4-man Bobsled World Cup

On Saturday afternoon Nate and I went up to Park City to see the 4-man Bobsled World Cup. It was a lot of fun. However, it was absolutely freezing, but we still had a lot of fun. We took lots of pictures and Nate took some video footage. He hasn't edited it yet so I won't post any of that here right now. He can post that later when he has had a chance to edit it. The scenery was awesome,even though there wasn't as much snow as there usually is at this time of year. We arrived at the top of the track in time to see the last 3 sleds of the first run. At the end of the first run the USA was  in 1st, 3rd and 5th place. But they didn't have such a good second run, they ended in 6th, 7th and 8th. Oh well. One of the Canadian sleds took first. I can't remember who got 2nd and 3rd. It was a lot of fun and really cool to see up close. It was really neat to see world class athletes, some of which will be competing in the Olympics in Vancouver in February. Even though we were really cold (I think my legs and toes were completely numb by the end of the night) it was a really fun date. And the best part is it was free!

Catch up

So I just posted an update on what we've been up to lately on my personal blog. You can all go here: www.liferamblingsbyangie.blogspot.com to read the post.

-Angie

A new talent/project

So I have been working on a new project and am really excited about it. I have also started a personal blog for just me and my thoughts. I will continue to post somethings here too. If you want to see what my new project is click on this link here http://liferamblingsbyangie.blogspot.com/2009/09/new-talentproject.html

Nate's new Movie Review Podcast....

This past week has been pretty exciting for me as I came up with an idea to do a movie Podcast. Since I see three or four movies a week with my critic job and only get to write about one of them for the paper, I thought it would be fun to edit together a radio show style podcast that would allow me time to talk about films, as well as do some other fun things, like go back and highlight older, classic films. Anyways, you can listen to or subscribe to the new podcast here:  http://www.nathanuncksmoviepodcast.blogspot.com/  and follow the links on the right side of the posts to subscribe.

It can be downloaded directly to iTunes though that link, or whatever else you like to listen to your podcasts on.

I have also put in artwork and a request to be picked up in the iTunes store. It would still be free to download, but easier to find on iTunes. I will post an update on if that submission goes through or not. Check it out, and let me know what else I can do to make the show more interesting and fun. I would love to get some feedback.

Training updates

We have been using the new training method for almost a week now. Cosmo has responded fairly well. However, we have discovered just how "dominant" we have allowed him to be, so it is proving to be difficult in some areas. But then again, it has only been a week. To get him completely where we would like him to be will take some time and work. The muzzle proved to be an interesting factor in the training. Cosmo HATES it, and resisted it more than he resisted training. Kind of funny. However, it has also proved to be a great tool in that after a few times practically wrestling with him to get it on, we can now only show him the muzzle and most the time he will return his focus and obey. But the few times he still resists to obey, he now will allow us to put the muzzle on with no fight. Amazing! We have seen some pretty big improvements. They aren't solid yet, he still tries to test us, but they are improvements still the same. He hasn't tried his extremely high pitch bark that he used to do when he wanted something. He doesn't bark at us the whole time during meals, occasionally he will let out a little bark, but we just correct him, and if he barks one more time, we show him the muzzle. If he barks one more time after that, the muzzle goes on for about 15 min. He than remains quiet for a while, usually the rest of the meal. He is still struggling with staying down off of the table, counters and people, but he has improved still in that area as well. We have also been working with him on his crate training. He has resisted the crate from the first week we had him home, he never liked it, he didn't mind it as long as the door was never shut, but once you shut the door, you'd think the world was coming to an end. Anyway, he has improved greatly with staying in his crate with the door shut. There have been times he barked and whined about it. We just correct him and if he still resists and barks, on goes the muzzle. He was in the crate for about an hour yesterday with no complaints from him, and without the muzzle. Cosmo still isn't as submissive to me as he is with Nate, he has relinquished more of his dominance to him. He is still reluctant doing so with me. But that will come in time. I am very impressed with this training. Some things are still frustrating and will take some more time and work. But as long as we keep it up and be consistent, I believe we will be very successful and Cosmo will become the wonderful dog and companion that we were hoping for.

Dog Training begins...

So we went through a puppy obedience class with Cosmo a couple months ago and he did really well. However, it is just a very basic beginning training. They gave us some good information and a good starting point. However, with some of the information and techniques they gave us, Cosmo didn't seem to be taking to too well over time. I have been searching for other ways of training on the internet and in books and such. We have a profile on this website that has a lot of information about all types of animals, from breeds to grooming, first aid, training, etc. It is also a social network for pet owners with a lot of different types of forums where you can ask and answer all sorts of questions concerning pet ownership and such. The website is youpet.com. It has been helpful with a lot of things. However, when it comes to training, it has been difficult for me to find something that works for us and for Cosmo and also being able to apply it. I am a very visual person, and that is how I learn best, by seeing and doing. So just reading about training techniques and then trying to apply them is very difficult for me. If I could afford it I would hire a professional trainer to work one-on-one with me and Cosmo. But since that is not an option right now, I have been trying to find something that is almost as good that we could afford. My mom told be about this collar and training system that she saw on t.v. I was a little skeptical as a lot of that stuff is not really that great. But I did some research on it and a lot of the beliefs the trainer and developer of the system has, I really believe too and they make sense! So I decided to order it and try it. The program is called "The Perfect Dog", the website where I found this is "theperfectdog.com". I also googled reviews for this system so I wouldn't be just reading the reviews on their own website, they, of course, are going to be very favorable to the program. I found a lot of positive reviews. Today I watched the required start up sections of the dvd and then went outside to begin the first step of training with Cosmo. The first part is to train the dog to not pull on the leash. Cosmo is definitely a puller. Within about 10-15 minutes of using the technique and equipment, Cosmo was walking on a slack leash with only a couple minor corrections by me. It was awesome! The real test will be the next time I take him out in an hour or so, to see if he really did learn. I also began working on the next command, which is "down". This is where we ran into some major problems. Due to the fact that we weren't as consistent with prior training attempts as we should have been and some other issues, Cosmo has become the dominant member of our "pack". So me trying to break him of that with this new training program has created some not really expected, but not surprising, resistance and aggression. The trainer in this program, warned that that is sometimes a possibilty, especially with an older dog who has not had much previous training, or a very excitable dog who has trouble focusing. Which I believe Cosmo actually falls into both categories. For dogs like this he suggests to use a muzzle to help them remain calm and to focus on the training. This does not mean that Cosmo, or any dog in this situation really, is or will be an aggressive dog, the dog is just merely unable to correctly focus without help or is testing you for dominance and submissiveness. So before I can do much more with the training I need to go and get a muzzle for Cosmo. I am really excited about this program. I just wish I knew about it when we first brought Cosmo home, that would have helped immensely and we would have been able to train correctly from the beginning with great references to go back to and we would not be having to work on correcting problems and just start with a clean slate. Oh well, now we know, it will be a lot of work with some of his issues, but I really believe that this program can really bring out the best in both Cosmo and us as dog owners. I will keep you posted on his progress throughout his training.

Woah, Woah, Woah....

So, I thought that Cosmo was a pure bred Beagle, but as he has been getting a little bit older, we are pretty sure that his father has to be a SMURF.....