Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Mornings...when you're a slow moving morning person ;)

 Kee and Daisy (I'll start spelling her name correctly, although she'll always be Crazy Daizy the party girl to me) are morning birds...who LOVE to work period.  I have no flocks of sheep to herd or foxes to chase after....so, I keep them mentally stimulated with goofy games.  They LOVE it.  George does too but he's more chilled then those two Cracker Jacks.

For example now that Daizy's getting better but still not ready to take the cone off....I have to be creative in balancing her mental and physical stimulation....ie.  101 things to do with a soccer ball!


If George were a superstar he'd be George Hamilton, always finding the sunny spot to lay in, or even Johnny Depp..who is a magnet but enjoys his privacy...doesn't like to get swarmed by the Puparazzi ;P (off leash dogs).  Keegan would be Jim Carey; a firecracker, just crazy, funny things come out of no where!  Daizy would be Joan Rivers; bossy, sensitive and you can't help but shake your head at her sassy humour ;)  I wonder if anyone else thinks of famous people that their dogs remind them of?

Back to the post topic...I LOVE waking up early but I'm a sleepy morning person.  I need to have time to take in all the morning country sounds and scents, enjoy coffee outside, read and goof around with my guys, BEFORE I start my day.  I love that happy relaxed space before the insanity hits.  Waking early also feels like I've actually had time to enjoy the day before zipping off to work or diving in from home. 

All our cues are taught in short "training" sessions.   Pretty much a couple minutes tops at a time spread through out the day.  It leaves us looking forward to the next quick session.












I LOVE Dr. Patricia McConnell's blog and her dvd's and her books and her seminars!...she's always so informative, funny and real.  This morning's blog is so sweet AND true!

  http://www.theotherendoftheleash.com/whats-in-it-for-me

What I had intended to link from her blog is a post from a while ago which was from a book she read called "The brain that changes itself"  (which I've now since read as well).   The more I read about neuroscience and what new research unveils,  the more I'm in awe with all that goes on in the learning process. We really are remarkable beings capable of wondrous things when we put our minds to it!  This is the post I was looking for..talks about training schedules.

http://www.theotherendoftheleash.com/training-schedules

Pretty much saying that learning in short sessions ( ours are anywhere from 10 sec - 2 min).. really does keep their enthusiasm high, everyone engaged, neither of us (dog or me) get bored or frustrated from one too many boring repetitions, and it sure works with my insane work schedule.  Plus...proven to work with how learning takes place!

Dr. Karen Overall's dvd FROM LEASHES TO NEURONS & PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY  explains how from a molecular level the brain actually works to learn something...I HIGHLY recommend that dvd!!!

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