Things could not be better here at the Raine Drop.
.JPG)
.JPG)
Talia continues to adore The Bro.
Declan continues to pack on the weight (mostly into his cheeks) and is settling into more of a schedule everyday.
Mama continues to get more sleep than anyone with a month-old baby deserves, in my humble opinion (not that I'm complaining, Declan!!)
It's almost Easter, and the weather feels like Spring, which means we get to wear our new spring clothes!
The old 19 inch TV keeps flickering more and more often - a new TV seems to be just around the corner. We don't even watch that much TV, but it was pretty sad to sit on the couch and squint at our tiny TV during the Olympics. ("What was the score?" "What flag is that?" "Why can't we see the entire picture?" LOL!) And it's depressing to play Wii on such a tiny, sad TV. We could just go and get a new TV, but since we don't use it that much, and neither of us like to waste things, we just haven't because this one still works. Now it's become a huge joke with our family and friends - we had some friends over during the Olympics, and everyone let out a huge cheer everytime it flickered. And at the beginning of every month, Rainer and I guess what day the TV will finally give out. Good times!
We started Bark Buster training the boys again, their behaviour is about a million percent better after only a few days. Erin, Edie & Jackie came by for a visit on Friday and they did NOT get mauled or even barked at. Success!! Today, only Bert noticed that the garbage truck had the audacity to park at the end of our driveway and steal our garbage - and he wasn't even all that upset about it. My biggest pet peeve is a poorly trained dog. I especially hate that I own two of them. True, we have more work to do, and there is always room for improvement. But they no longer bark at the doorbell, they sit & stay when told, they don't go on the baby's blanket when he's playing on the floor, and they're almost broken of jumping up. We're on the right track.
And lastly, we're having roast chicken for supper tonight. Life is good.
.JPG)
4 comments:
I love how you mentioned that Declan's weight gain is in his cheeks - that's too funny, yet true!
I had a 13" TV until I bought this house, then got enough money at Christmas time (I'm not sure how, it had never happened before or since) to buy a 32" thin TV. My computer screen is 14", which means that it was bigger than the tv. Awesome!
How do you Bark Buster train?
"But they no longer bark at the doorbell, they sit & stay when told, they don't go on the baby's blanket when he's playing on the floor, and they're almost broken of jumping up." THAT is awesome! What's your secret? I need to know for the day in the far-off future when I get a dog.
What day are you guessing the tv dies for this month?
Bark Busters have you "growl" the word BAH at the dogs - if that's not enough to stop the behaviour, you growl and toss a training pillow at the ground by their feet (it makes a clunk), and if that's not enough you growl and spray them with a water bottle. The noise from the pillow and the water bottle both are supposed to take the place of their mother nipping at them to correct their behaviour - it gets their attention. Because you growl at the same time, eventually just the growl is enough to get their attention. You just need to be really consistent, if they get away with anything it's a giant step backward - but at least once they've had the initial work, even if they slip back, it only takes a few days to get control again. I prefer this to the puppy class we took them to, where the instructor told us to just smack them if they misbehave, and if that doesn't work, hit them harder. No thanks.
This month in the TV prediction, I picked even days, Rainer picked odd days. I hope it gives up on a Thursday night, right after The Office, so that Rainer can go to work on Friday and get all the advice he needs from his dorky tech friends (Plasma or LCD? Wall mount or stand?) and then we can go pick something up Saturday.
(We gave Rainer's parents a computer monitor for Christmas that was significantly bigger than our TV, lol.)
How did you get the Bark Busters training? We did professional dog training with Maggie and did the growling Ahh noise and threw a minigo yogurt container at her with pennies in it. We still had issues with her barking though. She would bark and run behind the couch where she wouldn't get hit (not that my aim is ever that good.)
Okay and how tall is Rainer? Like my husband is 6'4" so I'm used to tall, but maybe it's the tiny tv and the tiny tot in the picture, but he really does look like a giant!
We hired Bark Busters, someone came out and made us a training plan. They were expensive, but have a lifetime guarantee that follows the dogs, so even if we were to give them away, BB would work with the new family. And the insurance we have for the dogs includes "behaviour modification." There was significant improvement after the initial session, actually. And we don't actually hit the dogs with the clunky pillows - well, okay, sometimes they get hit accidentally - but the noise close to their feet is usually enough to get their attention. If it's something that the pillows don't work for, that's when the spray bottle comes out.
Rainer is about 6'4", too. And I'm probably shorter than you are, so that makes him look extra ginormous when we're together!
Post a Comment