Professional

Silly happy thing today. I got my notice to renew my membership to the National Council on Family Relations. For the first time (I think, anyway!) they are offering me a Professional membership instead of a new Professional membership.

I'm a real professional now!!

(Only downside is this membership is more expensive!)

Laini Taylor Signing

Me and Laini Taylor (I need to work on my poses for these!)

A post shared by Shelece McAllister (@coolshelece) on Apr 22, 2017 at 4:59pm PDT

Today Hayley and I went to a book signing with Laini Taylor, one of our favorite authors. She's written the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy and now a lovely new book called Strange the Dreamer.

Waiting for Laini Taylor's book signing!

A post shared by Shelece McAllister (@coolshelece) on Apr 22, 2017 at 2:59pm PDT

 Before the signing, one of the librarians who organized the event interviewed Laini for about an hour on stage.

I've wanted to be a writer ever since I was 3 years old. Now I'm almost 30, and I haven't even finished the novel I've been working on in various designs since I was 12! Sometimes I get very discouraged and figure that won't be part of my life. But the truth is... that's still a dream of mine. I don't need to be a famous author, but I'd love so much to FINISH a book and get it published!

Laini's talk left me feeling hopeful and energized. A few key things she says:

• She doesn't like writing because it's so hard! She loves having written, but she doesn't particularly enjoy the writing process. Oh man, I could relate to that. There are some things I really enjoy writing, but when it comes to trying to write my dream book, it is hard work and I get so frustrated because the words don't come out the way I want them to.
• She never finished a manuscript until she was 35. There's still hope for me!
• She always thought of herself as a writer, even though for a long time she wasn't doing much writing. (Just like me!)
• She doesn't plot extensively. She isn't a total pantser--she has some plot points planned out but she doesn't plot out every detail. I've been stressed about this recently and trying to outline too much--this reminds me that I don't have to do that because that's what works best for some people. A loose outline is fine.
• Beginnings are hard for her too. They take her a lot longer to write than the rest of the book. She tried several beginnings for Strange the Dreamer before she worked out the best one.
• Her beautiful, poetic text does not come easily or on the first draft.

I think I've been inspired to get back to work!

Oh, one last side note on my pic with Laini--it's hard to take a pic with someone seated while you are standing! I sort of bent my knees and squatted next to her, but I felt so ungraceful and ridiculous looking that I cracked up. A little bit into my laughing, I heard her laugh a little bit too awkwardly--probably wondering what my deal was. But it worked out, because they got this shot while we are both laughing and we look very genuinely happy.

Petsmart Puppy Class 2-4

I realized I hadn't done one of these in a while, and since I've been looking around trying to find more info on what to expect for the final classes, I decided I should do a write-up.

The second class was fairly simple. Our dogs knew sit and shake at that point--I think they were a bit ahead of the game, so the new trick we learned was spin. Molly and I had a lot of trouble with that one. To teach it, you're supposed to walk backwards while holding a treat at the dog's shoulder level to guide them through the trick. Well, Molly is so short I have to lean over really far to hold the treat at the right place, and I tend to forget to walk backwards. So she'd sort of spin in place while sitting, but she's supposed to spin while walking. She still doesn't have the knack of that trick quite, but I don't worry about it too much since spin is not a vital skill for a dog to have.

The real breakthrough in week 2 was Molly getting over her fear of the other dogs! My parents were in the area going out to dinner, so they stopped by Petsmart to visit us while we were practicing in the aisle. Molly was really happy to see them. While they were there, one of the other class members brought her dog to say hi to Molly, and Molly wasn't as scared as normal. By the end of class, she was going up to the other dogs and sniffing them and licking their faces! Once she realized they weren't scary, all she wanted to do was play.

In week 3, we sadly didn't have time for puppy play time. But we learned a helpful trick called leave it. Basically you drop food on the ground. As the dog approaches it, you move your foot in front of them and tell them to leave it. When they look up at you instead of the food, you give them a treat from your hand. At first Molly really struggled with this. She didn't bother to look up, because she was so focused on the treat. The instructor had me use better treats than what I brought (liver treats that smelled awful, but she loved them) and she finally got it. I think some other dogs were struggling, though. We were left out to practice so long that Molly completely lost interest in treats and tricks. I think it was 20-30 minutes that we were out there. When we went back to the group, Molly didn't do well when it was her turn to come to the middle of the circle, because she was too busy running around saying hi to all the other dogs! That was unexpected. But once I did get her attention, she did great at the tricks.

In week 4, we started stay work. It didn't go well for us. Our class got a late start and we had to skip puppy playtime again. There is a chihuahua in our class that has really been struggling--barking a lot and going crazy. She had been doing better but last week she went CRAZY. She actually bit her owner for the first time. Our instructor was at a loss what to do. He couldn't teach us while holding her. He didn't want her owner to hold her, because that little dog is too protective of her. So the next thing I knew (after he asked me if I promised not to sue if she bit me), he had me hand the chihuahua's owner my dog (much to Molly's distress and confusion) and take the chihuahua to the other side of the training pen. That chihuahua fought me so hard! At first she settled into arms, but soon she was frantic. I unfortunately was wearing a t-shirt, and she ripped my arms to ribbons with her claws! I was so focused on holding on to her that I missed the entire lesson on stay. And I couldn't even watch my dog. At first Molly fought to get away from the other person, but soon she cuddled into her.

The instructor usually practices the skill with all the big dogs before we go out into the aisles, but he usually skips Molly and the chihuahua--maybe because Molly used to be too scared and the chihuahua too vicious? He had the other woman practice stay with Molly, but the hand motion is similar to what I taught her for down. So she just sat down.

We went out to the aisles and I realized I had no clue what to do. I told the instructor as much when he came by, but I still didn't get it when he tried to help me and neither did Molly. Worse, he mentioned that to graduate this class, the dogs have to be able to stay for 15 seconds. It's almost time for our next class, and Molly and I have made no progress. I admit I am very embarrassed at the prospect that my dog might fail out of the class for this! Oh well. Whether we get that certificate or not, Molly has learned a lot from this experience, and so have I.

At least Molly has a chance of passing. That poor little chihuahua doesn't. After class, I overheard the instructor telling her owner that she needs more help than he can give. I won't be surprised if she doesn't come back.

All in all, the puppy class has been a good experience. I've learned some training tips, Molly has learned not to be scared of other dogs, and she's learned a few fun tricks. I wish we spent more time on other things though, like discipline for example. Still, I think it's been good to go through the course. But I'm glad I stuck with just 6 weeks--they tried to up sell me to 12 or 18 weeks.

Chauffeur

Today Mom, Shauna, and I went to the Downeast Basic outlet at Castle Rock to go bridesmaid dress shopping. (And we found something cute I'm hoping we can use-pending Kristie approval.) We left Molly behind with my dad.

Poor Molly has some intense separation anxiety when we are apart. It's not uncommon for her to break past the gate into the basement to search for me after I leave, even if she watches me go into the garage on my way out. So this time Dad carried her out to watch me get into the car and drive away, in the hopes that she wouldn't feel a need to check the basement.

This was the result:

She's a smart dog! 

House Arrest

Poor Molly! She is under house arrest and she doesn't understand why. It's really sad, because outside is her favorite place to be! Letting her outside is also the best way to keep her entertained when I'm working.

But... we've got a couple problems. One being that she is proving to be Houdini. To date she has found 4 different ways out of the yard. Fortunately, she found all of them while I was outside with her so I could quickly retrieve her from the neighbor's yards. I keep thinking we've successfully trapped her in the yard only for her to find another way out. We've got one of those three tiered fences (what are those called?) with chicken wire running along the bottom so she can't get out. But she keeps finding ways to squeeze past it.

We've secured one particular fence corner three times. First, we put a giant rock in front of the hole. Seemed simple enough. Then she figured out the chicken wire wasn't properly secured and if she pushed on it, she could still make a big enough opening to fit through. So we took care of that. After a couple trips where she frantically picked at the spot, she figured if she jumped on the chicken wire, she can bend it back with her weight a bit, and then climb it like a ladder so she can climb through one of the higher gaps in the fence. Yeesh!

And since I'm a dork, I caught her in the act on video so you can see what I mean:

My dog is Houdini. We keep blocking her from getting through the fence and then she gets creative!

A post shared by Shelece McAllister (@coolshelece) on Apr 3, 2017 at 3:12pm PDT

(I had the bright idea that I could stop filming and grab her before she made it through the fence. Instead I ended up chasing her down through the neighbor's yard).

The other big problem is that our neighborhood backs onto a forest and is thus infested with predators. Some creature has been climbing fences and leaving disremembered rabbit parts scattered across multiple yards (which frankly I would not have noticed if Molly wasn't so good at finding said parts, escaping our yard if necessary to get to them.) We're still not 100% sure of the culprit, but since then, one late night, we spotted a raccoon out on our street corner. So... it's probably the raccoon. Since that time, Molly has been forbidden from going out at night alone.

We also have at least one hawk that lives behind our house. I say at least one, because one day I looked out the window while Molly was outside and I could see 3 hawks circling the field behind our yard. According to Google, hawks can and do sometime take dogs up to 10 lbs (Molly is almost 8 now). So I was trying to stay out with her during the day too, although not always being good about it to be completely honest, because I was't sure I really believed the hawks were a threat.

Then one day I was cuddling Molly on the couch and the hawk landed outside on the fence. It just sat there for a few minutes, watching us through the window. Eek.

Then yesterday. Molly and I were outside. I was trailing a little bit behind her, trying to read something on my phone, when all of a sudden a big bird swooped past us, very close by and very low to the ground. My first thought was, how weird! At least that wasn't the hawk! Then the bird landed on our neighbor's basketball hoop and sat there watching us. Yes, it was the hawk, and it didn't fly away until I scooped Molly up and headed for the house.

So. Yes, the hawk does want to eat Molly. Hyper vigilance is required. All of this means she is no longer allowed outside on her own, and I can't take her out much during my workday. This has resulted in one unhappy puppy camping out by the back door. Sometimes I really wish she could speak English so I could explain things!