Toilet Paper Conservation in a Financial Crisis

Memo to staff:

I have noticed that we are purchasing more toilet paper than usual. Due to recent financial events, I would like to request staff to be more conservative with toilet paper use, as the supplier has recently increased prices and reduced sheet number (from 800 to 700).

New ID palm monitors will be placed outside each stall to count individual usage. Please wash your hands before using the palm monitor.

Using 4 sheets after urinating and 6 sheets after defecating should be sufficient; this can be done by folding creatively. Otherwise we will be selling toilet paper sheets @ $.05 each, or require staff to bring their own rolls and keep them in the utility closet in the men’s room.

Thanks for your anticipated cooperation.

Must Remember

So much happens so fast. Every morning he comes out of the crate, he has grown. Wilbur at 7.5 months is 55 pounds now, lean and long, still growing into his long, wolfy legs and splayed front feet.

He is still a cheerful, confident puppy. He still loves children more than anything except maybe food.

1. If he sees a child in the distance, he will focus on the child, sit and wait for the child to come over. If the child ignores him, he is confused.
2. When he is snooting in the grass and sees someone he wants to approach, he pretends to find things to smell in the direction towards the person, and then raise his head.
3. He snores, still.
4. Still lays akimbo on his back.
5. Loves to slide. He used to climb and then slide down the tarps at TRT; loves to put both front feet on a plastic bottle and skate across the tennis court.
6. He used to love somersaults and sausage rolls. Now just sausage rolls.

Why?

I love taking long walks with Wilbur. The local walk - through Meyersville, up and down the dinky roads to the circle - is almost bucolic. (Note: I have never used that word before.)

I think alot in our walks.

Today, after almost 5 full months of raising a puppy into adolescenthood, which is indeed as hideous as everyone promised (Is he deaf? Doesn't he remember "shake?" Why won't he let me cut his nails?), I was wondering why Wilbur does some of the things he does.

1. Why does he burrow under his bed in the crate to sleep on a hot day?
2. Why does he want to roll in dead snakes and voles?
3. Why does he seek out tissues to rip and play with?
4. " " " " " the fabric under the boxspring to rip and play with?
5. " " " " " seek out and destroy the right insert to my Merrill clog, and not the left, to which he has equal access? (Under my bed looks like a mouse nest.)
6. How can he possibly be hungry after he eats 2 cups of dry food that expands to 4 cups in his stomach after he drinks water? (And I know for sure both measurements.)
7. And since I have mentioned eating: Why is his entire world now focused on food? He drooled at the deli counter in Whole Foods.
8. He's 98% Lab: Why can't he swim like a dog? All that follows his shoulders is under water when he paddles. He ends up swallowing water and not feeling so good after.

I don't know if I will ever have answers to these questions.

I don't know how dog people do it. Dogs eat unspeakable things, they seem to get diarrhea with regularity, (the one follows the other), they drool and they fart. Actually, thank goodness, Wilbur does not fart, but I still cannot be sure. He is a dog.

What Would Liz Say?

I walked Wilbur on a long lead in the little woods near the house. He loves free walks, and I love letting him be a dog. I work him a little, in the woods - wait, don't, and sits when people come by - but basically we walk and I let him explore. I think if everything is forbidden, it becomes attractive; so I let him snoot, but bring him along when I want him to catch up, or change direction and follow me.

I over-think things. Or I don't think things through enough. Both. But whenever I come to a dog-training question, I think of asking Liz Catalano, who is a keen and accomplished trainer.

But then I think, I can't ask Liz, because if I ask her every training question, I would have to put her on speed-dial. And I like her too much to harass her in such a way.

And then I think, "What would Liz say?"

And that is how I answer most of my dog training questions. I go through a good part of the day, thinking, "What would Liz say?"

Today, this was my imaginary conversation with Liz, in the forest:

Ellen: Liz, I have a question.

Liz: Yes, my dear. You are my favorite student, and Wilbur is the best dog I ever saw.

E: (Blushing, but immensely proud) Thank you, Liz. But here is my question. I don't have a fenced-in back yard. So I can't run Wilbur, or play with him the way I would like, unless we go to a friend's, for a pup-play date.

L: How do you sufficiently exercise him every day?

E: (Blushing, ashamed) I walk him. And I intersperse short training. I do try to make it fun. But I can't always run him, or throw a ball.

L: Is there a tennis court, or playground near you? You can make sure it's empty and safely enclosed, and play in there.

E: Oh! Of course! But what do you do when it rains? And you are indoors all day, no walks, no plays?

L: Isn't Wilbur training to be a Service Dog?

E: Yes....

L: Can't you take him into stores?

E: Yes....

L: Remember the other day, when you were training Wilbur in Shop-Rite having an imaginary conversation with me, and you remarked that working Wilbur in the store, especially in a supermarket, is very intense but fun training, and he is exhausted after?

E: (Light bulb over my head) Yes! It was exercise for him! Of course! So on a rainy day, or any day, to really exercise him, we can train in a store! And I am supposed to be doing that, anyway, now he's six months old!

L: (Smiles, but not like I am an idiot, more like I am grasshopper.) You are learning.

E: I have another question.

L: Oh, good!

E: I walk Wilbur on a 20 foot long lead sometimes. I work on his attention, on waits, and heres with the long lead.

L: You make me so proud.

E: Thank you. But the lead drags under him, and trips him. Do you think I can use a flexi-lead?

L: How stupid are you? Of course not. Duh. He weighs over 50 pounds. Didn't I see him run on the lead and pull it out of your hand the other day? He'd snap a flexi-lead. Sheesh, what an idiot.

E: OK, I got it, no flexi-lead. It was just a question.

L: Well, I am getting tired of your questions, even though I am only in your mind. That's how annoying you are. That's why I don't give you my phone number.

The Blog That Never Was: Raising John Wilbur Conner

It is just over four months since Wilbur came into my life. His age is now measured in months instead of weeks, and he has emerged as his own "person."

He is six months old.

His progress impresses me, and is more a testimony to CCI breeding than my skills as a trainer. He learns things very easily. Any bad habits are minor and easily fixed with consistent training. He is very cheerful.

A recap:

It seems, somewhere between 16 - 18 weeks, he learned his name. Like overnight. I did work on his name as I was taught in dog training, but for Wilbur's first three and a half months I thought he was deaf, and I worried that he would think his name was "Don't!" (the general CCI correction for anything). He learned "Drop" readily, as he had to do it all day. Sticks, rocks, cat toys, basically anything in his path, except a toy. Now, with the command "Drop," he actually projectile spits the item from his mouth.

He does an automatic wait at the bottom and top of the stairs, and has stopped chasing the cats. We are working on Petra's chickens, which he did find fascinating, but resisted in a sit/don't.

He waits on command at doorways and out of the car. I have to be more consistent, and then he will do it automatically. (See, it's me, I need the training.)

He lets me cut his nails!!! This after not letting me touch his feet!

The most impressive thing to me is what happens when I put his CCI gold puppy vest on and take him into a store. He turns into a service dog, totally focused and behaved. It amazes me. He disappears by my side, stops when I stop, waits, comes along with a "Let's go."

Things I have to work on:

1. He jumps and licks. Working on that.
2. Roll. He rolls all the time, but not on command. My bad.
3. Heel and side. Should be a piece of cake. Especially if I offer him cake!
4. Better manners in food situations at friends' houses. Tough one, that.
5. Dress into the halti. (Does any pup actually walk into a gentle leader or halti? Come on.)
6. Being more gentle taking treats.
7. Fetch. He is a lab that does not retrieve. What is up with that?
8. Most important: Recall. He comes with a "Here," but I have not really trained in an open, distracting area.

Now that camp is over, I look forward to taking him to more classes, working him and also going for those long walks I love. We can't do the Swamp now (the mosquitoes land on us like a net) so I am going to Jockey Hollow instead.

In Jockey Hollow today, on a long lead, he kept checking on me and doing a "wait" 9 out of 10 times when he was 5-10 feet ahead of me. Next to me he will pretty much stick to me, if working. He did his own roll today, and I rubbed his belly, and I thought about how good he is, how easy to train, and I thought I saw his future.

The End of Life as I know it

The End of Life as I Know it

OK, so that sounds portentous, but things here will change very soon. And I am very excited about it, although some people are warning me that my life will soon be over. I like to think of it more as a change of career. Starting tomorrow, Monday, April 13, 2009, the 12 pound blob of puppy pictured here will become part of my household. Wilbur.

My plan is to keep a blog to follow his development. It's a nice plan, but people tell me with a puppy I won't get to do a lot of things I planned to do. We'll see. He must sleep sometime.

When Katrina of CCI approved me for puppy-raising, she offered me one of two puppies from the W litter: Woodrow or Wilbur. Obviously, neither name is good, so all things being equal, it didn't really matter. But I knew Woodrow and Wilbur will be very much their own souls regardless of their names, so I have to find a way to choose. As long as I teach the pup his proper name, I can eventually use a shortened endearment.

I will be picking the pup up in April, the birth-month of my beloved William Shakespeare. So Wilbur can occasionally be Will.

Anyway: Woody? I don't think so.

In the weeks before I was approved Katrina, I had already started to prepare for the yet-unknown puppy. No, really. I had bought:

* a portable dog pen

* good nail clippers

* a Furminator deshedding blade

* grooming brush

* kongs

* nylabones

* bowls

* crates

I did not know if telling Katrina this would encourage her that I was well prepared or just frighten her that I was obsessive, so I did not. But in those weeks it felt good to buy things before I had a name and date for a puppy.

Katrina sent me the picture above, which I immediately sent to everyone in my addressbook and posted on Facebook. I also called my CCI friends and friend-friends. Jean (puppy raiser and mother of graduate Morgan) went to the CCI listwerv and inquired about Wilbur's parents. I had no idea. Within 5 minutes, I received this email from Jean:

Congratulations!! This is really a beautiful, adorable baby. You may be faced with dog napping activities from some of your friends!

A little bit of research past his birthdate:

Mom: Niobe II - who appears to be related to Patrice and also a Grandpup of Bobby (very, very famous, successful CCI breeder) - She's really pretty - photo under breeder photos

Jaker: is full black lab - born 2/23/2007 - Yvonne II x Mondo - no picture of him

So, we have a family with some grandparents. That was indeed fast.

I joined the CCI Miracles Listserv, introduced myself as a new puppy raiser looking for any information on Wilbur of the recent W litter. I received this message almost immediately:

Hi Elly,

My name is Mo Nard, and I am a volunteer breeder caretaker for CCI in Sacramento, CA. I have Niobe II. Wilbur II is headed your way from what I understand (friend forwarded me a

post she saw that you had done on CCI Miracles). Wilbur is adorable and very sweet. He was born on Feb. 16^th. He is the light pink collared pup. Let me know if you have any questions about your little guy or his mother or siblings.

Wags,

Mo

And these pictures:

Wilbur clearly was the cutest of all the puppies, and there was a graveness to his demeanor clearly beyond his five weeks. I had great hopes for him. I was going to raise John Conner.