Keeping Up With Grace

[kuwgrace]

Quick Guide when Bring a New Dog Home

From the airport to home, be safe, wait to open the crate when you are home in a secure place if possible, as some dogs may bolt out the crate then they could get lost.

Take your dog out of the crate, then go to potty area right away as the dog is more than likely need to use the bathroom. You may also use the phrase “go potty” right when or slightly before the dog squats or start peeing, with time, the dog will go potty when you use the phrase. Praise and treats can be used when the dog eliminated at the right area, after dog pee or poo, say good boy/girl, then give some food or treats.

Tips:

Set the crate close to the door to the backyard when arrive home, so the dog doesn’t have chance out of the crate and pee in the house before go outside.

If there’s a long walk to outside or you don’t have a backyard, let the dog out the crate, hold the leash, pick up the dog and go outside, and put the dog down when at the area for the dog to eliminate itself. A lot of times, dog starts walking and sniffing and pee before they go outside, pick up the dog could prevent this.

Food and Water. I highly recommended to control food and water intake, especially during house training period. Food should be given once or twice a day, leave it available to the dog for 15mins, if the dog is not interested, take the food away, and bring it out till next meal time. Water can be given same time as the food and leave there for a longer time, but pay attention when water is out, as when the dog drink the water or eat the food, you know they will use the bathroom in the next 30 mins or so.

Tips:

I recommend to feed the dog no later than 6 or 7PM, and do not have water out after 8PM, assuming you go to bed around 10 or 11PM, and take the dog out 15 to 30 mins after the dog eat or drink. Then take the dog out again before you go to bed. Depending on the age of the dog, you might need to get up once or twice at night to take the dog out.

Exercise will help the dog eliminate as well as increase appetite, structured walk daily will be very beneficial for any dog, which will be introduced in the complimentary training as well as other follow up training sessions if you decide to attend. If your dog is younger than 8 months old, I wouldn’t recommend you to take your dog for long distance running to prevent hind legs and hip injury. Walking, swimming, slow paced short distance hiking, low intensity agility training (like the one being offered once a month after the complimentary class) are recommended.

Challenges:

Some dogs may not want to eat while they are still adjusting to the new environment and it’s totally normal, and you do not need to worry too much. Ensure to provide the food and water on a schedule and do not free feeding. With scheduled feeding and food only be available for certain amount of time, it will not only help the dog during house training, it will also help you when you start the training as well, which will not be discussed in detail here. To learn more, feel free to sign up the newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/cL0tqH

Collar and Leash. Your dog should have collar and leash on even when it at home to help bonding, prevent bad behaviors, and prevent dog get lost as well (a dog drags a leash is always easier to be found and saved). Collar and Leash should be OFF the dog when you are not supervised the dog, and the dog should be in the crate when you are not there to watch it.

Tips:

A slip lead, a dominate collar or a choke chain may be used for quickly get the dog on leash when take the dog out during potty time and it also prevent the dog slip out of the leash when used correctly.

Collar for training. In the complimentary training, we will introduce a prong collar and leash pressure to the dog. When use it correctly, it will not harm the dog, they are simply communication tools between our dogs and us. Once the dog understand the collar and the leash pressure, you will find it to be very effective when you try to guide your dog when needed. A leash pressure specialty class (after you’ve attended complimentary class and have a fitted prong collar) is available, and you may sign up via meetup.com/keepingupwithgrace, the class will be more in depth on how to navigate the pressure and utilize it in real life situation.

Crate. I’m a big advocate on using crate properly and it will benefit for both you and your dog’s life. Crate is a safe place for the dog to rest, sleep and relax, it’s not a punish place nor jails. Dog should be in the crate when it’s not supervised.

Tips:

Rule of Thumb. Dog should sleep in the crate at night and do not allow free roam in the house till it at least 1 year old if you get it as a puppy. Dog should not free roam the house till it at least 2 year old if you get it as a puppy. If you get an adult dog, this time may vary. My dog still sleeps in his crate at night and stay in a playpen when he’s being left alone. I have him for over 2 years and he’s about 4.5 years old. Of course, you may say some dogs are fine being left alone and free roam the house, but here’s the thing, we don’t know if your dog is one of those pups that okay to be left alone with access to the entire house, or your dog may chew up something in your house, it’s not only very annoy, where it makes your crate training and prevention training harder in the future, but also, eat something the dog shouldn’t could totally harm your dog or even cause death depending on what it has swallowed. So, why risk it?

Young dog can sleep around 14 hours a day, so have it relax and sleep in the crate after exercise, meals, play time are also encouraging the positive association with the crate.

You may feed your dog in the crate as well to help with crate training.

Whine for bathroom? You will have to make judgment call on this as every dog is different. If your dog is whining for 20 mins then got quiet, then whine again in an hour, it might need to use bathroom. 

Always wait till the dog stop whining, then open the crate and take it to the bathroom.

Challenge:

Dog is more than likely will whine in the crate the first several nights and/or when it being left alone, the best thing to do is to ignore and do not let it out. It’s not separation anxiety till you make it become one when you let the dog out while it’s whining or scratching the crate, the dog will learn whine louder and fight harder next time when it try to get something else from you, so don’t fall for it, and yes, I know, it could be discomfort and heartbroken when you hear the whines. As long as you follow the rules and work on the crate training, and daily structures, the crying in the crate will not last very long, and your dog will learn to love the crate. If this continue to be a challenge, attend training and reach out to me.

Training. Training starts before the dog is home. Be prepared both mentally and physically, it could be a lot of work, lol

Tips:

I always encourage people attend the complimentary training right away, but I also understand sometimes it could be a little overwhelmed not just for the dog, but for the owners. When the owners get frustrated, the dog gets frustrated, I’ve seen owner got inpatient and mad, I’ve seen owner crying in the class, if you feel unsure, take a deep breath and relax, and keep trying. You may always attend the training and have your dog aside do it at your own pace. 

A lot of owners ask if they should go to training if they only have the dog for several days, this is really depending on the dog. If your dog is really really shy, the class might be overwhelming to it especially when you are unsure of the situation. However, as we currently only offer complimentary training once a month (more training will be offered soon) if you are not able to enroll formal training but rather wait a month to attend the next complementary training, a dog could have developed bad behavior and it could make you very frustrated, and feel the next training is such a long wait. I know this not only because we receive emails from adopters all the time when they have the dog for couple of weeks, the owners start encountering some challenges, but also my own experience of my personal dog, not going in details here.

Your whole family needs to be consistent and on the same page. If you are training your dog not to steal your food off the plate, but your children is secretly feeding the dog under the table, your efforts is being sabotaged without you knowing if you know what I mean ;)

Challenge:

Some of our dogs maybe shy or a little fearful of their surroundings, which makes house rules/structures (such as crate training, meal time, structured walk, threshold exercise) and using balanced training even more important. Tough love is especially needed for those shy and fearful dogs.

State of Mind. Training obedience is just part of the training, but it doesn’t solve all behavioral challenges, help the dog to have the calm mind sometimes could be more crucial in the training as well.

Socialization. Dog park is not the answer, especially for the shy dogs. I’ve always encourage dog owners to do structured walk instead of go to dog park, as sometimes, one bad experience (being bullied by other dogs, play too rough got bitten) could have your dog troubled for a really long time. Start with places with low distractions, then adding distractions along the way when training continues.

Sign up “Bones For Thoughts - Dog Training & More” Newsletter and receive a complimentary consultation session with me.

[kuwgrace]

Journey of Rabbit, a True Story - From the “Wild dog” to a “Good Boy”

Jan 11, 2017, A FB post attracted everyone’s attention, Jillian, who adopted Rabbit from AAD, shared her horrifying experience after she took Rabbit to their first positive only, treat-based training class…she described Rabbit has BARKED AND LUNGED, and she felt “The treats get him more amped up.” Worst of them all, the trainer told her: “The dog will always need treats;” “The dog has no affinity with her except that he was attached by a leash;” “The dog is too WILD;” “Jillian has too many expectations.” The trainer even challenged her “if you think you can train this dog without treats show me how.” Can you imagine if a so-called “dog trainer” telling you those words about your dogs? 

Just like what you might feel, Jillian was hurt, disappointed and almost lost hope to the dog her whole family loves…where she described she was “FRUSTRATED, CONFUSED, AND FREAKING OUT.” She went home in TEARS, and turned to the AAD FB group for help, and the loving adopters encouraged her to attend Cooperhaus training.

Jillian took Rabbit to one of the complimentary trainings. You may register via meetup.com/keepingupwithgrace. Cooperhaus trainers explained to her how dog training really works, and showed her that Rabbit can be a good boy with the right training methods and tools. Jillian cried, with the overwhelming emotions, that this class went so different from the OTHER one, and she knows, there is hope.

March 24, in ONLY TWO months since attending their FIRST Cooperhaus training, Jillian posted on FB again sharing the amazing progress Rabbit and her families have made in the past 2 months. She posted multiple photos of Rabbit practicing down stay on busy streets; chilling in the yard while chickens were around him. Jillian also posted a video, where Rabbit did not flipping out but stayed still while a BART passing nearby as distraction. The posts made my day, and I want to THANK Jillian so I can share this amazing story with YOU today, and help YOU to build the relationship YOU always wanted with your pups, no matter what your current doggie challenges may be.

YELP review from Jillian to Cooperhaus:

COOPERHAUS can train your dogs for any situation.

Check out their website: http://cooperhaus.com/

[kuwgrace]

Directions to Cooperhaus K9 Training Field

There is NO physical address to the training field. Make sure you READ, even TAKING SCREENSHOT of the directions here, since you may not have cell signal to retrieve this information once you are in route.

1) Best way to locate the training field, using GPS coordinates: 37°22'31.9"N, 121°47'34.7"W or 37.375532, -121.792978

2) Using address 12570 Mt Hamilton Rd, Mt Hamilton, CA 95140 to find the GENERAL direction, make sure you follow the Specific Direction written below!

3) !!READ THIS!! USE THE SPECIFIC DIRECTIONS BELOW to help you locate the location.

Once you get onto Mt. Hamilton Road. The location will be on your RIGHT-HAND side.

From 680 N. or S., exit at Alum Rock Ave. and go EAST towards the foothills. Go all of the way up Alum Rock Ave. and turn right on Mt. Hamilton Rd.

Stay on Mt. Hamilton Rd. for approximately one mile and you will see a large "$1000 fine for littering" sign. After passing the sign start paying close attention to the right side of the road. Stay on Mt Hamilton Rd for about .2 miles and turn down the driveway that says 'Dario's Ranch'. You will also see the lights on the training field. Immediately after turning on the road you will see a driveway on the right. Drive through the gate and park.

[kuwgrace]

Detailed Dog Nail Trimming

This video shows you how deep you can trim the nails and how to determine where to cut and file. It also introduces some basic dog nail trimming tools I use for my dog.

Most of people not sure how deep can they trim the nails before hit the quick, this video shows in details of how the nails look like before and after trimming.

To watch my dog enjoying the nail trimming process, check out:

[kuwgrace]

How to find the right trainer for you and your dog

Recently I started sharing some videos of my pup Stevy and I doing all kinds of activities together: Obedience, Agility, Hiking, Swimming, Nail trimming, Teeth Brushing, etc. People started asking where they can find the trainers help them with their dogs, what they need to do to help their dogs listen better, how do they know if their trainers are good or not…

The purpose of this article is to share my opinions on how to find the trainer that fits your need. You may agree, disagree, or you may feel it is educational and giving you a whole different way of looking at dog training, it’s all good. 

Training Tools

“A gun is a tool, no better or no worse, than any other tool: an axe, a shovel or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. Remember that.”

I put the tools used in training in two categories.

1) Visible Tools

Treat, Collar (Flat Collar, Chock Chain, Prong Collar, Martingale Collar, Dominate Collar, E-Collar, etc), Leash (regular leash with different lengths made of leather or fabric, slid lead with a “build in” dominate collar, etc), Hand signal, Toy, Equipment (Whistle, Box, Bar, agility equipment, cone, Life jacket, etc), and other visible “things” you may use for training.

2) Invisible Tools

Any tools you use that are not visible, such as the verbal command, the pitch of your voice, the tone you use, the way you pet the dog, negative marker, the correction and/or pressure applied on the dog, etc.

A tool is only useful if you know how to use it, and any tool has its limitations.

Summary:

Choose the trainer who accepts using any tools, even thou they have preferred tools to use.

Choose the trainer respects your choice of the tools, and gives suggestions with fair reasons.

Choose the trainer who tries to find the best tools to fit your dogs.

2 Sets of Concepts

Dr. Joey Ka-Yee Essoe published an article “Reinforcement vs Punishment: from Animal Training to Theology,” and I “borrowed” some concepts from her article but categorized a little different.

1) Reinforcement vs. Punishment

Reinforcement: The action of encouraging a wanted behavior, increasing the probability of such behavior to occur in the future.

Punishment: The action of discouraging an unwanted behavior, decreasing the probability of such behavior to occur in the future.

2) Positive vs. Negative

Positive: added, introduced, “+”

Negative: removed, subtracted, “-”

4 Tactics

Positive Reinforcement: Adding/Introducing something desirable to increase the wanted behaviors.

Positive Punishment: Adding/Introducing something undesirable to decrease the unwanted behaviors.

Negative Reinforcement: Removing/Subtracting something undesirable to increase the wanted behaviors.

Negative Punishment: Removing/Subtracting something desirable to decrease the unwanted behaviors.

Summary:

You may have noticed, Negative Reinforcement is not mutually exclusive of Positive Reinforcement. In fact, a lot of people have been misguided and have “bad feelings” towards to “NR” without knowing what “NR” really mean.

The 4 tactics seems easily to be distinguished, but in dog training, one tactic and easily to transitioned to another. See dog walk example.

Training Methods

Okay, we are talking about the perfect scenarios here. It means:

All trainers are the masters of the training methods they are using. As in reality, there are definitely good trainers and bad trainers, even though they claim to use the same training methods. A trainer told an owner his dog is stupid and not trainable, that’s a bad trainer!

I put all trainers into two categories, since when you ask a trainer what are their training methods, you normally will get two types of answers:

1) PR: Positive Reinforcement

Normally trainers who claim themselves using Positive Reinforcement method are never hesitate to tell you that, and they often use phrases as “100% PR,” “PR Only.” 

The theory is praise and/or treats will be used to reward a dog for doing something you like/want. No punishment will happen to the dog when dog doing unwanted behaviors. It may sounds good, but road blocks will appear in the process of dog training. In other words, the dog will have issues that cannot be “fixed” by using PR tactic alone.

The trainers in this category believe they only use the PR tactic from the 4 tactics. However, as I mentioned before, one tactic and easily to transitioned to another, it’s impossible to use PR alone during training. See dog walk example.

2) NPR: Non-Positive Reinforcement

Trainers who are not claim themselves to be Positive reinforcement trainers are in this category.

Under NPR category, I want to introduce the term “Balanced Training,” it describes the most ideal kind of training method. Ideally, the balanced trainer will find the balance between all 4 tactics in the whole dog training process to shape all behaviors of a dog.

Summary:

Choose trainers under NPR category.

Choose the balanced trainer, your best choice. Again, the assumption here is they are true balanced trainers, not the ones just claimed they are but not.

An Example: How to teach a dog walking on a loose leash:

I walk Stevy, he walks next to me on a loose leash, and I offered him a treat to encourage him walking next to me more often; (PR: I provide something desirable, a treat, to reward a wanted behavior “walking on a loose leash.”)

Continue walking, Stevy started pulling on leash, I gave several tugs on the leash (PP: I introduced correction, which is undesirable to Stevy, the purpose is to stop his unwanted behavior “pulling on leash.”)

He stopped pulling, and I stopped giving tugs on the leash (NR: When Stevy offered a wanted behavior “stop pulling,” I removed the undesirable correction, to encourage Stevy “stop pulling,” “walking on a loose leash.”)

When he stopped pulling, I told him he’s a good boy using a very encouraging voice. (PR)

He started pulling again; I stopped walking instantly and stayed still, so Stevy’s not able to move forward. (NP: By stopping, Stevy is not able to sniff around, which he desired, so I removed a pleasant thing he wanted to stop him from “pulling on leash.”)

He came back to me when I stopped, and I petted his head and shoulder gently and tell him he’s a good boy at the same time. (PR)

Combining and repeating the steps above, ultimately you would use all 4 tactics I mentioned before, your dog will learn walking on a loose leash. 

Depending on your dogs, you may or may not use a training collar, or use all of the steps, or repeating the steps in the same order, or use the treats. That’s the art of dog training, find the unlimited combinations of the tactics to fit your dog.

Note from the step 2 to the 3 is the transition from Positive Punishment to Negative Reinforcement. A lot of people mistaken the step 2, giving a correction, as Negative Reinforcement, which is incorrect.

Note in step 5, which is a lot of “Positive Reinforcement only” trainer will use to stop a dog pulling on leash. They stop offering the treat, stop walking, or even walking the opposite way when a dog’s pulling. Note these are “Negative Punishment” methods being used in training. 

As you can see, PR, PP, NR, and NP are link to each other, not one single tactic can exist without others. To shape a specific behavior of a dog, using the combination of all of the tactics is the most effective. The result will last longer, will talk about this in later articles.

Summary:

Choose the trainer who uses all training tactics, and knows how to find the best combo to fit you and your dogs.

Conclusion

Choose the trainer who are able to using all tools, all tactics, and using the different combinations of them to fit you and your dogs.

[kuwgrace]

Hiking Log - Del Valle Regional Park

When: June 9th; 10:30am - 2pm.

Where: Del Valle Regional Park

Whom: 3 meetup hikers and 4 pups.

Seriously thinking getting an annual pass for the East Bay parks after this trip, and now I officially got the pass! Yay, and it’s tax deductible as well.

Had a great time at this park, even tried to enjoy myself a little on the lake.

Did I mention I event came back to this park and hang out at the lake with my family? That’s right, this park is pretty awesome, and they allow dogs off-leash and getting in the water as well.

I will be back.

Keep Calm, Hike On!

[kuwgrace]

Hiking Log - Brushy Peak Regional Preserve Hiking

When: June 2nd, 2015; 10:30am - 2pm

Where: Brushy Peak Regional Preserve Hiking

Whom: Friend and I; 3 pups.

Stevy got lost and torn both of his front paw pads off during this hike, he was limping and bleeding when we found him, and that’s one of the reason I haven’t been updating my blog, because I’ve been working on his off-leash run away issue since. Luckily, he seems learned a lesson since this hike, and with additional training involved, Stevy’s great off-leash right now.

The hike was pretty good, but the last couple miles my friend and I have to slow down a little since Stevy was hurt, which was a little disappointing. I cannot remember much interesting part of this hike but the unforgettable experience that Stevy got lost for about 20-30 minutes and how freaked out I was. Luckily my friend was much more calm and ensured me that we will find him.

Keep Calm, Hike On!

[kuwgrace]

Hiking Log - Ranger Led Mt. Madonna Hike

When: May 17th, 2015; 4:30pm - 7pm

Where: Mt. Madonna

Whom: A group of pup parents and their pups.

This was the first time I attended a ranger led dog hike. It’s a slow paced, educational hiking event. And got to hike some “closed to public” areas with the ranger.

Ranger Blake and her pup, a 10 years old pup found and adopted in the park by the ranger while he’s 10 months old. 

Did I mention the educational part? Ranger Blake shared some stories in the park, and explained why we should following the park rules keep dogs on leash, not just for the wild lives in the park, but also for your dogs and your own safety. And more, let’s matching some foot prints and poops with the animals.

Most of the dogs in this hikes were very well behaved, cannot take my eye off this cutie:

And this doberman was obsessed with twigs and sticks. How fun is that!

The woodpecker hide the nuts in the tree bark for future use. How smart!

The fire didn’t kill the tree but make it unique.

Keep Calm, Hike On!

[kuwgrace]

Hiking Log - Coyote Lake-Harvey Bear Ranch Park

When: May 8th, 2015; 9:30am - 12pm.

Where: Coyote Lake - Harvey Bear Ranch Park

Whom: 14 meetup group hikers, 1 awesome pup Stevy.

I’ve been lazy posting the hiking trips up to date. I did this one about 2 weeks ago. It was a quite and easy hike. And the place is easy to find and no too far from home. Also there’s not much traffic going there as well.

According to the fellow hikers, I hiked in a fast pace. I blame my pup on this, he’s trying to be at the front the whole time. lol.

It’s been over a week between the last hike and this one, so Stevy was really excited that he’s finally on trails again. I can see that he’s enjoying of himself the whole time.

I wouldn’t say the view is breath taking or anything like that, but being outdoors and enjoy others’ accompany was a blast. And several hikers remembered Stevy from previous hikes, since he’s such a good pup!

Keep Calm, Hike On!

[bunnypets]

Slow Cooked Turkey Leg with Honey Glaze & Garlic

[kuwgrace]

This looks cool

[kuwgrace]

Hiking Log - McNee Ranch State Park

When: April 28th, 2015; 10:30am - 2:30pm, followed by dinner

Where: McNee Ranch State Park, part of Montara State Beach

Whom: 15 meetup group hikers, and pack of 3 pups.

9 Miles hike with 2000ft elevation gain, this is by far the most advanced hike I’ve done. It wasn’t that bad, lol. At the peak I was like: are we done? That’s it?

Lunch break at the peak. I was a bad mom and forgot the treats for my pup.

Hiking with others is definitely encouraging also providing good distraction from the physical tiredness during climbing.

Amazing Stevy was carrying 700ml water for himself. End up that day was pretty cool and either of us drank much.

It was really foggy thru the whole hike, the sun didn’t come out till we head back. But the feeling of being in the beach forest and cool mist was really interesting.

The plantation and the trails are so much different when they’re in the beach-side compare to the parks in the city. I told everyone that I felt like I was hiking in the Academy of Science Rain forest, except is much colder in Half moon bay.

We encountered a horse rider on the trail as well. This was the second time Stevy saw horses, and he still freaked out a little bit.

!!Highlight of the day!! Whale Watching!!

On the way of coming down the hill, we enjoyed some Whale Watching time! My camera wasn’t advanced enough to take long distance pictures, but I believe you can see something in the ocean. We believe there were at least 3 whales during that time. Aren’t they too close to the shore?

After hiking, group of hikers stopped by at Sam's Chowder house, a local famous Chowder place, and I heard it’s always busy during meal hours.

Stevy and I were both so pooped back home, and I went to bed around 8pm that day. Long, tired, but accomplished day!

Keep Calm, Hike On!

[kuwgrace]

A Tutorial of Downloading Pictures from Flickr

I use Flickr to share all my pictures with my family and friends. Why I use it? One is supporting Yahoo! and you know why is that, lol. Second is that I can upload full resolution pictures to Flickr, so others can download and able to print the photos if they want to.

However, I’ve noticed it’s not easy for people find the “download“ button when they try to do so. And I’ve got questions and complaints regarding to this issue. Instead of telling everyone the same answer over and over, I decided to write a tutorial, so I can just refer this article to people if they don’t know how to download the pictures from Flickr.

I heard that Flickr will have some updates really soon, and it will allow the whole album download, where right now people can only download single picture at a time. I do believe that they should make the downloading button easier to find.

Here starts the tutorial:

Note that I’m not signed in my Yahoo! account, so it proves that you do not have to have an account to download the pictures from my Flickr page.

Step One: click the link that I gave to you to access the photos.

For example: https://flic.kr/s/aHskamA3ar

You will see this:

Step Two: Click the photo you want to download, to access the original size of the photo.

You will see this:

Step Three: Did you see the lower right-hand side corner has three icons? And I highlighted the third icon here, and that is the downloading button.

Step Four: Click that button, there will be a menu for you to choose which resolution you want to download.

Step Five: Pick the resolution you want and click it. And a pop up window like this will show up.

Note that different browsers may look different.

Step Six: Click “OK” and the photo will be downloaded to your local computer.

It will store the photo in the default folder normally names “pictures” for Windows computer. Or it will store the photo in the folder you chose, then you should know which folder is that.

Done! Hopefully this helps!

[kuwgrace]

Hiking Log - Pearson-Arastradero Preserve

When: April 23rd, 2015; 9:30am - 12pm.

Where: Pearson-Arastradero Preserve

Whom: 7 meetup hikers and 3 pups.

This place is actually on the way to Windy Hill, since I recognized the road from last time I went on hiking at Windy Hill OSP.

Been on hiking with the same group leader several times. She’s a very easy going person with two pups, all of her hikes are relaxed and even paced. We’ve always have some great chats during the hikes.

We encountered some cattle, and most interesting: we encountered some horse-riders. Stevy was really nervous, but he’s still able to follow the command and heal/sit nicely next to me.

There’s a lot of interesting trees in the park.

Stevy had a great time, he’s been walking at the front the whole time. Very excited for the outdoor adventure!

Keep Calm, Hike On!

[kuwgrace]

Hiking Log - Sunol Regional Wilderness

When: April 19th, 2015; 10am - 1:30pm.

Where: Sunol Regional Wilderness

Whom: 22 meetup hikers, 1 awesome pup Stevy.

Parking $5, and $2 for the dog. A lot of people surprised by the fee for the dog, but hey, I’m supporting the public park system.

Nice park, requires a little drive, but I would definitely go there again when I have chance.

I did joined a small group of people took a little detour to the overlook. I was out of breath for the first half mile. I took a couple of pictures at the top but there’s really not much to see per say.

Sunol Regional Wilderness has a small waterfall, known as the little Yosemite. A lot of half naked people were trying to take advantage of the waterfall. We also saw a group of teenage girls in bikinis walked towards to the waterfall on our way out.

It’s a pretty relax hike, not too difficult, took some pictures on the way. Stevy had a great time except one of his toe pads got too dry and bled a little. He’s fully recovered now and prepared for our next adventure.

Keep Calm, Hike On!

[kuwgrace]

Training Log - Agility Course

I’ve adopted Stevy for little over 3 months now, and have been training with Brent Cooper from Cooperhaus K9 for over 2 months. I’ve finished private training sessions with Brent, and now on some maintenance classes and agility course.

This is the second time Stevy and I attended the agility course, and my husband agreed to come with me so that he can take some pictures to share with others. On one hand, I can brag about how athletic Stevy is; on the other hand, for those who never heard of dog agility, now you know what is look like.

Dog agility is a sports that the handler guides dog go through a series of obstacle. Stevy is getting good at it, and we were both enjoying the course a lot. It’s also fun to watch other pups during agility course as well.

Here are some pictures of Stevy in action!

The barrel jump is one of the most difficult one for Stevy, due to his petite size compare to other large breed dogs. Stevy was trying really hard to jump over the barrels with only a little help. What a good puppy!

Keep Calm, Training On!

[kuwgrace]

Hiking Log - Santa Teresa County Park

When: April 15th, 2015; 6pm - 7:30pm

Where: Santa Teresa County Park

Whom: 6 meetup hikers, 6 pups.

Yes, I did two hikes on the same day.

This is more like a pack walk rather than a hike, it’s low intensity, and only took a little over an hour, which is normally the time I spend to walk the dog each time during the day.

Due to there are more dogs on the hike, it really helps Stevy to get used to other bigger dogs.

Keep Calm, Hike On!

[kuwgrace]

Hiking Log - Windy Hill OSP

When: April 15th, 2015; 10am - 1pm.

Where: Windy Hill Open Space Preserve

Whom: 19 meetup group hikers, 1 awesome pup Stevy.

This hike is about 1200ft elevation gain, but the leader carefully chose the route have slow slopes, so I didn’t feel it as challenged as I expected. Or maybe I’m just so much better at hiking now, lol.

Great view, but it’s very very windy! Now we all know where the name windy hill from.

I don’t usually taking pictures of wild flowers, but this one really caught my eyes.

Stevy is the best hiking buddy of all time!

Keep Calm, Hike On!