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Dexter update!

Gosh. He’s doing so well… the Prozac has kicked in. His appetite is back. He’s really learning to relax, to be calm and to be happy. I wish I had taken video of what he was like when we picked him up and what he’s like now. It’s like night and day.

He used to be all stress all the time. Even when we were relaxing he was stressed. Now he’s calm and full of sunshiney love.

So much of his anxiety, crazy, neurosis has dissipated with the combination of regular exercise, doggie etiquette lessons and the Prozac. He’s really come into his own.  🙂

Except for the Separation Anxiety.

I was having such trouble with it that I was starting to feel like a prisoner in my own house … so out of desperation I rented a Citronella Collar. I mean we’ve tried everything. Rescue Remedy, the Prozac, the Thundershirt, etc etc … a friend suggested the Citronella Collar and I wasn’t sure. It seemed … I don’t know… mean. But I did my research and watched a few videos on youtube and realized that the collar just gives a quick “correction” but done with the small burst of Citronella instead of a leash. I correct him all the time with the leash. So what’s the difference? 🙂

Our local pet-store rents out the collars by the week so we gave it a go and HOLY CRAP! It works!

The collar lets out a tiny quick spurt of Citronella spray whenever he barks. It’s fast. Shoots away from his face and does NOT scare him but it does startle him. I am not looking to take his bark away. Barking is a very important part of being a dog but I want him to learn appropriate barking. Barking at a seagull on the beach? Yes. Barking non-stop when I’m away. No. 🙂

I put the collar on, put him in the crate (his sleeping crate is large and vented), left the house. He did ONE bark – had a correction from the collar and then lay down and went to sleep. TO SLEEP! No barking. Nothing. How do I know this? Because I took a video … 🙂

I’d post videos … but like a dummy I deleted them when I was trying to make space on my iphone.

We’ve used the collar now 6-7 times (with him in the crate wearing the collar) and the second time alone he had 2 corrections from the collar. Then went to sleep. The third time … went right to sleep. The fourth time … sleep. The fifth. RIGHT TO SLEEP with no corrections!

It actually made me tear up watching him sleep in the crate. Why? Because he’s learning to relax when he’s home alone … that alone is worth the price of the collar. Dexter was such an overly emotional dog when he first came to live with us and now to see him relax and chill out alone without being stressed about it. Wonderful!! I’m thrilled. I’m going to try him soon without the collar and see how that goes.

The car is still an issue for anxiety … but one thing at a time!! We’ll get there eventually. 🙂

As for a potential new family for Dexter? He has had a few people come and look at him … but they weren’t right for him. Most of them were in love with his photo and didn’t realize that he’s “special needs”. Being cute only gets you so far when you’re neurotic. 🙂 We’re meeting with a new potential person on Friday … fingers crossed it goes well.

Gerry got a little weepy last night when we talked about Dexter moving on to live with someone else … Dexter has really wiggled his way into our hearts. We’re struggling with if we’ll ever find someone who can live up to our expectations. Dexter is too precious to be re-homed to just anyone.

Gerry came home a few weeks ago with an iPad and I’m in love with it. I thought the iPad was just a big iPhone and didn’t see the need to get one UNTIL NOW! 🙂

While it’s very similar to iPhone there are so many things I can do on an iPad that I find frustrating on an iPhone. Like READING! I can skim items with an iPhone but with my old-lady eyes I find reading anything of substance on the phone too difficult.

I also didn’t think I’d like reading on an iPad (I have a hard time reading large amounts of text on a computer because my eyes get tired) but it’s sooooo different on the ipad. I’ve already read 2 books using iReader this month!! I think that’s more books then I read last year! I do feel like I’m cheating on my paper books … but … 🙂

Since I have this very expensive piece of glass now … I’ve been looking for a good protective case for iPad and found ZAGGmate! Actually …  Jane Wiedlin tweeted that she had one and I wondered what it was and looked it up … Wowie Kazowie is it ever cool.

The case is only one-sided and the iPad fits snuggly into the case. It’s super low-profile and it’s held together with internal magnets (I think) and protects the glass.

When you want to use it you just pull the iPad and the ZAGGmate apart and voila!

You can see here that on the inside of the ZAGGmate cover there is a keyboard. Whaaaat?

My only complaint about the iPad is how weird/difficult it is to type large amounts of text with the screen-keypad and ZAGGmate has solved that. Genius!

To use the ZAGGmate you pull up a tiny tab and rest your iPad on the keyboard …

And then you can use it vertically like a computer …

Or horizontally.

They keyboard connects to your iPad using the Bluetooth connection … it’s such a cool idea!

This is NOT a commercial. *laugh* I just thought it was a really cool product that some of you fellow iPad friends might like. What are some of your favourite apps? Do you use your ipad in the kitchen to look at cookbooks? I’m scared to bring it anywhere near water or knives.  🙂