Posts filed under ‘Exercise’
Our 2nd. staircase hike
Still on a mission to work my way through this book. Today was our second time on Walk #31: Franklin Hills which has a total of 634 steps. (I cheat a bit, we don’t do the complete route)
Sharing here a few photos of Boogie. I tell ya, he is SO FAST going up the stairs!
He seems to like going UP more than he likes going down. I am all huffing and puffing and he wants to keep climbing.
Prospect Walk stairs
At the end of this walk, and on his favorite patch of grass.
Boogie- Day by Day
I have started a “Daily (Walk) Log” for Boogie to keep track of his behavior on our outdoor walks, with improvements or otherwise. It’s easy to forget the details and I want to record and remember everything… especially Boogie’s responses to different situations – what he likes/dislikes, what freaks him out, how he handles himself etc. including too what *I* do and say- what works and what doesn’t
This log is hosted on a separate blog – http://boogietoday.tumblr.com/
On the right sidebar, there is a Widget of this blog’s RSS feed – Look under “Boogie Today” – I will be posting something everyday.
Comments are welcome!
The new Boogie morning routine
After doing two solid weeks of Bootcamp, our long morning walks around Los Feliz seemed really boring by comparison. Same old same old. So I decided that a change would be good for the both of us – something that could feel more like a workout – and we now have a new routine.
Mid-morning, we hop in the car – which Boogie LOVES!!! He props himself up on the passenger seat, sticks his head out the window and takes in the sights and smells like it’s the best-est thing in the whole world – and we head to the park for a 30 min to 1 hour long walk. So far we have hiked up Bronson Canyon, to the Griffith Observatory from Ferndell and around Silverlake Reservoir. It is SO nice to not have traffic lights and people distractions! Why I haven’t been doing this more often, I don’t know.
Griffith Observatory - The grass feels good!
Well, actually I do know why. In Life-before-Obedience-Training, it was impossible to take Boogie anywhere without him pulling on the leash and being a pain in the butt. It is now such a pleasure to walk together, side by side. Wow, my dog heels. This is so cool. I keep the leash loose. When he moves too far ahead, I call him, he slows down and is back by my side. I pack treats and we practice commands. Sometimes we stop and he sniffs around the bushes, pees on stuff. This is our new bonding/workout experience when not at Bootcamp.
Bronson Caves & Hollywood Sign
Bronson Caves
Thankfully, Bronson Canyon is fairly quiet. The occasional presence of off-leash dogs heading towards Boogie make me nervous, but dog owners are pretty cool if I warn them in advance that my dog is “not friendly”. They call their dogs, I make Boogie SIT and STAY, and then we all move along with no drama. Perhaps one day I will be able to let Boogie socialize with new dogs and he won’t lunge or growl. I hope this CAN happen some day…
While we are getting into the spirit of hiking together, I have to share pics of Boogie’s new jogging outfit which I bought on etsy. Wes took one look and shook his head – “This is so wrong. He’s a DOG”. Well, I personally think it’s SUPER CUTE!
Imagine this as Boogie’s halloween costume. We stick a headband on him, and give him a mini tennis racket. He already has the tennis balls.
Just kidding 🙂
Next hiking destination: I want to check out Elysian Park.
Allergies – pink face.
The Boogs has a rash on his face – it’s the same one that he has had all summer – pink, raw, itchy, weepy skin in between the folds of his face. I give Boogie skin+coat supplements and have applied hydrocortisone cream, neosporin, zinc oxide, baking soda (it’s supposed to relieve itchiness), nu-stock…… I can’t tell if any of these work because when I’m not watching, Boogie rubs the stuff off his face onto his bed, the couch, or the carpet…
The bald patches on his face look worse at night – really red and sometimes bloody. And I can’t see the skin healing and the fur growing back in a hurry because the area is always damp from tear stains.
Dr R. gave him a cortisone shot about 1-2 months ago and that seemed to help A LOT. Boogie stopped scratching and his face started to heal. This steroid medication lasted about 2 weeks and then his face looked really bad again. When we went back to the vet yesterday for another cortisone shot, Dr R. didn’t think it was such a good idea as repeated cortisone shots can bring about horrible side effects including liver damage. (Like Prednisone) So we came home instead with some Panalog cream.
A few new routines:
- I have started Boogie on Comfortis – an oral anti-flea med, instead of Frontline/Advantage.The vet tech warned that there may be some vomitting at first if he is not used to this…
- I am introducing HALO pet food to Boogie’s diet and ordered an Intro Kit. I don’t know yet if I will do a full switch where I will feed exclusively Halo… I read that mixing up his diet – feeding a variety of proteins will prevent the possibility of developing an allergy to a single protein. (He has been eating THK turkey all year)
- My complimentary Thankdog Bootcamp classes have ended but I might be enrolling in a program of maybe 2 or 3 classes a week. This is great discipline for me and good obedience practice for Boogie. He still hates the wet grass and protests like nobody’s business but well, what can ya do….The amazing thing is that at home and on our walks – he understands and obeys! Well, maybe only 60% of the time but hey, that’s a HUGE improvement.
Boogie at Bootcamp!
DISCLAIMER: This blog post was written in 2009. We no longer do Obedience Training using “dominance”-based methods. We no longer use collar corrections. These methods made Boogie MORE TENSE, MORE TRIGGERED and more prone to aggressive behaviors. We switched over to reward-based methods in February 2010 and saw improvements.
As part of Boogie’s Obedience Training package I get 2 weeks (10 classes) FREE Bootcamp. If you haven’t visited the ThankDog Bootcamp website & seen the video, go and check them out!!! Here’s another video on YouTube:
Basically it’s a workout bootcamp for humans, combined with doggie obedience practice. It’s such a cool and brilliant idea. I have been wanting to do this since I first read about it online and am glad I finally started! The human part of the bootcamp includes cardio stuff like running, jumps etc. and there are also exercises for arms, legs, abs involving weights. The doggie part is obedience practice for commands like Heel, Sit, Down, Stay, etc.
A few friends have asked me if it’s really tough and if it helps Boogie. It’s actually not as hardcore as it sounds. It’s very doable.
The hardest parts are:
1. Going to bed early and getting up at 5am (the bootcamp starts at 6am)
2. Wet grass!!!
I will admitthat at first I was really nervous that Boogie might misbehave or display aggression towards other (new) dogs… which is why I held off on doing the bootcamp for so long. But time and obedience training has proven that even though the Boogs is still a “problem child”, wow – he CAN be obedient. He CAN move at my pace, by my side for a whole hour (well, maybe he could run a little bit faster, but that’s ok…) I CAN control him in the presence of new dogs and people. This is such a confidence boost. And good discipline for the Boogs.
Yep, it would be more fun if Boogie didn’t have such a problem with wet grass. He HATES getting his feet and butt wet so he sits with his butt lifted off the ground! He won’t lie down on the grass at all. I bring treats in my pocket and these help make the experience a bit more “positive”. Here are photos taken after Day 5 of Bootcamp.
In his “place”.
“Look to camera, Boogie!”
Boogie is so weird. We always think that he is part “cat” or maybe it’s a Boston Terrier thing? Every morning on the drive home from the park – he meticulously grooms his entire body… licks each of his wet paws thoroughly, between every toe, back of his legs…
When at home he joyously plays with EVERY SINGLE TOY, eats breakfast, and goes to sleep for the rest of the day.
Boogie's blog 