Tinsel's Journey

OMG
Brilliant!!!!!!!!!!
It was a lot for him, no doubt but not to the point of being overwhelming and he could handle it. As long as he takes the treats and listens to you, he was able to manage the changes.
Good for you for providing him the stimuli in manageable pieces but always moving forward.
This is so heartwarming and inspirational to read!
Sounds like a good outing for you guys, too.

Did you ever read 'Dump Dog' yet, by Silvia Jay from Alberta...? She wrote the book about Willkommen, her rescue and it is a story of a rescued, feral dog, which she was able to rehabilitate but it took her years. I had the pleasure of meeting 'Will' and she is a lovely and special dog who loves tracking and has been known to track humans and other pets. Silvia is a positive only trainer who strongly believes in training from a dog's perspective.

Not saying you could get rich from writing such a book as well, but you certainly have the gift of insight and story telling that I would encourage you to explore further... In the meantime please keep writing here too, please :yes:
 
Thanks for the accolades even though I really don't think I deserve them. I'm no different from the rest of the dog lovers on this forum except probably longer in the tooth than most of you.
Tonight's excitement was glancing over at our little Tin Man and seeing that he was cleaning a "cling on " out of his breeches - ugh! No problem if that was Phoebe or Rhiannon - just stand them up and clean them up. Tin, on the other hand wasn't about to cooperate with that indignity! The dilemma was how to get it off of him and not have a struggle or put pressure on him so I went at it from the tummy rub position. Not sure I got it all but we'll check him out again in the morning. Gotta get him back to liking grooming.
At least it didn't happen when one of my few non dog friends was here- I hate hearing the gagging, makes one feel ill themselves. Dave and I are so used to dealing with poop of all kinds - horse, cat, dog, bird, and some wild species from the days of my daughter being a game warden, that it is just a "put down your coffee and get it done" moment. I forget that some people find it icky. I think I should be able to make sculptures out of the stuff.
Oh yeah, one other moment today. I put a carpet in front of Tin's crate last night and this morning he came out right away. Actually he surprised me. I took off his crate door and turned and let Rhi out. When I turned back to take Phoebe out I saw that Tin wasn't in his crate. He had gone into the family room and was laying on his bed waiting for me to carry him to his exit point. It's not perfect yet but hopefully it's the beginning of him feeling free to leave his crate on his own.
 
Hi Toffee's Mom: I haven't ordered the book in yet as I am still trying to get the four that I have here read. It sounds like such a good read and I want to get a copy of that one plus another rescue story that was suggested to me. I used to read a book a night before the days of having the horses at home instead of boarded. Now I fall into bed around 1:30am and am awake again between 6 and 7am. I also belong to a knitting circle that makes chemo caps and toys for the children's hospital so I try to take some time out to work on those projects every day. What I need is books on CD so I can listen while I knit - maybe an E Reader is in my future! Tinsel hates it when I knit and goes off to the other room to chew his toys or sneaks one of the slipper socks out of the basket in the kitchen, prances past me with a glint in his eye as if to tell me that I should pay attention to him or I will suffer the consequences! I hope one day to be able to capture the look he gives me and put it on the forum. It really is guaranteed to make you laugh. Thomas, our grey gelding, and Tinsel, our grey sheltie - bad but amusing.
 
Well he did it again this morning. I took the door off his crate and he was out as soon as I walked away. It may look pretty ugly with that mat in front of the door but it works so it stays!
I thought I would teach Tinsel the hand signals for sit and down today. He got it right away and impressed the heck out of Dave when he got home. I didn't even have a treat in my hands or a bait pouch just signalled each dog, one at a time, and they did their thing without hesitation. You bet I will be bragging about it to the nay sayers tomorrow.
We didn't do any grooming today - at least not of dogs. I went out to feed Ariel and Thomas another flake of hay and decided to get to work on two shedding horses while they were outside. Ariel gets a winter coat that makes her look like a Yak, finger deep and wooly. After spending an hour on her I turned to Thomas and spent another 45 minutes on him. I came in spitting chesnut and grey hairs out of my mouth and feeling like I had grown a coat of my own so I decided that I was having a shower and not going near another brush except my own! I'm sure Tinsel was writing a thank you note to his equine siblings!
 
man, you're one busy woman
It makes me tired reading about it.
I am convinced Tinsel wrote the following memo to his horses!

Re: Brushing
It's been brought to my attention you enjoy getting brushed. The company encourages more productivity in the hair growth part of our business lines and welcomes your efforts. Please keep up the good work,
I thank you for your efforts,
Tinsel
DVP
(corner office, in the big house)
 
Good giggle at "Tinsel's note". Worst part is that you can't even tell that I took what would easily cover a horse off Ariel and Thomas looks quite dirty - picture white hair after rolling in mud. They do love it though. Get's rid of the itchies of their loosening hair and they loved to be talked to and fussed over.
Tinsel came right out of the crate again this morning. Now if only he would turn right instead of left - ah well, I'd be crazy to complain. He didn't have to do much today other than look cute. I had appointments in town this afternoon and went for dinner tonight. He whimpers now when he sees me putting my shoes on - know I'm going out but on the other side of the coin he also has started to push past the other two when I get home so he can give me the big greeting. Tomorrow is doggie grooming day for the 3 of them so I will be guaranteed to be eating a bit more hair again.
 
Tinsel got a girlfriend today. She is an 18 week old Maltese/Shih Tzu cross and cute as a button. At first she barked and growled in his face but he gave her some calming signals and she was smitten. We were at what was supposed to be his final class for this session and since there was only Tin and Rosie we had them off lead for the whole class. While Rosie would come over for Tin's special treats, Tin would go over to Rosie's mom and her daughter and eat theirs. We did Sacred Recall, Mat work and downs. He worked for me and Mirkka and even did some things for the 9 year old girl and David. Mirkka was sooo pumped with the changes in him that she told me to keep coming for the two weeks left in her other student's scheduale before tracking starts - no cost.
It's been great having lessons when there is only 3 dogs at a time and with a trainer that really is an operant conditioning teacher. I don't think Tin would have come as far as he has if he had be in a larger group of dogs.
 
isn't that amazing!! Good choices, Tinsel
Mr Tinsel, you have to be looking good for Rosie, next session... think you handle the brush this week, for your g/f sakes??
 
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