Hiking, traveling and training!

Wow, has it been a busy summer!!!  So busy that i haven't written in like forever!!!  Here's what's been happening.

I don't know what happened to June and I don't think my momma or papa know either.  I know I spent a lot of time hanging out and playing with my buddies at my favorite home away from home.  As much as I love going to Pooch, there is something to be said about getting back home with my humans.  It's nice to be home.

July was filled with adventure and fun too.  I went with my humans to a magical place called Portlandia in Oregon.  While they hang out with friends and catch up, I would get to hang out at another day care and catch up with all my doggie friends.  The first time I went to this play group, I had to pass a temperament evaluation.  No problems there, was told I was an old pro at it, and off to the yard I went.  Of course that meant I had to show all those laid back Portlandia dogs how Cali dogs play, and off I went with one of the biggest cases of zoomies ever!  So when we came back this time, I got to go straight back to the yard.  Except this year was different, another pup who chases and nips at shadows accidentally bit me while we all were in the play yard.  I was with a group of dogs and the "Shadow Chaser" was doing his own shadow chasing thing by himself.  I guess our little group may have gotten too close and I look a little too much like a shadow.  So my first day of playing ended with going to the Vet ER to get my wound flushed out and stitched close.  Then I stayed in the hotel for the rest of the trip, hanging out with my peeps.  Though I would have rather been playing, momma didn't want me to pop my stitches, which meant crate rest....  And a donut of shame...

I look like I'm about ready to go swimming.....






Speaking of swimming, I spent lots of time at the lake this summer.  Momma had me shoot photos and videos.  We got together with a friend of hers and Violet the purple pibble.  She has her own blog too and you can read about some of our experiences in class together.  Let's just say that sometimes we weren't too nice to each other, yelling bad words and being snarky.  But as they say, a year later and a little older, we've both matured and actually had a nice time hanging out together on the lake beach.

I've been hiking a lot too and somehow momma has been getting some training snuck in there.  I have a few buddies that help me with my manners and remind me that I need to be calm around unfamiliar dogs.  Sometimes I can be a little much.  And of course I've been shooting pictures while I hike.

So until next time, stay cool, live it up and keep rockin!!!!

Practice, practice, practice

Like anything in training, you only get better with practice.

It's taken a few months but I'm finally buddies with the lacrosse stick!  Momma would take the stick and my ball outside for about 5 minutes every day to play with my to get me used to the whole process.  I now love my lacrosse stick and momma likes it too because now her shoulder doesn't get tired from constantly throwing my ball.

Along with playing with me outside, momma routinely placed a treat in the basket of the lacrosse stick for me to find when she would leave the house.  In fact she caught me yesterday nosing at the basket looking for a treat.  I pawed at it and stuck my nose in it in hopes of finding a nom.  I would say mission accomplished momma.  I'm no longer afraid of the lacrosse stick.

So now we've moved onto another method of training.  Momma has started to bring my ball to class and on hikes.  I'm learning that if I'm quiet and don't pop off at other dogs during our walks I get to play with my ball.  Treats are great but my ball is the best reward ever!  Wish us luck as we try this new method of positive reinforcement training!

Lighting It Up Blue-

April, a month that starts off with pranks and jokes, has bunnies that hide eggs and usually officially signifies that spring has sprung.

It's also the month set aside to bringing awareness to autism, starting with the Light It Up Blue campaign where buildings, homes, houses of worship and iconic landmarks were lit up blue in support of autism awareness.  And yes, my momma being the lighting designer she is has turned our front porch blue.

Now my momma and her circle of friends advocate for bully headed dogs like myself so it's only right that I use my rocker attitude for good by advocating for those whose voice is not always heard.  It's there, it may be in a whisper or in just a look; but if you pause for just a second, you'll hear it.

To help me with my small task of getting the word out about autism, my momma talked to some close friends of hers about an idea for a collar.  Besides "Autism Speaks" or "Cure Autism Now", my momma wanted to embroider my collar with just as powerful a phrase.  She asked them what would be appropriate, as they too are a family affected by autism.  Without hesitation, out came the quote from Dr. Temple Grandin "Different, not less".

Just like blocky headed dogs, people who are diagnosed with autism are judged on a general level, not on an individual one.....  Which as we all know isn't fair or right.

So stand-by blue light cue....Blue light cue, GO!

What's in a name? How Roadie came about.

I've had a few names in my short life.  I came out of the shelter known as "Shadow", earned by my talent of not letting my human out of my sight.  Yes, I have this habit of following you everywhere.  Hence, Shadow was born.

Then I went off to one of my first of many foster homes.  Here I lost my name "Shadow" and became known as "Bug"....  Yes, "Bug".... A cute name but it doesn't exactly roll off one's tongue.  "Bug" led to many nicknames, but my pack walker Al would call out "Bug-A-Boo" to get me to come running back at Fort Funston.

When I met the people who would later become my forever adoptive family, they tried out a couple variations of my name.  You see, they let me stay over for a long weekend when my foster mom had to travel for July 4th.  "Booger" caught my attention with a cute head tilt but it didn't stick cause they just couldn't call me "Booger" especially if I was in trouble.

Fast forward thru a few months of "Bug-A-Boo" being called out thru the dunes of Fort Funston to when my adoption was finalized.  Mom and Dad wasn't feeling my name of "Bug", so the adventure of finding a new name began.

Candidates for names ranged from "Marshall", "Fender" and "Strat" but those just didn't click.  Then Mom and Dad tried "Roadie".  And I looked at them, like "yes, you called?"

Now you may have noticed a trend with the names, all kind of music related.  Both my parents work in the entertainment industry.  Dad is an audio engineer and musician.  Mom is a lighting designer and artist.  And what they needed was a roadie to be a part of their team.  A dog that could deal with the schedule changes that happen in the business, the travel, and the "organic/flexible" routine.  I was that dog.  I could be their "Roadie".  So with the adoption finalized, I proved to them over the course of a few months that I was roadie material.  I stayed up late, slept in whenever I could (we don't do morning walks anymore because I am the last one out of bed), I showed that I was a great car passenger and I rolled with the flow.  From then on I would be known as Roadie, full name Roadie - Rock Puppy.

I'm back!!!!! And still learning!!!

Hey everyone!!!

Sorry for the long gap in posts but January came around and my parents had to work a lot which meant I got to hang out with my buddies at Pooch!!!  Check out my earlier blog if you want to know more about the Pooch Hotel.

Recently my mom has been working with me in the training department to get me past my nervousness about an object called a Lacrosse stick.  She wants to be able to use it to fling my ball and not wear her shoulder out before its time.

To give you some history about me, my puppyhood was filled with very little.  I wasn't socialized with much outside the home so my reactions to new situations, shall we say, can be different.  For example, when I first met my adopters during a temp foster situation I didn't care at all about meeting them right away.  I just HAD to meet the garden hose on a reel that was next to the house.  I pulled at my leash, digging my pinch collar into my own neck but I didn't care because I NEEDED to check out the weird object.  This was pretty much how I went into most new situations, pulling at my leash, sometimes barking, but very determined to meet anything and everyone new.  Which of course can be somewhat rude to both people and dogs.

So knowing this about me, my parents have worked very hard to keep me calm in new situations, to approach things calmly, in order to introduce me to new things.  So when mom brought out the lacrosse stick she expected my usual reaction which almost always involved some level of excitement.  I pancaked...I laid flat on the ground and tucked my tail.  I ran back into the house and found comfort in my bed.  I think it worried my mom a little.  Of all the reactions she was prepared for, she wasn't expecting this.

So she talked with our trainer who reassured her that this was just another aspect of my under-socialization and not recalling a negative experience with a stick.  She let her know that dogs whom she knew grew up from puppyhood in loving homes still hide from brooms and other sticks.  So they set up a plan to get me past this.

We started by just placing the stick on the ground and letting me check it out on my on time.  Next mom used a technique used by the mom of my former arch nemesis Violet to teach me that the stick with the treat basket was okay and brought good things.  She put salami in it.  But I still wasn't so sure.  So mom had me play the "Find It" game.  I searched high and low but only found the salami in the treat basket.  We have played this game a lot these last few days.  Mom changes it up a bit by holding the stick, sometimes she will swing it around and place a treat in it, then bringing it back down for me to find it.  And once she even flung a treat out of it which I thought was kind of cool.

So we are making progress and the goal is soon I'll learn that this stick can bring me a ball.  Just going to take some time and patience.  But we are on our way.