Welcome to Kirby's World: 2011

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Gotch day and new blog address!!!

Kirby's mom here!

Well it's Kirby's gotcha day and I thought a fun way to celebrate would be to start a new website/blog for him. I have had way too many issues with blogger, as you can tell from the blog it is really messed up now and I have no idea why!!! I can't even use a new template! So, I found the website "Weebly" and have designed Kirby's website and blog around it. I have tested it with my family and it's easy to leave comments on and manuever so please stop by and let me know what you think! Kirby's gotcha day post is on it. Here is the link:

http://welcometokirbysworld.weebly.com/index.html

I'm still figuring some things out and will be adding new stuff so soon so keep checking back. If you have problems getting to it or leaving comments, leave a comment on this blog and I will try to fix it, but it seems to work really well!

Loving Kirby,
Kirby's mom

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Dog Day in the Park

Kirby's mom here!

Yesterday, Kirby, myself, my sister and her kids went to Dog Day in the Park. It is held every year at Riverside Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan and is sponsored by the AKC Grand Rapids Kennel Club. They have all kinds of vendors, rescues and events that you can do with your dog. I really wanted to go this year because they have a fun rally course. You pay 5.00 and you get to work on the course for 10 minutes. I thought this would be a great way to introduce Kirby to events where there will be lots of other dogs. I was very nervous about taking Kirby because he can be very dog reactive, but guess what? HE DID GREAT!!!!

We had rally class the night before and I talked with our instructor, who is involved with the AKC GRKC, about taking Kirby. She said it would be a great idea and that Kirby needs these experiences to help him learn that he will be okay around other dogs and that I will keep him safe. She said get there early, keep his halti on, let him slowly adjust, bring really good treats and lots of praise. So we got there early walked around the outside of the event and slowly made our way in and he did so good. Everytime we walked past a dog that he didn't react too, I praised him and gave him a treat...(STEAK!). He did GREAT!!!! Even my sister couldn't believe how well he handled everything.

We did really good on the rally course, which was on grass (first time for us) and it was getting very warm. Kirby really just wanted to lay on the grass towards the end, he just sprawled out on the grass, silly dog! This was just a fun match, so treats and redo's are allowed. On one part of the course some dogs walked past the fence by Kirby and he didn't react at all! He didn't have his halti on either at this point! There was tons of distractions, music, dogs barking etc.. So it was a good intro for both of us. The course had 20 obstacles, more than we are used too, and some we had not learned yet so I improvised with ones we knew. I have a video of it, but for some reason blogger isn't uploading it!!!! UGHHH!!!! Here is a picture of the course:

They also had a canine free style demo. It was so hot by this time of the day, the dogs really didn't want to perform well, but it was fun to watch. At the end, you could go into the ring and get some pointers from them, so Kirby and I did. The lady we worked with was dressed in pink because she was a cancer survivor. She danced with her Akita who also was decked out in pink. Their group is based in the southeast section of Michigan, about 4 hours from me, but we found out they are going to be opening a center in Grand Rapids in the fall and will offer all kinds of training for dogs, including freestyle!!! The lady in pink was very impressed with Kirby and what he already knew how to do. She also said to stick with rally as it would come in handy for freestyle. Here we are with the lady in pink, getting some pointers:

It was such a fun day, and Riverside Park is a beatiful park that I had never gone too before. I think Kirby and I will be going back to do some walking there. Here are some pics from our fun day:
We had a picnic by the water's edge. Actually, it was really flooded at the park and the water isn't usually up this high, but it made for a nice, shady place to have lunch:
This is my sister, Lori, and my neices Emily and Claire.
My goofy nephew Tyler:
In the pic below is Tyler being headlocked by "Griff". Griff is the mascot for the Grand Rapids hockey team. Lots of the mascots were there, and this one was having a blast with Tyler.
They had a doggy dash de lure course too, which I really wanted to do with Kirby. This is a course where they take a black crinkly bag and put it on a wire that runs an obstacle course and the dog chases it. This is right up Kirby's alley of fun, but the only thing containing the dogs was a snow fence and I just didn't want to take the chance of Kirby getting out. Maybe next year.
I brought Kirby a cute collar bandana there too, it slides around the collar, he was pretty happy about it:
Kirby and Claire, chilling out in the shade!
My sister and her "furry nephew". She is one of his biggest fans!
Kirby and me....HIS BIGGEST FAN!!!!
This Wednesday, I will have had Kirby for an entire year! Watch for a special post on our incredible first year together!

Loving Kirby,

Kirby's mom

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Kittens! Kittens! Kittens! Kittens! Kittens! Kittens!

Kirby's mom here-

KITTENS HAVE INVADED KIRBY'S BLOG!! No, not really but they have invaded Harbor Humane Society, where I'm a volunteer. Yesterday I volunteered with my niece Emily at the shelter. Our job: to socialize little baby kittens, in other words just love on them! The shelter staff said it was important for these little guys to learn that being handled by people is okay. Emily is a huge cat lover and I have been wanting to learn more about Harbor and all the aspects of the shelter so we volunteered to help with cats yesterday. We had a wonderful time and completely enjoyed cuddling with these little cuties, including the ones that weren't too happy to be held "hiss...hiss!"

However, Emily and I realized that these were the lucky ones. Harbor Humane Society is a kill shelter. Please know that they take euthanizing animals very seriously and go above and beyond seeking alternate ways to help an animal before deciding to euthanize and no animal that comes in has a timeline. But let's face it, it is a reality in today's world and you can't deny that this happens everyday.

In the special room that is set up for these guys (2mos and younger) there were 11-12 litters of kittens. Two had moms with them and the rest were just the kittens ranging from 2-6 per litter! Emily and I spent three hours there and loved on at least 18 little ones. We didn't bother the litters with the moms because we were unsure of how the mom would react. One litter that was with the mom looked like they were born just days ago, probably at the shelter.

Harbor gets in litters every day, especially now! Spring is huge for shelters and litters. Harbor relies on foster homes, rescues and the space they have available to take in these litters everyday. They search out every possible place to house a momma cat and her kittens so that they don't have to euthanzie. The saddest thing in the world is to put down a healthy animal, due to lack of space....but it does happen.

In 2009, Harbor took in 981 kittens under 6 months of age. Of these, 405 were euthanized. This could have been due to sickness, but it could also be due to the fact that Harbor had no foster homes or space for the kittens to go to and therefore had no way to properly care for them. It's a sad fact, but it's reality. Harbor is the only animal shelter in our county, therefore every single litter comes there!!

Do you have a shelter near you? Right now is prime kitten/puppy litter time!! You would be amazed at what you can do to help a shelter right now. Everything from newspapers, blankets, kitten/puppy formula, food and toys is what they need! I know at Harbor, they rely entirely on private donations. Shelters also need fosters. I have never fostered a litter of kittens, I have no idea of what is involved so I can't tell you much about that. But can you go in to a shelter and love on some little ones, and show them how loving people can truly be? A few hours a week or a month mean a lot to shelters that are truly struggling right now. At most shelters, the staff doesn't have time to snuggle and love the animals, they depend on volunteers to do this. Now, I can tell you that this is TRULY rewarding for both you and the animal!! I have been asked how can I volunteer at a kill shelter? I answer it's BECAUSE it's a kill shelter that I volunteer. Volunteers can help an animal become more adoptable just by spending time with it.

One more thing you can do is to support low cost spay and neuter programs in your communityand strongly encourage any family and friends you have to have their animals spayed and neutered!!

Loving Kirby and kittens,

Kirby's mom

PS: these pics are not pictures of the kittens at Harbor, they are ones I found online.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Blog Hop Saturday-check out this pic!!

Kirby here-

If doggy gymnastics is a sport, mom may be entering me into it along with rally. Check out my flexibility:

Haa, haa! Isn't that hillarious! When my rear end hit the tree, my legs went automatically up! Isn't that amazing! Mom and I have been on vacation this week visiting parks with Aunt Lori and the kids. Mom and I will post some of our adventures later this weekend, so while you are waiting to read about them enjoy these awesome dogger bloggers below:

Monday, May 23, 2011

Kirby and Diah Meet!

Kirby's mom here-

Well yesterday evening my sister and I decided to pack walk with Kirby and Diah (see a few posts below if you want to find out more about Diah) and I'm proud to report Kirby did very well! He did get all growly face on her at first but once we started walking he calmed down pretty quickly, he wasn't even huffy puffy! We walked for about 45 minutes and both dogs were pretty exhausted. When we returned to our spot Kirby felt comfortable enough to roll in the grass on his back with Diah watching him!! This is big for Kirby, he knew she was there, yet felt okay to be silly! Diah also did well, did growl a little bit at Kirbs when he did, but she did great too! They did not have any physical contact with each other yet, just walking on opposite sides with my sister and I in between them. We ended the adventure on a good note and we will plan on pack walking again. My sister and I really want them to get along because we spend time together at each other's houses, so we are taking this really slow. Also, when we were walking a some runners came by with a dog and we pulled off to the side. I put Kirby in a sit and we did the watch command with CHICKEN for treats and he never reacted at all to the dog!!! YES!!! I am really hoping with more good experiences Kirby will be able to keep himself under control when around other dogs.

I didn't bring my camera with me because I wasn't sure how the meeting would go, as they continue to meet I will try and get some pictures.

Enjoying Kirby,

Kirby's mom

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Another Harbor Adoption Day!

Kirby here-

Well mom did another adoption event today (actually 2!). The first one she was at got over earlier than expected so she took the dog she had and went to the other one. Take a look at who she had:

Her name is Maggie May, she is 3 1/2 year old cocker spaniel! (and she is riding in my mom's back seat!). Mom said Maggie May was surrendered by her owners a few days ago because they were moving and couldn't take her with them. Mom said she rode in the car really good, you didn't even realize a dog was back there. Maggie May is a total lover and loves everyone and everything, not bad for a dog who just got surrendered by her family huh? Mom thinks she will get adopted soon, possibly by one of the volunteers who just lovers cockers!!! Here is a picture of Maggie May and her wagging tail (yes she is a long tailed cocker spaniel!) That tail never stopped waggin all day!:

Here are some pics of the other dogs my mom hung around with today. In the picture below is DeLorean. He is a deaf pittie puppy, but guess what? He knows sign language! The staff and volunteers have worked with him and he knows quite a few signs already, very impressive!

In the pic below is Clyde. He is a pittie puppy about 6 months old or so. Do you see his ears, his previous owners cut his ears off with scissors!! Mom says this is a common practice for people who use pitties for fighting. Clyde got rescued just in time! Mom said, even though he was tortured by people, he loves them like crazy and doesn't have a mean bone in him!! If you have a lap, he'd gladly sit in it!

In the picture below is Jax. He is a 10 year old beagle!! Mom says he is as sweet as his ole' face is!

Below is Boomer! He is a 10 month old Boxer hound mix. Mom has had him at adoption events before and just loves this guy!

In the picture below is Beetle. He is a beagle/pug/bull dog mix. Another smiley guy!

Below is foxy Roxy! She is a french bulldog, check out those ears, mom said she was very comical with them, but was very laid back and easy going. Just a really nice girl!

And then there was Kelly, a beautiful hound dog! Mom said she was also a nice girl, with the sweetest hound face!

Mom had a really good time at the events, and there were some applications filled out on dogs and some people took apps home. Here's hoping that these wonderful dogs find wonderful homes soon!

Woof!

Kirby

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Just what do you think she is mixed with???

Kirby here-

Remember this pic from a previous post:

Well I'd like to reveal the big suprise! Her name is Diah (pronounced Deeahh) and she is my Aunt K's new dog! You may remember my Aunt K's dog Scooter died in March. Well Diah came home yesterday! My mom met her today and said she is a real sweetheart and is really good with little B who is almost 3 years old! I will get to meet her soon, mom says she needs to settle in first and get used to her home, oh yeah, I remember those days!

Aunt K took her to the vet today and the vet questioned if she really was a hound dog? She was listed as a treeing walker hound dog. But the vet said she doesn't have hound ears. Yep, my mom would agree with that, but she has colorings of a beagle. So we are going to share some more pics of her and we would love it if you would tell us what you think she is mixed with. Mom has her own suspicions but we want to see what you all think.

Diah is about 35-40 pounds, is about 3 years old and her fur is very soft. Here are the pics:

So let us know what you think!

Woof!

Kirby

PS: Thank you for all the nice comments on our dance post!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Our dance sneak peeks!

Kirby here!

Well mom was really working on our dance routine yesterday and we truly thank Hsin-Yi and Honey for their great post on choreography, it sure helped mom out alot! Check out our dance board:

We had to change the song too, the beach boys just got me too excited!!! So we slowed it down a bit and we will see how it goes....what song are we using...its....A SUPRISE! Okay, now for the sneak peeks. These are a few of the "moves" we are putting into our routine. In the video below, is the first one we start with. Mom has done the whole routine to music without me and it seems to flow really well, but we may change a few things once she adds me to it.

Below is the same routine but from a different angle:

Now, in the below video mom and I have practiced this before and I can do it perfectly, but I thought you would love to see me being a stinker:

Mom and I are having fun working on our dance routine, we have put some of our rally moves into it and our learning some new ones and I'm getting lots of treats. If you are entering Honey's dance contest, how are your routines going? Let us know if you are having as much fun as we are!

Woof!

Kirby