it to her- and she would do it 100% .. just like i asked her to put her rear end down on the toboggan.. .. when it started to move, she did not expect it and started to get up... all i had to do was say "stay"  and she immediately took my word for it and relaxed into position... enjoying the commotion...  then it was "how can i join in"  when she took the eraser   and then found the basket.. then as she landed it on the sofa "there - that has to be worth another can of the yummy food"

 

it was an educated  great dane on display...  they talk... just listen...

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the huge mess of flags, dollies, dog food, packages and mail was all cleaned up  in about 20 minutes--- whata crew...

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that was shelia's last tuesday for a month-- she is going to florida to buy a house... plan is for brian , shelia and the 5 dogs to drive the rv down, buy a house, brian fly back and sheila drive back.

problem is brian wants the east cast of florida-- and sheila-- th e west...-- they have 1800 odd miles to figure that out.  they thankfully can't be gone all that long.. they both have business obligations here.

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i am not sure how we will survive...

i wasn't sure how we would survive without earlene at sunday stew.. but we made it-- with some difficulty.. 

we are still very short handed with maria still out 

 we could really use another trainee trainer on fri- sat-sunday.. i do not like to even think of having to  take care of all this myself.  we need some duplication--- would make life a little easier for all-- and be the critical fill in  if anyone is sick... so pretty much full day friday sat sunday added to what we now have...  we have to .. my nerves get shot.  now that we have so much of the physical plant repaired-- like dry wells and heat-- we will have to hire someone...  best case would be 7 to 7-- but 8 to 5 would work too.

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and teh arena camera s functioning--i can see it on explore web - and jon said he will get it live  very soon... that will mean  it wil lfunction about the same as puppy hill... 

it also shows we have some housekeeping to do--- things like pallets etc  

i can envision a spring clean up where we  better utilize the  structural pipes in the arena to hold plastic boxes of all the  stuff we seem to need on occasion...  our overflow porch is jammed....as is the oveflow room / training room  and every other  square inch..

 we need to catagorize  stuff... freezable or not would be the  first division.

and get a great big dumpster.. really big....

feb 4 2014
MEGAN AND BUD HAVE DONE SOME GREAT VIDEOS AND WE FINALLY MAY GET SOME PROGRESS ON THAT PROJECT..  EXPLORE HAS BEEN ASKING FOR THEM FOR A YEAR...

HE IS HERE IN THE GUEST HOUSE --- I HOPE... 

LET ME REPHRASE IT... SOMEBODY IS IN THE GUEST HOUSE-- HOPEFULLY IT IS BUD 2

HE IS STRINGING TOGETHER LEARNING PATTERNS WHICH  SHOULD BE INTERESTING ..  THE STRING HE HAS GOING NOW IS STARTING FROM NOT LIKING A LEASH TO BACKING IN BETWEEN TRAIN SEATS. 

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CHAOS IS A LITTLE MORE ACTIVE THIS MORING... I WAS BEGINNING TO GET WORRIED ABOUT HER.. SHE SULKED MOST OF YESTERDAY CURLED UP IN HER CORNER.... SHE IS AT LEAST UP NOW PLAYING WITH THE 4 PUPS THAT ARE IN HERE..

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IT IS VERY NICE OF THE CP'S TO WRITE HELPFUL SAYINGS ON  THE POO PICKERS.. WE DO NOTICE AS WE SCOOP... AND OFTEN IT MAKES US SMILE

 AND THEN THERE ARE THE CP'S WHO ARE LOOKING OUT FOR OUR WELL BEING.. ONE SENT US A 9 VOLT BATTERY AND SAID GO CHANGE  ONE FIRE ALARM NOW...

 ALONG THOSE LINES.....I HAVE TO RETHINK THE WISH LIST-- I WILL TODAY TRY AND GET SOMEONE TO ORGANIZE LABELS FOR THE FIRE EXTINGUISHERS... 

I BET THERE ARE A BUNCH OF THINGS WE COULD GET THE CP'S TO DO.  PROBLEM IS  YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION TO THE NUMBER OF THINGS ALREADY PURCHASED...OR WE COULD DROWN IN LABELS..  

I KNOW WE ARE GETTING LOW ON CANNED FOOD... IN THE PAST WE HAVE HAD --- BY THE PALLET--- CHICKEN SOUP AND  THE KIND ELLEN DEGEEROUS  PROMOTES ??HALO??   WE CAN BUY IT-- BUT WE NEED TO FIND OUT HOW TO GET IT DELIVERED AT A WHOLESALE PRICE  AND WE HAVE THE TAX FREE/RESALE CERTIFICATE..  THAT INVOLVES PHONE TIME...  IF ANYONE CAN FIGURE OUT WH O I SHOULD CALL... THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL.. COUSE THEN THERE ARE MY FRIENDS A PURINA WHO  HAT ALL...

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I CAN NOT  WRITE THIS DD WHILE PUPS ARE RISING HECK ETC...

feb 3,2014
you know you are in trouble when the first thing you reach for in the morning is the pepto bismal-  i am not saying i have the maria illness--  but my tummy spoke of greater things to come.

yesterday's sh#tting went unbelievably well-- it took 4 people to take earlene's place... but everyone got greeted , FED and hugged--- 2 people took barbara's place at the grill- dogs had a few minutes of playtime and a walkabout--

  the t tent got back to operational---

-dumble ran the house and pups there-- at one point there were more people sitting on the floor in my kitchen than there were pups..  

and big news of the day -- annie had her first golf cart lesson --- with a "student driver " sign pasted on the back-- of my green cart--- the one with a flat tire and very few brakes -- she gave tours to new comers.. 

theresa had the sh#tting papers all in order--- we did it in the arena---   that will be on camera when they get that camera going....and #12  was the winner.... in less than 30 seconds-- before we got the 3rd hen out of the crate... 

 steve  2   came equip'd with a list of awful jokes--- like why are dogs poor dancers?-- (BUD got this)...2 left feet.

 steve  1 and charlie were here-- what a beautiful dog charlie is...-- he glides when he moves-- like alot of our dogs--- ( opal and bentley specifically)

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notable -- the bigger donkey did chase tony..pup...-- who ran-- but that tendancy is there... so having dogs  loose whent the donks  are out... needs careful monitoing--  DONKEYS ARE KNOWn  TO KILL WOLVES IN herds of sheep.

  janine bought another horse on line--- a rescue--- looks like an amish work horse... some guy standing on her back in the photo...  i don't know when it arrives--- luckily ginger's owner had a truck and could go to the co op and get hay  $10 a bale..  got to admit-- a horse out of amish country is  trained...,big time trained.... has  the many miles required to train any animal---  boredom has been achieved...

fyi     for all of you who are going to be buying hay soon...you really  buy and feed hay by the pound--   not all $10 /bales are the same   ---the lighter the bale  the highter  the actual price... these bales are the kind where it is one bale a day for janine's black horse  and one for mrs aspen ( the mule) -- and the next one janine just bought...   we need to get a truckload of hay  from a hay dealer-- not the coop...

*****

it is amazing the VARRIED EDUCATion you camera people are getting  on this explore  site..

 and we are getting our education broadened also....  to have 5 carloads of people arrive and just melt into the generic activity on  these crazy acres is  nothing SHORT OFf   INCREDIBLE-----. THEY KNOW THEIR WAY AROUND-- THEY KNOW  THE PEOPLE -- AND MOST ALARMING... THEY KNOW THE NAMES OF ALL THE DOGS  BETTER THAN WE DO...

I AM ACCUSTOMED TO NOT KNOWING PEOPLE'S NAMES-- IT GOES WITH AGE-- I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THIS WAY  BUT NOW I HAVE AN EXCUSE...

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NEW CONCEPT FOR THE DAY.... READ PEOPLE'S NAME TAGS.......I AM FASCINATED WANDERING AROUND  PLACES LIKE HOME DEPOT WITH  SHELIA...  SHE READS EVERY PERSON'S NAME TAG  ON THEIR SHIRTS  AND IMMEDIATELY CALLS THEM BY NAME LIKE SHE HAS KNOWN THEM FOR YEARS....UNSURPRISINGLY SHE GETS BETTER SERVICE THAN THE "HEY YOU"  APPROACH...-- IT IS KIND OF A FUN CONCEPT  TO TRY-- I HAVE TRIED IT ,,, AND EVEN I GET BETTER SERVICE TOO.

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speaking of talking to strangers---  the  explore camera "business cards"  we have ordered should be in soon--    these are to give people to try and get them addicted to the pup  cameras.. 

if any of you would like some ,send us an addressed envelope..  the febuary push is to get more people addicted---  this was something that was mentioned when they gave us the firs 150k-- we would have trouble keeping the public interested---  but we have a different thing going... words like unrehearsed, live , reality  keep us going..  

 we need both the explore grants and the chicken bricks  to keep going.

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barking--- someone must be here.... it is 7am  that would be tracy???abd allison???

FEB 2,2014
THIS COULD  BE DAILY DISCOVERY ---ABOUT BENEDRYL-  OF ALL THE IDIOTIC THINGS TO DO....  I WENT AND READ LABELS --   ACTUALLY ONLINE...  CASE IN POINT... I HAVE A FAIRLY PERMANENT COUGH ( THERE THAT IS MY ONE DIAGOSIS OF THE DAY-)-AND IT HAS BEEN GETTING WORSE...I EQUATED WORSE WITH OLDER AND DIDN'T PAY ATTENTION.. 

BECKY 1 ... JADES MOM IS AN RN AND SHE SAID BENEDRYL WAS HER SOLUTION TO INSOMNIA--SO I  HAVE BEEN TAKING SOME NOW AND AGAIN...  WHY I WAS WANDERING THRU THE SIDE EFFECTS ONLINE  I DO NOT KNOW-- BUT ONE WAS CHEST CONGESTION.. SO I STOPPED... AND IT IS TOO SOON TO TELL-- BUT IT SEEMS LIKE BENEDRYL MIGHT HAVE BEEN THE  CAUSE  OF A WORSENING  COUGH  AND NOT MY ADVANCING AGE...

SO I AM GOING BACK TO BEDTIME BRANDY.

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THIS IS TO BE A SH#TTING SUNDAY... NUMBERS ARE PRINTED.... LIST OF NAMES IS DONE   BY THERESA--- ACTUALLY BY THE PRINTER-- THERESA JUST PUSHED THE BUTTON....AND FILLED THE PAPER TRAY.. AND CHANGED THE INK.... THEN GOT DOWN ON HER KNEES AND PURSUADED THE %^$&& THING TO WORK.

IT IS A WIRELESS PRINTER--- WHAT THAT MEANS IS ... WHEN MY COMPUTER TELLS ME "I CAN'T FIND THE PRINTER"-- IT DOES NOT MEAN IT HAS GONE OUT ON A MORNING CONSTITUTIONAL WALK... IT MEANS IT IS SITTING RIGHT THERE SULKING.  AFTER CONSIDERABLE CURSING IT MIGHT DECIDE TO FUNCTION FOR NO APPARENT REASON...

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MARIA HAS JUST COMEDOWN .. VERY SICK...  SO SHE IS GETTING OUT OF HERE AND I MUST AWAY TO THE FEEDING DEPT...

EVERYBODY...COME RUNNING.... WE ARE SHORT HANDED 

FEB 1,2014
i have this rule around here-- you are allowed to discus only one ailment and one medication per day.. this started when a veteran was here with 140 meds per day..  and some people have so many diagnosis .. there is barely time  for normal conversation .  unless you are a medical person, listening to all those latin names  is pointless..

so today instead of complaining about ailments, i choose to discuss  the good and ignore the bad...

 my left leg is pretty good today...  it is functioning really well  without complaining.-- and ... it is a fairly normal pink.  the rest of me has some really uninteresting problems.  ...... i know my husband would quickly say  " if you's loose 20 pounds you would feel better"  ---

i know that...  darn...  and i even gave up the klondike bARS WHICH GOT ME WHERE I AM... WEIGHT WISE.

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IN N EFFORT TO BE MORE AACTIVE-- AND HAVE SHEILA'S HUSBAnd HAVE KIND THOUGHTS ABOUT OUR NEXT PROJECT...  I AM GOING TO CLEAN OUT THE AREA AT THE TOP OF THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE IN THE TRAINING ROOM  -- WHERE HIS COMPANY IS GOING TO PUT IN A 1/2 BATH.   IT IS THE EQUIVALENT OF THE OVERFLOW ROOM HERE...  IT OVERFLOWETH

ONE OF THE THINGS I THINK  IS THERE IS A HANK OF ROPE THAT IS EVEN HUGER THAN THE ROPE HANGING OVER MY HEAD.. I ALREADY TRIED TO MAKE A MONKEY FIST OF THIS STUFF AND THE SOCCERBALL I HAVE FOR THE MIDDLE IS TOO BIG..

AND THEN I REMEMBERED -- I HAVE SOME REAAAAAALY BIG ROPE SOMEWHERE... I DON'T KNOW IF IT IS ENOUGH... BUT AT LEAST THE CONCEPT HAS INSPIRED ME TO GO CLEAN THAT AREA.. 

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THEN OF COURSE THERE IS THE DOWNSTAIRS SHOWER.... IT HAS HAD AN  INTERESTING LIFE..

IT WAS RETIRED DURING THE TIME WHEN YOU TURNED IT ON AND WATER SQUIRTED OUT OF THE WALL ABOUT AS FOOT IN FRONT OF THE  SHOWER...  I CAN NOT REMEMGBER FIXING THAT--- SO THERE MIGHT BE  SIGNIFICANT DAMPNESS INSIDE THAT WALL...  BUT THE OTHER PROBLEM IS  THAT THE DRAIN PIPE JUST GOES OUTSIDE THE BUILDING ABOUT A FOOT... AND STOPS--  I CAN NOT IMAGINE WHAT DISASTER HAPPENED THAT CAUSED US TO DISCONNECT THE PIPE FROM EITHER A DRY WELL FOR THE SHOWER-- OR THE SEPTIC SYSTEM... AT ANY RATE  THE DRAIN GOES NO WHERE..

JUST ANOTHER DETAIL THAT MAYBE BRIAN AND COMPANY CAN FIGURE OUT...

MEGAN WANTS TO PUT IN A DOG WASHING STATION... LEAVING NO  1/2 NORMAL SHOWER FOR WHAT IS AN OFFICIAL APPARTMENT.   I SAY THE DOG WASH SHOULD BE IN THE LAUNDRY ROOM AREA--- WE WASH DOGS ONLY WHEN THEY GET COVERED WITH MUD.

MUD = SPRING SUMMER FAll   -- we do not need to wash ice off the dogs in winter  -- so juST BRUSH THEM.. THEY HAVE SHORT HAIR.

BACK WHEN THEY WERE BUILDING THIS PLACE-- WE LIVED IN THE BACK OF A PICKUP-- AND JANINE  LIVED IN THE FRONT OF THE HORSE TRAILER--( THAT IS IN HER BOOK)   AT ANY RATE  THAT PICK UP CAMPER HAD A TINY CORNER "FACILITY"  WITH W/C SINK AND SHOWER IN A TINY AREA..  I WONDER.....

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I CERTAINLY WILL GIVE HIM A FREE HAND... THEY HAVE DONE A FANTSTIC JOB ON THE  SEVERAL PROJECTS THEY HAVE DONE HERE SO FAR...  THE KENNEL IS WARMER THAN THE HOUSE...  AND MORE EVENLY HEATED.

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AND THEN THERE ARE THE 2 DONKEYS-- THEY MADE IT UP TO THE FRONT OF THE HOUSE YESTERDAY  BEGGING FOR CARROTS.... SHADES OF MARY BRAYING AT THE FRONT DOOR.

THEY SEEM VERY LEVEL HEADED...

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TOMORROW IS SH#TTING SUNDAY-- I AM TOLD WE MAY HAVE A CROWD... I AM ALSO TOLD EARLENE WILL NOT BE HERE...

 IT WILL BE DIFFICULT MANAGING WITHOUT OUR #1 GREETER.