December

 Being silly with Daddy.

 Eating an apple like a big girl. 

Ellie had a wonderful Christmas.  Lots of family fun and goodies to eat.  Wishing you all the best! -Heidi

Cleveland updates

October went by fast and November is going even quicker.  We are in the middle of adding an extra room onto the house.  I am looking forward to Ellie's room being finished so things wont be so busy anymore.  Any good decorating ideas are welcome.

I loved dressing Ellie up for Halloween!  She was the cutest little honey bee :)  We also had her urology check up recently and we were hoping everything would be great but it is about the same.  So we will do a recheck next year & hope for better news. 

I had two agility competitions last month with Chloe & Wicket.  Chloe finished a title and Wicket got his first agility Qualifying run.  We have a few things to work on to make the next trial even better.

This morning as I was getting ready I saw the cutest thing.  In my vanity mirror I could see Ellie.  She had pulled several books off her shelf and was sitting in the middle of them.  In her lap Ellie had one of her dog books open turning the pages to feel the different fabrics (a touch & feel book).  I couldn't help but smile at my sweet little book worm. 

Unplugged

After reading an article about a family giving up all technology for five days I decided it would be fun to try something similar.  For the month of October our family is giving up TV every Sunday.  Lets face it I watch way more TV then I need & I don't watch near as much as the average person.  I thought this would be a good way to get out and do other things during a month were the weather is awesome.  Have a family outing at the park or pick up a good book (which I am over due for).  Who knows maybe it is a tradition in the making.  I'll keep you updated on our simple Sundays.

How to win...

...a $5 Starbucks or Braums card.  I am looking for a new name for my blog.  Gone to the dogs doesn't cover everything.  Now that Todd & I have Ellie I post a lot about her too.  To enter post or email me your suggestions along with your name.  You can give as many names as you like.  Please remember to keep it clean & be creative.  Next Tuesday I will post the winner!!!  Thank you for the help everyone! -H

the scary wiggles

As I'm sure every parent experiences at some point or another babies become wiggle worms.  Ellie can wiggle and squirm with the best of them.  One Sunday Todd (dada) named her the pink tornado as she spun around none stop during church service.  This morning I had one of my greatest fears happen.  As I change Ellie's diapers she has gotten into the habit of sitting up multiple times during the change.  Sometimes I can distract her and keep her still with a toy, singing or even holding the diaper cream bottle.  As Ellie is getting older those little thing keep her less and less interested in being still on the changing table.  Standing right in front of Ellie I still was not quick enough to prevent the fall.  Yes, my 13 month old took a swan dive off the changing table!  Thankfully, it was into her bed and she hit nothing but mattress.  Talk about scary!  So, now we are moving to the floor for changing time.  I look forward to Ellie obeying when Mommy tells her to be still so she won't get hurt. 

Cake!

A wonderful lady from church (Kris) told me she really wanted to take birthday pictures of Ellie.  Kris made a cake especially for Ellie.  I wasn't sure if Ellie would do much with the cake since she was very neat at her party.  After warming up Ellie finally got into the cake and even decided to stick her foot in it (soccer play?).  We had a blast!  Thank you so much for the wonderful memories Kris!

Happy Birthday Ellie Rose!

I loath...

Scorpions!  Waking up to someone telling me "move, move there is a scorpion in the bed" is not what I wanted to hear last night.  Then to my horror have my pillow used to squish the thing.  My pillow did no damage to the scorpion but a shoe on the bed did (after several attempts).  I was the flashlight gal during this bug squishing episode.  After the thing was dead I checked and rechecked my pillow before using it.  My nerves were on edge that is was very hard to go back to sleep.  Just a few weeks ago I was chased down by a scorpion in the bathroom.  After Todd squished that one we were talking in the kitchen were I spotted a light brown moving critter on my shoulder from the corner of my eye.  Let me just say Todd said my feet were moving so fast it reminded him of a cartoon.  Then of course I landed squarely on my rear which lead to a nice size black & blue mark.  Yeah, that one just turned out to be a June bug that landed on me but at the moment I so thought it was a scorpion.  I look forward to cooler weather for many reasons and the scorpions leaving is at the top of it.

experiments...

So I did some experiments this week.  One,  almond milk & pudding mix does not thicken very well.  Two, getting dogs to pay attention to me when coming out of the house.  My dogs have good recalls but when we first exit the door for walks things are a little crazy.  Wicket is so excited up races out the door (once released on cue) and makes a line between me & the tree line (bunnies & squirrels oh my).  During the back and forth runs of Wicket, Chloe is afraid she will miss the fun critters too.  Now Wicket never leaves my sight but Chloe does & comes back 85% of the time when called.  I have been working on ways to keep them from doing their ritual run out the door.  Treats work with Chloe but once I am done Wicket still goes crazy & makes his frantic run.  So, I tried toys.  Well, well I think we found a winner.  I pulled out several toys & let the dogs tug with me when they came out.  Since I only have two hands & have to push a stroller they had to take turns as we walked.  Once I told them all done they would walk a head of me & we would play recall games.  If the dog came, that I called, fast on the first call they got to tug with me.  This was way more fun then all the critters in the woods.  Now I have a way to reinforce my recalls, not running crazy when first leaving the house and that mama is lots of fun.  Granted this was not difficult for my dogs since they have a recall foundation.  Think outside the box for the behaviors you want to change.  -Heidi

The 4th of July

 Heidi, Ellie & Todd

Ellie 10 months old

The three of us went to have sweets with some of our family on the fourth of July.  Ellie had a great time getting into things.  No fireworks this year because Ellie was just way to tired to stay up.

A TV star...

Well, five minutes of fame anyway.  Chloe and I filmed for our local TV show Dog Talk.  Chloe is tv material but I better stick with dog training.  After driving for an hour and a half I finally made my way into the KSBI studio.  I felt so bad that everyone had to wait on me the one and only who couldn't seem to find the place.  The staff at KSBI were all very nice about my direction disability and we finally got the filming done so they could go home.  The episode Chloe and I will be one airs August 6th.  Check us out!

The busy dog trainer-June

How many of us keep track of our dog training? One thing I have learned over the years is the people that excel at what they do usually keep track of their training one way or another. I am a big fan of quick and easy record keeping. I am going to share with you one way to keeping track of your dog training. First, I make a spreadsheet on the computer. I list the skills for a week that I want to work on. Then, in the columns next to the skills I can place the date that I worked on it & the number of times a day. This helps motivate me to do daily training with my dogs & gives something specific to work on. Now that being said I use this for skills my dogs have already been taught & I am wanting to improve upon. When I teach a new skill I keep track differently because I need to do more writing on that new skill.

Tea Tree Oil

Most of us know that tea tree oil helps keep fleas & ticks away from our dogs but it can also help with another pesky bugger. I'm talking about chiggers! I just happened to run out of my dog shampoo (with tea tree oil) & was using another that had been sitting in the cabinet for a while. Todd & I keep getting chigger bits when we were in the house. I finally came to the conclusion that in years past we had never had this problem because I used shampoo with tea tree oil on our dogs. So, I set our to buy some shampoo & see if I was right. As soon as all the dogs were bathed the the furniture sprayed with tea tree oil & water we had no more chigger bits. The only down side to this is you have to bath the dogs once a week &/or spray them with tea tree oil every time the go out. That being said I live in the country were the dogs get into the tall grass. If you live in a neighbor hood then you are not going to have chigger problems like us country folks. Just thought I would share what I learned this month! -Heidi

The nine month old

Just before Ellie turned nine months she decided to try everything. Ellie started crawling, standing while holding on to things & her first tooth came in. It has been an exciting time! Ellie is keeping me on my toes now that she is on the go. Here are a few pictures of her.

The first zoo trip!

Todd & I took Ellie to the zoo today. It was fun taking her around & look forward to her interest in the animals as she gets older. What gorillas?

Ellie in her cute hat.

Ellie not wanting to wear her hat.

Ellie did finally notice the big elephants below us. The mommy was loving on her baby elephant & it was so cute.

April-busy dog trainer

As you can see April was a little on the busy side & I am just now getting around to make the April post. This past weekend I taught a workshop on walking the agility course & reading maps so I thought I would talk a little about that. Some people like using the maps and some don't even look at them. It really is what works best for you. Maps can give you a glimpse of where front crosses, rear crosses, serpentine and threadles may go. However, sometimes the angle, distance or even position of an obstacle can be slightly off compared with the map which may affect where those crosses may be. For some the maps help them to remember the order of the obstacles. When walking a course everyone has their own way of doing things. I'm not talking about handling systems just the fact that everyone does their course walk the way that will best help them remember it. For me personally I like to walk through the first time just to know where the numbers are at. This helps me to know where I have come from and where I am going when I walk it the second time adding in front crosses. I also like to stand at the front of the course and visualize what it will look like when my dog and I run the course. These things help me personally to remember the flow of the course. Above is a UKI course. Take a look and see if you know where to put the front crosses. -Heidi

Happy b-day!

My youngest dog Wicket just turned 2 years old. Mr. Wicket is growing up so fast. He has come so far in his agility training and is such a wonderful guy. Happy Birthday buddy!

April update...

Another month has gone by and Ellie is a little older. Ellie will be eight months on Easter! Wow, babies grow so fast! Here are a few pictures. Ellie's shirt says "Q" is my favorite letter of the alphabet. If you are an agility fan you know what this shirt means. Yes, Ellie supports her Mommy's agility habit!
Looking cool in her new shades! Poor girl has a peanut head like her Mama. We had to put the straps as tight as possible.

A beautiful Oklahoma sunrise from out deck.

How I lost 25 pounds!

People have asked how I was able to lose the weight I gained from pregnancy. I should have documented it over the months but I was on the news for it and didn't think about blogging about it until now. So here is my weight lose story. First, let me tell you a little about my background. I played soccer in collage & have been physically active for many years. I taught aerobic classes for about 7 years and even became a certified personal trainer for a year. I have always been thin & was very worried about being able to get ride of the weight I knew I would gain with pregnancy. After all so many women don't lose the baby weight. I am don't a dieter & don't do pills. That being said different things work for different people. I am of the belief that you have to work to get results. I started off slow. Walking casually & increasing from there. When I was released to workout again I started with some 20 minute videos 2 times a week along with daily walking. Then I added weight training & made my 20-30 cardio workout harder. I have slowly increased what I am able to do over the past 7 months. Now I can run for about an hour without walking & am going to run/walk 13 miles in the Memorial Marathon. It takes time & everyday you get stronger. I watched what I was putting in my mouth. Until I lost the weight I wrote down everything that I eat & drink. I dislike having to do that but it truly help me pay attention & be accountable for what I was eating. I love to eat & refuse to eat food that doesn't taste good. You can still eat good tasting food that is good for your body. Two of my favorite things to eat is sugar & bread. I still had those things but in small amounts. I do the approach of eating healthy during the week & splurging on the weekend. This works for me & I can still have the things I love. When I started because breaking the sugar habit is hard I would go 1 day without sugar then reward myself with a little something special. I increased the number of days between every week until I was able to go all 5 days with out the sugar monster. I also did pudding cups a lot because it was a reward that was less fattening & you can get the sugar free version. I tried different recipes that had a good mix of veggies cooked into the meal. Another thing I like to do is cut out the bread from dinner. I opted for brown rice if I felt I needed more then meat & veggies. It took 4 months for me to get to my pre-pregnancy weight. I lost 25 pounds total. Wow, you might say but it is different for everyone & most it will take a few more months to do this. I am a nursing mom which helped burn a few more calories. If you are looking to lose weight I would encourage you to find something that works for you. If you hate what you are doing to lose weight then most likely you won't stick with it. Try finding an exercise you like & a buddy to help you along. Most of all pray about it! -Heidi

5 minute Banana Pudding

Once and a while I really need to have a sweet tooth fix. This is an easy, quick way to get a little something sweet. This is also a lot less calories and servings then baking a cake or making the original banana pudding recipe. You will need 1 small box of banana cream or vanilla pudding (also try the sugar free), a banana and animal crackers. Make the pudding according to the box. After it sits in the fridge for 5 minutes scoop out one serving in a bowl. Cut up one banana to add to the bowl and toss in a handful of animal crackers. Yum! The kids will think it is fun to have animal crackers in their pudding!

March-Busy Dog Trainer

As you can see the month is almost over & I am just getting around to blogging about dog training. Just a little on the busy side! We have the UKI trial coming up this weekend at the Lazy E. What can we do in 3 days to be ready?! Here are a few things that I do before trials. First I will do very little in equipment today & tomorrow. The day before any trial I don't do any equipment. It is my thought that before a big game day you should rest up. Yes, I exercise my dogs & play with them but I do it in the form of walks and games. Second, I will spend more time on the basics such as stays to make sure they are GREAT at the trial. I will also give out more treats/toy these next few days for circle work, stays, recalls and crate work. Why? Well, since I am giving high reward now when I get to the trial it is more likely that my dogs will stay with me & not do other things when in the ring. This will be Wicket's first trial and since he is very green I don't plan to get any ribbons. We may run every run with a toy in the ring! My one goal for him this weekend is for him to stay with ME in the ring. I am going to do all I can these next few days to make sure Wicket does just that. Last of all make sure you have a warm up routine for your dog before going to the trial. This not only gets my dog ready but also helps me to be in the zone before going into the ring. Good Luck to all! -Heidi

A Spring Morning

I took these pictures last week on one of our beautiful spring days.

Ellie & the dogs love to spend time outside!

This makes me laugh...

I can't help but laugh when watching my silly girl. I enjoy her so much!

6 months old

Ellie is now 6 months old. Where does the time go? At her 6 month doctor visit Ellie weighed in at 14lbs. 3 oz. and is 24 3/4 in. long. Ellie & Mommy
You talking to me?!

Hey, hey, hey

Yum, sweet potato

K9 Kids

The K9 kids during the last snow. Wicket
Chloe

Reese

Seida

Feb-Busy Trainer

I did a three day seminar this week with Greg & Laura Derrett. It is always a great experience to learn from such successful trainers. I know Nancy will have lots for all of us to work on in class. One thing I would encourage everyone to work on is reinforcement zone. Where is reinforcement zone? Think Belly button! If you are playing tug or treating in front of you then that is where the dog will drive to. Put your dog in a stay and practice having them run to you for their reward. Take a few minutes everyday to build this up before going to class.

Urology...

Ellie went to the urologist today. The valves connected between the kidneys and the bladder is allowing urine to go into the kidneys. That alone doesn't hurt anything. The problem is when she gets a bladder infection and the infected urine goes back up to the kidneys. If untreated can cause kidney failure later in life but not a problem if caught early and treated like Ellie.

Each Kidney/valve is rate on a scale of 1-5 (five worst). Ellie has a 2 on her left side and a 3 on her right. Which means she has a 70% on the left and 50% on the right of the problem correcting its self over time. So there is a chance she can grow out of it.

Ellie qualifies for a medical study that is being done on this type of problem in children. This study would last two years. Our other options are continue antibiotics daily until she is a year and then take a look at everything again. Surgery would then be looked at as a possible option which is a last resort for us. At this point we are trying to decide to continue antibiotics or enroll in the medical study. The good news is Ellie's kidneys look very good and she is a growing health girl other then bladder problem.

Need an Ellie fix today?

When it's cold outside

As with many Oklahomans this week the Cleveland family has had to find things to do inside more then usual. Todd went to work for the first time today (Friday) which made for a long work week. :) We got to spend a lot of family time together this week which is always nice. Although I am sad about not having agility class tomorrow and dread the 6.5 mile run that I will be forced to do on the treadmill since there is still snow out. I'll let you know if I survive. All in all it has been a nice winter week.

Wicket tried to get a game of hide and seek going. The picture you see below is something he did all on his own. Glad we got a few pictures to show how silly he is.

Peek-a-BOO

There is always snuggling on the couch. Wicket seems to get in a lot of pictures he is such a diva.

Ellie practiced her singing.

If you really must there is always playing in the snow.