DORGS.

Oh the dorgs !  the dorgs !  the buteful dorgs ! !  I hev at last satesfied myself that we hev at least 11  or 9 different kinds of dorgs.

[woolywoofs]

Hi there lovely people!

My name is Lovísa and I have epilepsy.

I have hit a point in my health where my neurologist is no longer comfortable with me not having a lifeline of sorts, and moving in with family or friends and having someone constantly around and with me is sadly just not an option.

So after a lot of deliberation with my doctors and the appropriate organization and their people, we have decided an assistance dog is the best option for me.

The work that goes towards getting an assistance dog in Iceland is an incredibly expensive, strict and long process, and it is taxing but so worth it in cases like this.

I am personally disabled and completely unable to work due to my illnesses, and am on disability. Therefore it is absolutely impossible for me to fund this assistance dog on my own if i want to do it within the next 10 years. So i am reaching out for support, no matter what form that support is (financial, advice regarding assistance dogs or training, a share, an encouraging comment, anything!). Any and all support is welcome! ❤️

Crowdfunding is a sore subject because asking for help is so incredibly difficult. But after talking with friends and family I see I need to recognize its okay to need help sometimes. This will be my second attempt of an assistance dog but this time we are going through actual professionals and under better guidance and I have high hopes for this.

There is no magic number but training alone (base training and then training with the assistance dog trainer) will most likely be costing a minimum of 500000 ISK (approx 3500 USD) and that is excluding the cost of the dog itself and everything else the process entails. I will be paying for as much as I can myself but realistically I need help with this.

Coming to terms with my epilepsy has been an impossible process, since I was diagnosed as an adult absolutely out of nowhere. Having my life turned upside down and trying to adjust to this new reality of my epilepsy not being controlled anymore is hard and terrifying.

There are a lot of unknowns and having the reassurance of an assistance dog will help me immensely, both in keeping me safe if (when) something happens, giving my family peace of mind, and making me feel safer in this reality.

Sadly I only have PayPal for my foreign friends, but please dont worry if you cant donate!

You can click here for my paypal

As ive said, every type of support is welcome. No gesture is too small ❤️

[woolywoofs]

I just wanted to thank everyone for the kind wishes and the help, it means everything ❤️

[brown-dorgs]

Dream Team

[securityunit-ese]

Team Dream

[marythestaffy]

Dream team???

[aquestionablemutt]

Tream deam

[t-a-r-0-t]

Dream Team

[brown-dorgs]

Deam Tream

[kiwihounds]

Three Dream?

[achoirofcritters]

dream tea-

wait

these look a little off…

[specklemutts]

Dream Team?

[ratherlargedog]

Dweeb Team more like…

[redtickdisaster]

He a lonely boy. For now.

[brown-dorgs]

He is their Leader

[bobahund]

FAILURE

[northern-snoots]

Team scream 

[noodle-dragon]

Lean team

[streetdogmillionaires]

Sunbeam team.

[brown-dorgs]

I don't know why I keep coming back here to share the worst news, I guess I want everyone to mourn, to say goodbye, to share my loss. It's not fair.

I put Katie to sleep yesterday. It was sudden, a desicion I didn't want to make. I held her in my arms as she left me.

I remember the old dogs here, young back when Katie was young. I learnt so much thanks to her, met so many people here thanks to her. Almost 10 years with her and now I'm 25 and I don't know how to go about life without her. She's my best friend. The love of my life.

The house is so quiet.

[brown-dorgs]

Dream Team

[securityunit-ese]

Team Dream

[marythestaffy]

Dream team???

[aquestionablemutt]

Tream deam

[t-a-r-0-t]

Dream Team

[brown-dorgs]

Deam Tream

[kiwihounds]

Three Dream?

[achoirofcritters]

dream tea-

wait

these look a little off…

[specklemutts]

Dream Team?

[ratherlargedog]

Dweeb Team more like…

[redtickdisaster]

He a lonely boy. For now.

[brown-dorgs]

He is their Leader

[bobahund]

FAILURE

[northern-snoots]

Team scream 

[noodle-dragon]

Lean team

[streetdogmillionaires]

Sunbeam team.

[brown-dorgs]

Wow, I haven't been on here in over a year, but since this blog is 7 years old today, I figure ill make an update post of some sort.

I see some of you guys and your dogs around on other sites, mainly instagram, and It makes me so happy. But I'm so saddened when I hear about the losses some of you have had, too. I miss all of the dogs that i got to watch grow up on your blogs, and I hope they are all happy and loved.

Kai's brother, Raazi, came to live with us at the beginning of the year. I have a lot of feelings about it that I cant put into words.

I wanted to come on here and make an introduction for him, I guess. I miss Kai. Raazi is not Kai. He is his own weird, unique, sly, beautiful, self. Im glad i have another saluki in my house again, I'm thankful for all the things Kai taught me, and im grateful to have been able to give Raazi a home. Kai led us both here and i hope we spend a very long time together.

Plus katie loves him 😭 which must be a sign considering her absolute hatred for any dog who so much as looks in her general direction.

I hope life is giving you all good opportunities as well! I know this year has been one thing after another, please stay safe in this pandemic and PLEASE stay safe Protesters! Keep fighting for black lives!

I hope you all are all well, and that this year is kind to you and your dorgs.

Much love from Katie, Raazi, my cats, my rats, and me :)

[missyspitz]

it was missy's gotcha day today! 11 years old and 6 years since i adopted her. she is the best girl. for presents she got a squeaky stuffed squirrel toy and treats. i hope she knows how much i love her ❤️

[missyspitz]

nom nom on her gotcha day treats! she had a berry ice block and sweet potato & maple syrup cookies. her gotcha day party involved her begging for her treats, eating and playing with her squeaky squirrel gift. all fun and good things according to missy!

[brown-dorgs]

Oh no chalking vid didnt load on my post? Hehe u arent getting away from it that easy

[brown-dorgs]

Went blonde,

Went chalking in the city,

Went to Grassfed Burgers,

Katies been gud.

Been up the coast and named a calf (george)

And down to NSW with a Mr Piggy (dobby)

Going to the USA on tuesday! ✌️Peace out fellas ❤️

[securityunit-ese]

From Growly to Gracious: Teaching Your Dog to Let Go. - Crosspaws

Does your dog get growly or "possessive" over things? Teach your dog with positive reinforcement that it is worth their while to let go (and to refrain).

Have I ever clearly stated both my dogs are resource guarders? I’m not sure if I have, because it’s just not a huge deal for me. Problems are in the eye of the beholder and all that. The above link is to a nice general laymans rundown on resource guarding and basic training opportunities. This link is far more technical, but goes into assorted types of resource guarding and body language. This particular link has been my resource guarding bible since it first became evident Thistle was a resource guarder when I got her (page 5, she was a level 6 with me. She is now a blanket level 1-2 with me and a level 4-5  with Thyme on food and level 3-4 with toys/vomit). 

I’m just not fussed that they (rather rightfully imo) get upset about another dog taking their stuff. Doesn’t mean I allow or set situations up to express it at any of the technical levels, just that it is valid feelings on their part and not a big deal for me. We do work a lot on trusting that the other dog will not take their things though, and I will step in if someone is pushing boundaries and angling to take a possessed item when training but the goal is being comfortable around each other when they have an item, and not to like share a bone or anything like that. 

Nor do I punish them if they do tell me they’re uncomfortable with me and the item for some reason I might not realise at the time. Instead, where the prevention training and our leave it is not enough, I will go and get something I know will be higher value for us to trade e.g higher quantity, larger and likely stinky meat. Because this is so infrequent though, I can, have and will again in an emergency, shove my hand down throats without concern. 

Thyme, for comparison to Thistle, is about level 2-3 from the technical page with me for both food and toys. He’s been this since puppy hood, neither improving or getting worse. But I keep working at it because maintaining the status quo is good enough for me and eventually do hope to having him become less uncomfortable with my presence. Thistle, interestingly, has great manners and no interest in food/toys in Thyme’s possession. So I’m not sure his level in regards to Thistle and its not something I’m going to force just for the “what if” information. 

Mostly we go management when I am not there. I don’t leave food laying around. I don’t leave toys either, although the toy dog-dog resource guarding is coming along very well. I always ensure they each have their own variant of each type of toy. Visually different and heavily reinforced to stick to their toy and thus they both really prefer their own familiar toy over the others. Strict rules in games not to take toys from other dogs or you get put in time out ☹  etc etc. Look at this photo I snapped a few weeks ago, where Thyme voluntarily brought his toy near Thistle to drop down and “socially chew” with. They gave each other relaxed looks, then turned to their own toy. I beamed! It might not be a priority goal of mine, but it’s nice to see progress.

Also hey I love this video on “how to make a resource guarder”

(their facebook upload goes into more information too)

[doginprogress]

Azula also had a big day today…

We went just to hang out and watch some coursing and FCATs, but she ended up running a full course!

She did super well and I’m very excited for her to start competing this fall.

We stayed and practiced calm behavior while other dogs were running and she did stellar. She passed out immediately when we got home 😂

[badluckbadger]

le tired

[arthurgalgo]

My grandparents have come to stay, meaning Arthur has met his Grandma and Granda for the first time! today we went to one of our favourite local gardens 🌼

[goblin-dogs]

Meet Astrid the podenco! She’s a tiny thing at 20" plus 10" of just ears^^ She arrives from Madrid June 15 so let the countdown commence

She will be my first podenco so if any pod parents have advice please message me! I know very little of what to expect

[expressions-of-nature]

by Orlova Maria

[arthurgalgo]

greenhouse explorer 🌱🐛

[wctruitt]

Illustration of Bighorn sheep by Charles Livingston Bull (1921)