Life is moving along and I'm still stitchin'

Haven't posted in a while.  Things around my way are doing pretty well.  The dogs went to the vet yesterday and are doing fine.  Hawkeye Cat as well.  Yes, it's quite a production when we go to the vet.  Three dogs on multi length leashes arranged so they go diagonally across from shoulder to opposite hip on down to the dog(s), and a cat in arms, also on a leash.  The dogs enjoy the vet visits, especially since once in a while I'll take them over for nothing more than to just sit in the lobby for a while until they calm down, then take them back home.  None of them seem to mind getting shots, and all love kissing and being petted by the vet and office staff.  Even our newest guy, Chip aka Chipper.  (He used to be Charlie, but this fits him better.)  He isn't nearly as afraid of new people now, and is much faster to warm up and want to be petted.  I've been practicing doing baby talk to him since he growled at one of the ladies on staff one day when she had baby talked to him.  I felt terrible about that, since it had never occurred to me that might be a problem.  It was very clear that while he was unsure already, any sort of baby talking he took as a signal that Something Very Bad was about to happen to him.

I do wonder what he went through before he was rescued.  However, now he seems to take that in stride, along with feet touching him.  That also used to freak him out.  He was in fear for his life the first time I happened to raise my foot up at him to scratch his chest.  It took a couple of weeks, but now he's happy to be petted with feet, or see a human do some strange gyrations that include feet of the ground.

Cadee is no longer the extremely shy dog we rescued years ago.  She is still cautious, but she is also a very happy, cheerful dog.  She's happy to go with you anywhere, always dances with joy when it's time for a walk or to do something.  It was a turning point for her when she finally snapped at Chip when he was too intense and chasing her one day.  So many times before that she had this look like she wanted to, but didn't think she was allowed to defend herself.  When I saw her whirl and snap at the air in his direction, the doggy version of 'get out of my space!' I praised her and told her that she was wonderful, didn't have to put up with his stuff.  From that day on she has increased in confidence.  Now she'll even play with him sometimes, even though he tends to be much higher energy than she is comfortable being around.

Cadee no longer flops onto her back whenever someone wants to pet her, and sometimes she'll even take and eat a treat.  For quite a while she would take a treat if it was offered, but would then drop it and not eat it.  Now she'll even eat it.  And she'll come over for petting, sitting or even standing up for it.  Such a major change in her behavior.

On other notes I've continued to do some work on my linen things.  I have now hemmed 4 of the nice big violet handkerchief linen towels.  I use them all the time and they are fantastic for drying my hair.  I've finished one of the medium weight purple linen kitchen towels as well.  It is getting regular use as well.  I've started to hem the second of these and am alternating work on it with work on handkerchiefs.

I have 5 of the 100% linen hankies yet to hem, 3 of the smallest size and 2 of the medium size.  I also cut out some of the linen blend for hankies.  Six per width, so 12 total.  In the last couple of days during travel and meetings I have nearly finished hemming the first one.  I decided to make up some of the blend before going back to the 100% linen.  Interestingly the blend is whiter than the 100% linen.  While it is white, it is slightly more of a cream color. Perhaps there are optical whiteners on the other, not sure.  In any case the blend is a tiny bit softer and slightly more flexible.  That probably will change since linen just gets nicer and nicer, softer and more sheen, as it is used.  Regardless, the fabrics are quite nice, very easy to work with and make beautiful hankies.

I am also glad to report that the linen sheets and pillow cases are continuing to get daily use and are holding up very well.  It is nice to see something that one has planned out then made get that much good use and appreciation.

Recently I've been tempted to make myself a nice knitted coat or vest.  Something mid-thigh or even knee length for warmth when walking outside in the colder weather.  I'm still considering designs and yarns, but am leaning towards something like Meg Swanson's long rendition of Elizabeth Zimmermann's Rib Warmer as is shown in this newsletter.  I'm nearly certain I've got directions for it in either a Spun Out or one of the many books I've already got.  Not sure if I'll go for unspun Icelandic, Sheepsdown, or something else.  Who knows, I may decide to do both a vest and a coat.  I know I'd use them both.

Charlie - New Dog

Wednesday, 31 March 2010 we came home with 3 dogs. We left home for our usual evening walk with our to dogs, BJ and Cadee, but came back with a new addition to our pack, Charlie. In the photo BJ is on the left, Charlie in middle and Cadee on the right.

This interesting turn of events I consider one of the ways the Universe provides for us, call it whatever you like. I've been about half thinking about getting another dog at some point. My sweet BJ is starting to get a little older now. He knows so much, and is such an awesome dog. My half-formed thoughts were that he would be able to help teach a new dog the ropes in our household. Cadee can, too, to a degree, but she is pretty submissive and somewhat afraid of other dogs, so is more likely to run away than give a puppy a correction.

In any case, I was walking with my husband, and our 2 dogs. Going past the house of one of our neighbors comes little Bella, a chihuahua, leading her pack of larger dogs. When Bella isn't out their other dogs don't even come out to the road, but she gets very excited and brings the pack out every time she is loose. I'm afraid to go past with her on the road, because I'm afraid she won't go back to her house, but instead will get hit by a car, or get one of the rest of her pack hit. So I always bring her and her pack, along with my dogs, back to their house before continuing on.

There was a new dog with them this time, a tiger striped young dog that I learned was named Charlie. He had been rescued in December when another neighbor brought him thinking it was his home. He had apparently been abused, was very shy and afraid, particularly of men, and the person who had found him couldn't keep him. So my neighbor kept him, hoping to find him a good home.

He offered him to us, because he knows we are dog people and would give him a good home. We decided to take him with us on our walk to see how he did, and to think about it. Our neighbor warned us that he hadn't been on a leash that he knew of. We clipped him up and off we went. He was unsure at first, but with our 2 just moving along happily, he caught on in a minute and did well. We liked him, but didn't want to make any decision until we had a chance to talk to our son who lives at home, since Cadee is his dog, and he takes care of them both much of the time, feeding and taking them out. They both sleep with him, too.

During our chatting and walking, it had gotten dark. We had just asked if we could take him back for our son to meet him and think about it when guess who comes walking up in the dark? Yup, there he was, coming to meet us walking. We all chatted a few minutes, letting Charlie meet our son and vice versa. In the end we decided to give him a try, agreeing that if there was any issue that we would bring him back. We didn't expect any issues, the dogs were getting along fine already.

Charlie is very sweet. Our neighbor estimates he is about 8 months old. He has a band of white around his neck into a white front, 4 white toes/feet, and the rest is brown with black marbling. Black nose and skin on his face making his face dark, with lovely dark eyes. His ears tulip, rather like a whippet. In fact, his body shape has aspects of whippet, also, with slightly arching loins, slender legs and tail. He can trot, if he goes fast enough, but he mostly seems to be pacing, which I don't recall seeing in dogs much before.

He gets along well with our other dogs, and while Hawkeye Cat isn't impressed, he hasn't been all that interested in the cat, either. He does fine with the friendly outside cat I feed, letting the cat rub up against him just fine.

Charlie is going through quite a lot of changes, as I'm sure our household is different from where he was before. Even though we had been told that he was afraid of men, we have seen very little of it. At first meeting he tucked his tail tight around my husband and son, but very quickly relaxed. Meeting another neighbor the day after we got him he tucked for a minute, but relaxed and was enjoying being petted right away. When our other son came home from university he barked at him once then did fine.

He has been learning that he has to walk next to or behind us, and not to go too far away from our side. Since I have been the one inside to do the umbilical cording (keep a leash attached to him inside, to make sure he doesn't get too many chance to do the wrong things), the others have been doing most of the walking. It is important for him to learn that he has to do the same thing with everyone.

We are very glad to have this new member of our Pack!

Rescued Pets - Cadee

This is our little girl Cadee that we rescued November 12, 2005. She's about 16 inches tall, and weighs about 22 pounds. Sweet as can be, my son and I chose her in large part because she is very focused on people. Many of the dogs we looked at were totally uninterested in us once they were out of their cages.

Cadee was different. She was quietly interested in everything, but not obsessivly so. When I sat outside with her on leash, she sat so she could see me, then watched everything around alertly, but calmly. Whenever I moved, in the slightest, she looked at me to see what I was doing. The other dogs we looked at would totally ignore us once they had anything else to look at.

The only issue that she seemed to have is extreme submission to people. Any attempts to pet her, lean towards her, she would roll over on her back and show her tummy.

All in all, training is easiest with a dog that likes and pays attention to people. Miss Cadee is as sweet as she can be, was in the size range we were looking for, and seemed like she would be easy to train, so she came home with us.

She gets along very well with our other dog, BJ, who is enjoying having a friend to play with. She also does very well with our cat. The cat and she play together very well, too. It was a bit difficult at first for her not to chase Hawkeye, as our house rule says dogs aren't allowed to chase cats, but she got it quickly. Notice, the rule doesn't say the cat can't chase the dogs. Hawkeye will ambush the dogs as they walk through the house, jumping on them, wrapping his front legs around their necks and biting at their necks. Cadee will play with him, while BJ just sighs and keeps on moving!

Our way to bring a new dog into our home is to introduce the new one to any existing dogs outside, on leashes, in a neutral place before bringing them inside. Once inside the new one gets what I call umbilican corded - put on a leash that is tied around someone's waist. The new dog must stay with the person all the time. The only time the dog is let loose is under supervision, dragging the leash.

Having the leash on all the time means that we can prevent bad behaviors as they start to happen, and lets the dog know immediately when it does something we don't like. It's much easier to stop bad behavior when you can catch it as it occurs. And when dragging the leash you don't have to worry about actually physically catching it, you just step on or catch the leash. With someone like Cadee this is critical, as she appeared to have been abused. Physically catching her would have totally terrified her.

She is very, very responsive, but was also very afraid. When outside, if she went too far, or did something and we raised our voice towards her, or even shouted across the yard to talk with each other, she cowered and was afraid to come close. She had apparently been hurt after being called. Well, that won't happen here. We will yell at a dog to come to us, but always praise it for doing so. After all, maybe it was doing something we didn't like, but by coming to us it did do something we like.

Today Cadee and BJ have free run of the house except when we are gone. Cadee has gone from being very fearful of sudden noises and motions towards her to being happy and interested. Just like I'd hoped when we got her. She still has a tendency to roll over on her back whenever anyone wants to pet her, but I'm working on that. After about 6 months of only petting her if she was sitting I'm now only petting her when she's standing.