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Happy Friday! Another week on the books. Here's a little of what's been going on in our world.
1. The dog saga continutes. Our dog Sadie has still been experience extreme storm anxiety. We've tried everything under the sun, and this was still the scene we woke up to after one of the bad storms this month. Ugh. Looks like it's time to invest in a cage, although I doubt that will contain her.
2. We're in official party planning mode, and invites will go out this weekend. Sigh. As excited as I am, I'm also a little torn up about my baby turning one. Any suggestions for gifts is welcome. Norah loves to play and climb and explore, so I hope we find something up to her adventurous standards.
3. Babies first doll house. N is starting to really love playing with her Little People doll house and that is a big milestone for me. It's no secret I really wanted a girl (read about that here), and it's so exciting that she's getting older and starting to enjoy the girl stuff.
4. White cabinets.
We're doing it. I've officially started getting quotes from local pros to paint our kitchen cabinets. While our cabinets are just a couple of years old, they just aren't what I want. Moving into a house that was brand new, was wonderful. Moving into a house where basically every single surface was a shade of brown, not so wonderful. We're slowly but surely getting there with painting walls and decorating, but these cabinets may just be out of my wheelhouse as far as projects I can take on. Our floors are dark, trim and molding bright white, and kitchen walls a light blue. I am hoping to achieve something close to one of these looks.
5. For once, we have a FREE weekend. Still plenty to do on the to-do list, but there's nowhere we have to be at any certain time. I'm so looking forward to just spending some QT with my people.
Happy Weekend Friends! Linking up with April today.
I seriously cannot believe it's time for her first bday!!! Time flies!! Enjoy your free weekend at home- WE have a free day tomorrow I have been waiting forever for!!
The rainbow theme is too cute!
HOW is it possible that she is already turning one?!? She was just born yesterday! Bittersweet milestone for sure!!! Can't wait to see how your cabinets turn out. I'm sure it will be beautiful!!!
My last dog had severe storm anxiety as well. It is so heartbreaking. We came home after being gone during a storm and her paws and mouth were completely bloodied from her kennel and trying to get out- so be careful if you go that route.
Hi I read your blog often but have never commented. My dog has major emotional issues due to abuse as a puppy (she's a rescue) to the point where I sought help from a dog behaviorist. She recommended different ways to lower my dog's stress levels because there were lots of triggers (triggers like the mailman, deliveries at the door, guests coming over, etc) that were sending my dog's stress levels through the roof and it would take days for her to stop being on edge. After managing her stress levels and using counter conditioning for about 4 months she was way better around the house but she still had issues with the car where she would whine constantly any time I drove anywhere. The behaviorist recommended Adaptil spray and wow. My dog is so much better in the car now. I just spray a bit of the spray on a blanket and wait 15 minutes. Then I put the blanket on my car seat and buckle my dog in and let her lay on the blanket. She calms right down. Adaptil is a synthetic pheromone that mimics the pheromone that momma dogs give off with their puppies. With the spray, you have to be careful to spray it on a blanket or bandana and then wait 15 min for the alcohol (that's the carrier for the pheromone) to dissapate. But you could maybe use it on a bandana for your dog and put it around the dog's neck. They also have a diffuser that puts the pheromone out into the air. Humans can't smell it but the dogs do. And they also have a collar. I'd be careful about crating your dog because if your dog is that stressed, crating it might create more stress and your dog could learn to associate those bad feelings with the crate or get hurt trying to get out of it. This might be something that you will want to tackle with counter conditioning and Adaptil. My dog was absolutely crazy every day when the mailman came. She would attack the door and she had completely shredded our draft guard. She worked herself up so much she would bark and growl for 30 min every day while the mailman worked his way around the neighborhood. I had no idea about her stress levels. All I saw was a crazy dog. My dog behaviorist recommended counter conditioning where whenever my dog heard any noise in the neighborhood (another dog barking, car going by, etc anything she usually reacted to and barked at) I was supposed to immediately say "yay noise!" And give her meat. Instantaneously. She wouldn't even have time to bark because I was shoving meat in her face. At first, it was tough because I had to carry meat around with me constantly and she didn't really associate the meat with the noise. But about 1.5 to 2 months into the training, she would hear a noise and look at me for the meat. Now she only reacts to big noises and never explodes into barking episodes anymore. Counter conditioning is designed to change how dogs feel about stressors. By giving them meat, it changes a stressful event into a good thing (over time). So the dog starts to associate that event with good things like meat. Your dog may not have so many issues but if I were you I'd try Adaptil during storms. Maybe counterconditioning can help your dog during storms too. However if your dog is so worked up that they can't eat even tasty meats, it might mean you need to work up to it. Victoria Stilwell has a CD that you might be able to use to get your dog used to thunder. Maybe you could also play a recording of thunder from youtube (on low at first) and then every time thunder happens on the recording your dog gets meat immediately. And keep doing that every day until your dog hears thunder and looks at you for meat. I'm not a trainer or anything but this counter conditioning worked amazingly for my dog.Hope this helps!
My niece Sofie's favorite birthday gift was a water table. She spends tons of time playing with that, and I've heard from people with older kids that their child played with it long past the age of one.
Oh my gosh...the first birthday invite?! Adorable!! I just can't believe she's nearing the 1 year mark. Where are our babies?!
So exciting! what a darling blog you have here.. and a darling daughter :) stay blessed!
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