Daydreaming while waiting impatiently!

[frustratedearthmother]

Don't catch it!

 

[NH Homesteader]

My kids are getting over colds right now (tested negative for Covid), DH and I didn’t get sick, but I definitely felt like I was fighting it off for several days. Lots of gross non-Covid things going around right now.

 

[Cecilia's-life]

That dog! Look here sir! Don’t get diabetes lololol

 

[tortoise]

Don't catch it!

I got it. Barely, my immune system is holding its own. Little cruddy throat and I've coughed once. No sore throat and lungs feel good, TG. DS14 is coughing and whining less today - he probably could have gone to school today (and I should have kept him home yesterday, whoops). DS6 was cranky yesterday and is sleepy today.

 

[tortoise]

Unusual rewards, like playing with other dogs can work for training. You don't get as many reps in, but sometimes it's the only way. My dog has unusual motivations. After noticing his strongest behavior was one that he performed right before I turned the tub faucet on (he likes drinking running water), I decided to try using the tub faucet as a reward for recall. It worked!

He is sometimes very food motivated, but usually not. If I don't have whatever exact treat he is imagining, he won't participate. (jerk!) But he will work for rawhide. He has a good out, so I can take the rawhide back for another repetition, but it's still slow going.

I'm very frustrated with this dog, he wasn't always like this so I'm not sure what is going on. I'm not in a mood to pay for a treat buffet to figure out what he likes this week, and I don't have much time or energy to figure it out. Maybe someday. I want a responsive easy-to-train obedience demo dog. I don't think he can do it between his treat/motivation issues and his reactivity. I'm maxxed out on dogs until Baymax passes. She looks like she will keel over any day and acts like she has a decade left. She's tough. But she is declining. She gets cyanotic every time she swallows food now.

DH thinks my dog's lack of trainability is medication side effect. He is on fluoxetine (prozac) for anxiety. It's better than nothing but not good enough. We're going to switch him to a different med, which has weak evidence for anxiety but strong evidence for improving trainability. My dog's reactivity/anxiety is not so bad that it couldn't respond to behavior modification training. I've just been stuck that he's either to upset to be trainable or he's been to unresponsive to training to be trainable. He has fewer stressful experiences in winter because we don't have any group training classes going on (anxiety about unfamiliar dogs is his worst), so *maybe* it will help? or maybe his anxiety about DH will be overwhelming? IDK. Gotta keep trying though.

 

[tortoise]

I had headache and ear/sinus congestion, muscle aches, fever and nausea yesterday and last night. Those resolved overnight. I have runny nose today, but am feeling well enough to work a little bit from bed.

 

[tortoise]

uff, my cold took a turn for the worse on Thursday. I've been miserable. Fever broke this morning and I've been able to move around a little. I hope tomorrow is a little better too. Time to start catching up on everything.

 

[Trying2keepitReal]

uff, my cold took a turn for the worse on Thursday. I've been miserable. Fever broke this morning and I've been able to move around a little. I hope tomorrow is a little better too. Time to start catching up on everything.

Hope you are feeling better and better as the day goes on. Take care!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Oh wow - sorry you've had it rough, but glad you're feeling a bit better!

 

[tortoise]

I'm not back to normal, but I'm feeling able to do more.

• I sorted through my collection of leftover buckles, snap hooks, D-rings, etc., for making dog gear.
• I finally was able to find part and order online - I'd been trying to figure out the name of it for years! I'm not sure I have skills to use it, but if I can figure it out I'll save a lot of money for myself and the 4-H dog project.
• I finished a harness prototype for my dog that had been sitting half-done in a basket for months. He seems to be comfortable in it.

Yesterday I was able to do computer-based tasks. I finished the 4-H dog project website and 4-H houseplant project website. That will be great to get communication away from facebook.

My to-do list is intimidating. The dog project curriculum I wrote is going to be submitted for curriculum development. Problem is that I don't have all the revisions done yet, and they're due in about 2 weeks. Houseplant project meetings start in January and I haven't made curriculum for either first year or second year plus yet. I'm changing so much about the curriculum I'm basically starting over.