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I just saw on the news that Geraldine Doyle (who was the inspiration for the painting of Rosie the Riveter) passed away.

That iconic poster was the inspiration for the cover of the 2010 Calendar and I can’t let the year pass without a shout-out to Geraldine and a thank you to the painter J. Howard Miller for the incredible iconic poster.

I hope I did them proud by recreating the “we can do it” spirit they evoked.

Wowzers! The end of the year snuck up on me … if you asked me what month it feels like I would say Sept. I’ve been so focus on renovating the shop and rehabilitating Dexter that I’ve totally lost track of time. Where did this year go?

I love making year end resolutions and for the life of me I couldn’t even remember what my resloutions were last year … so I had to do a “blog search” and I found them. Let’s see how I did:

#1 – Complete my story The Funhouse. It’s a fiction novel I’ve been working on for 8+ years and I resolve to no longer dabble in writing it but will work/finish/publish it.

FAIL! I swear-to-dog that I sat down every single day with the intention to work on The Funhouse only to distract myself with something else to do. I think I’m afraid of this piece of work I’ve created and that’s why I’m adding back onto my 2011 list but more on that later…

#2 – I will take up a new hobby that doesn’t have to do with work. I’m thinking boxing or perhaps dance classes w/Gerry.

WIN! I learned how to tile. Yes yes … it was attached to work (I tiled the tattoo shop scrub room and hand-washing station) but I now have added “tiler” to my list of handy-person jobs I can do. Yay me!

#3 – I will put away $2 per-day and at the end of the year, treat myself to something special.

WIN! I have been putting away $2 a day for a year (into my coin cans) and I now have $730 saved up!! Woot!! It’s addicting to add $2 coins into my cans … I don’t even want to crack them open and take the $$ out. I just want to keep saving!!

#4 – I pledge to meditate at least few minutes every day.

MEH? I tried to meditate every morning but instead I ended up instead playing Words With Friends in a quiet dark room (under the covers) before getting up for my day. That counts as meditating right?  🙂

#5 – I pledge to do more travel for enjoyment not just work.

WIN! We went to Hawaii in Feb for a vacation and in Oct we went down to San Fran JUST FOR FUN and not for work … and we had a gay old time.  🙂

So what are my resolutions for 2011? Well … I decided to have fun with it and have a contest!! If you’re a frequent reader of my blog you have a pretty good idea of who I am and what I do. I would love to hear your New Years Resolution suggestions for me.

E-mail them to sarah @govegan.net and my top 3 favourite suggestions will get a autographed copy of my new 2011 Calendar.

The last day to send suggestions is January 5th … stay tuned! 🙂

All items in my closet are 40% off till Jan 5th.

FYI. Reduction in price happens at check-out.  🙂

Fergus love beach with Dexter, originally uploaded by Sarah Kramer Photography.com.

Day 154 … Took the dogs to the beach yesterday. What fun!! 🙂

We’ve been working on Dexter’s pooing and peeing in the house and he’s been doing great!! He’s only had a few accidents and those were totally MY fault.

Let me explain: Dexter’s former owner was never home and therefore Dexter pee’d and poo’d freely in the house. 🙁 Dexter had no regular eating schedule. A bowl of food was put down and he was allowed to graze all day … what I know about dogs (and humans for that matter) is if you put food in – poo comes out – so with no regular eating times and no regular walking/exercise … what is a lonely dog to do?

When we got him home to our house I knew that we had to get him on a poo schedule. That means eat at a certain time. Go out at a certain time. Pee and poo at a certain time. That way there is no room for error (and by error I mean pooping in the house).

We start the morning by taking Dexter (and Fergus) for a walk to the end of the block for a pee and a poop and then we come back into the house and get back into bed for a snuggle and I play a few Words With Friends games. 🙂

I make breakfast for the dogs and then I have to stand over Dex and watch him eat. Dexter is so used to grazing all day that he only eats a little bit of his breakfast and then he wants to play. I have to take him back and forth to his bowl 5-6 times until he finishes. I don’t think I’ll have to watch him forever once his body adjusts to the schedule. Last night he ate his entire dinner unsupervised so we are making progress.  🙂

After breakfast the boys nap while I get ready for the day. About an hour and a half after eating we go to the fenced area by my house for exercise time. This is where I chuck the ball and they run back and forth until they beg me to stop. It’s so fun watching Fergus and Dexter run after the ball … Dexter really brings out the competitive side of Fergus. He tries SO hard to get the ball before Dexter and poor Dexter is burdened with a height disadvantage. His legs are so short compared to Ferg.  Then we come home and the boys hydrate and then fall into a deep nap while I go about my day.

I’ve been observing Dexter all week and have figured out his “I have to pee cues“. He sits up, stretches and then will walk around the house sniffing in the air like he smells something delicious cooking. It took a few accidents to figure out this is his “cue” but now that I know it … I immediately him outside for a pee and we haven’t had an accident since.  🙂

Dinner is made/eaten around 6:30pm and then around 10:30 we take the boys for a long walk around the neighbourhood for a late night constitution and then we all go to bed. Dexter is crate trained and he sleeps through the night in his crate. All I have to say is “CRATE TIME” and he goes running in and lays down. It’s adorable.

As for the “marking” in the house … this has been a tough one to break because you have to catch him in the act so you can stop the behaviour. It’s not a full on pee … but it’s a mark made with pee. Marking serves as a way to claim territory. Dogs live in a hierarchy and its his way of displaying where he is in the pecking order. At the former house he was top dog. He ran the show. Pee’d and poo’d wherever he wanted but now he lives in the Kramer House and he needs to learn that I AM THE TOP DOG!! 🙂

After observing his first couple of days in the house I realized that he “marked” as soon as we walked in the door from being outside so as soon as we come home I put his Belly Band diaper on (this saves me having to clean up accidents) and then I let him have free reign of the house (or so he thinks).

He wanders around the house sniffing and playing while I hide behind doors watching him and waiting for him to “mark”. As soon as he lifts his leg I loudly shake a can full of coins (the coin cans I have in my store work perfectly for this) and startle him. I’ve done it 4 times so far … and yesterday he didn’t mark at all. Today … so far … nothing.

I also used the coin can technique with the kitchen table. Dexter is always trying to jump up and check out what’s on the table. Whenever I notice him standing on his back feet trying to get on the table I shake the can to startle him. It works great for these kinds of behaviours. For the table I only had to do it twice … now he just sniffs at the table but keeps all 4 paws on the floor.

Dexter is SUCH a good boy. He’s so eager to please and is a real fast learner. I taught him to “shake a paw” the other night in about 20 minutes so I have no doubt in my  mind that this “marking” won’t last much longer.

Some of you had questions about his belly band diaper. It wraps around his belly (and penis) and on the inside I put an incontinent pad (not menstrual pad) as they absorb more liquid. I don’t think he needs to wear it all day (because the marking only happens when we come home from a walk) but I would rather set him up to succeed and I REALLY don’t want to clean pee out of my carpet so he’ll be wearing it for a while until I’m confident that the “marking” issue is resolved.  🙂

Hey! Did you hear?

T.O.F.U. Magazine has gone digital!!

Check out their new “name your price” issue HERE.

Fergus think Dexter is a good egg…, originally uploaded by Sarah Kramer Photography.com.

Day 153… How many days till I find them in a cuddle puddle? 🙂

Had a great day yesterday. Gerry and I decided to walk down to the tattoo shop and check on the floors (we re-painted them on the 23rd and wanted to make sure they were dry) so we suited up the dogs and headed downtown.

Oooops. I totally forgot that it was boxing day and the streets were TEEMING with people. Poor Dexter was a little overwhelmed by all the commotion but it was a great learning opportunity for him. He learned not to lunge at people on bicycles (yikes). He learned not to lunge at skateboarders (double yikes) and he learned to stay stay chill and sit when we were waiting for the lights.

There was probably 3-4 times I had to say “watch out” to clueless idiots walking around with their heads in their iphones. Look up once in a while people!! There’s a whole world of possibilities in front of you. 🙂

We headed back home and the boys were exhausted so I made lunch and then Gerry suggested I try giving Dexter a bath. I have been avoiding giving him a bath (even though he stinks like urine and neglect) because I wanted him to be calm and relaxed with me and the house. I have NO idea what he’s like being groomed and I didn’t want to take a step backwards.

Well guess what? He was lovely. He sat perfectly still in the bathtub while I scrubbed him down and he sat perfectly still while I trimmed his ears. WHAT A GOOD BOY!! 🙂

I think he was really happy to no longer smell like a hobo.

A strange thing happened a little while later… Fergus took an interest in Dexter (they have been politely ignoring each other all week) and after a few “play poses” they started wrestling. This went on for over an hour … it was a hoot to watch.

It must have been the bath … 🙂

Oh yeah … and we also learned that Dexter likes Kale.

How was your boxing day?

Poor Dexter and his anxiety. It breaks my heart. It must be exhausting to be that stressed. 🙁

I have to let you know that since we brought him home a week ago his anxiety has gone from 11 to about a 4 so I’m happy to say we’ve made great inroads in a very short amount of time. I’m really proud of him. 🙂

I believe that exercise is a big part of why his anxiety has reduced so quickly. Besides a morning pee walk and a walk in the evening before bed; I also take him and Fergus to a fenced in area and throw the ball for 20-40 minutes. This is the part of the day where they can REALLY exert themselves and get rid of all that pent up energy and work-out every muscle in their body. I throw the ball back and forth until they lay down and beg me to stop. *laugh* With all that energy gone – Dexter doesn’t obsess, whine or have the energy to let his anxiety take over. It makes training him much easier and his capacity to learn is increased because his head isn’t filled with stress. Plus exercise makes for a strong healthy dog so it’s win/win all around.  🙂

We haven’t gone back into the car just yet because there hasn’t been a reason to drive but we’ve been working on other anxiety he has. One major one is getting ready to go for a walk; it triggers Dexter from a sweet dog into a whirling Tasmanian devil.

Spinning. Whining. Mouthing (lightly biting). Jumping. Shrieking and more spinning. In the beginning it was almost impossible to get a harness on him and as soon as you would crack the door open he would shoot through it in a panic. In the Kramer house you wait politely by the door and don’t come through it till someone says it’s ok… why? Cause there are cars on the other side of that door and we don’t want anyone to get squished. 🙁

So I started by giving him a little rescue remedy and then I s-l-o-w-l-y start getting ready to go outside. Just like the car we do it in stages. Put on my boots. Sit and wait till he calms down. Put on his harness but not until he sits calmly. Put on my jacket. Sit and wait until he’s calm. It takes a lot of patience (and time) to get ready like this but in only a few days he learned that going outside means he has to be calm and that all four paws have to be on the floor … Now I can stand by the door with the harness and it takes only about 15 seconds before he calms down and sits quietly for me waiting for the harness. YAY! 🙂

The door. That’s a hard one. As soon as it’s cracked just a little he tries to push his way through with the force of a pit-bull. We live in a condo complex and you have to go through 3 inside doors before you get to the outside door so that offers us LOTS of “door etiquette” practice.

We started with him by using the Gentle Leader but I noticed that it didn’t fit his long snout well so we switched to a Halti (we happened to have both from when Fergus was a pup) and it fits him a lot better.

When he charges for the door I would give him a small correction with the Halti and then I use my foot like a hand and I push him back and tell him to sit (he knows sit). Once he’s settled I open the door and tell him to STAY. If he tries to make a run for it; I block him with my foot again and push him back and tell him to sit and stay. Then I walk through the open door and wait … and wait … and wait…

Sometimes I’ll even dance around in the hallway and making “I’m having so much fun” noises to tempt him to walk through. It sounds a little mean but I want to teach him to be patient and calm when the door is open and that he is not to walk through until I say it’s ok. I’ve even had my neighbors help me by having conversations with me in the hall while he has to sit and wait patiently on the other side of the door-frame. Once he’s calm he can come through and then we do it allllll again at the next door.  🙂

He learned door etiquette very quickly but I still have to keep an eye on him because sometimes he’ll revert back … but now it only takes us about 5 minutes to get out the door instead of 30! PROGRESS!! 🙂

A big thanks again to everyone who donated to Dexters’ rehabilitation! We purchased a few more items (new bed, natures miracle, food, etc) because of your kindness. You rock!