Hello friends,
I thought I'd switch gears and talk about my nursing assistant situation. I have three nursing assistants who have been with me for a number of years. I have another nursing assistant, who came back after a two year hiatus from Home Health Care. I am forever grateful to all them, as well as my nurse. They are all wonderful and I try to let them know as often as possible how much I appreciate everything they do.
My situation is this. I am in need of a couple more nursing assistants to cover my weekend shifts. This has been an ongoing dilemma and it's frustrating. My boyfriend is the "fill in" by default and he really needs time off. He is a nurse throughout the week and likes to utilize the weekends for stuff he needs to do around the house. Hopefully this situation will reverse itself and I can find a weekend warrior. :) I have considered posting on craigslist or care.com, but not sure how "safe" it is.
On another note. I recently finished a great book by Vivica Sten, called Still Waters. It is the first story in a series of five, called Sandhamn Murders. The story was based on a popular vacation spot in Sweden, called Sandhamn. It begins with the investigation of one murder, then another, and another, and yet another. I highly recommend this book. I will purchase the second story and post my opinion at a later time. :)
Saturday, May 26, 2018
Tuesday, May 15, 2018
Cooper in training part 2
Training was once a week for six weeks. Every week seemed like a repeat of the week before, as he just was not able to focus. The trainer was discouraging. She did not hold back her feelings about his bad habits, his size, strength, and aggression. The bottom line was Cooper had learned a lot of bad habits before we got him and it was hard to undo what he was doing wrong. He apparently had been roaming the streets without a home for a long time. It makes me sad to think about him not having a home for so long....
On our last day of training the trainer expressed her feelings. She felt Cooper needed to continue training somewhere else that was more advanced and more experienced with dogs that had control issues. She admitted that Petsmart training was not good for dogs with behavior issues. It was fine by me because I had no intent on bringing him back there for more training anyway. Her and I were on the same page, but for different reasons....
I met with another person about training, which was the same lady that groomed both our dogs. It was a Mother/Daughter team that did grooming, boarding and training. For training they wanted to do one on one (without me) once a week for three weeks. After three weeks, training would continue at their business.
They also had experience in training dogs to be service dogs. When I inquired about Cooper getting trained to be my service dog, they immediately voiced the reasons this would not be a good idea. :(
I was okay with Cooper not being cut out to be a service dog. He was still a sweet lug and offered so much love!
On our last day of training the trainer expressed her feelings. She felt Cooper needed to continue training somewhere else that was more advanced and more experienced with dogs that had control issues. She admitted that Petsmart training was not good for dogs with behavior issues. It was fine by me because I had no intent on bringing him back there for more training anyway. Her and I were on the same page, but for different reasons....
I met with another person about training, which was the same lady that groomed both our dogs. It was a Mother/Daughter team that did grooming, boarding and training. For training they wanted to do one on one (without me) once a week for three weeks. After three weeks, training would continue at their business.
They also had experience in training dogs to be service dogs. When I inquired about Cooper getting trained to be my service dog, they immediately voiced the reasons this would not be a good idea. :(
I was okay with Cooper not being cut out to be a service dog. He was still a sweet lug and offered so much love!
Sunday, May 13, 2018
Cooper in training
After Steve and I realized Cooper was going to be a keeper, I signed him up for a much needed obedience training class.
Steve worked a lot and did not have time in his schedule to go. He felt it would be best if a nursing assistant went with me anyway because they would need to learn which commands to give, etc.
On Cooper's first day, Mandy (my nursing assistant and I) loaded him up and took him to Petsmart. The trainer seemed nice, and I was eager to turn our ornery boy in to a star pupil. There were three other dogs in training, which were small and better behaved than my big black wild lab. Cooper wanted to play with them the whole time and kept lunging at them. He was so strong and almost too much for Mandy to handle. The trainer showed a dislike of his behavior and the owners of the other dogs were giving us dirty looks. It was insulting! We were there to get his bad habits remedied, not get judged. Grrr!
Little did I know that our first day was going to be our last day as a group. LOL Anybody who has seen the movie "Marley and Me" know Marley got kicked out of training because of his shenanigans! I felt like Cooper was a Marley in disguise. :)
When we returned the second week, Cooper was the only dog in training. The trainer had moved her schedule around with the others because she felt like Cooper needed one on one. I appreciated her for recognizing this, as she probably didn't have to be so accommodating.
To be continued...
Steve worked a lot and did not have time in his schedule to go. He felt it would be best if a nursing assistant went with me anyway because they would need to learn which commands to give, etc.
On Cooper's first day, Mandy (my nursing assistant and I) loaded him up and took him to Petsmart. The trainer seemed nice, and I was eager to turn our ornery boy in to a star pupil. There were three other dogs in training, which were small and better behaved than my big black wild lab. Cooper wanted to play with them the whole time and kept lunging at them. He was so strong and almost too much for Mandy to handle. The trainer showed a dislike of his behavior and the owners of the other dogs were giving us dirty looks. It was insulting! We were there to get his bad habits remedied, not get judged. Grrr!
Little did I know that our first day was going to be our last day as a group. LOL Anybody who has seen the movie "Marley and Me" know Marley got kicked out of training because of his shenanigans! I felt like Cooper was a Marley in disguise. :)
When we returned the second week, Cooper was the only dog in training. The trainer had moved her schedule around with the others because she felt like Cooper needed one on one. I appreciated her for recognizing this, as she probably didn't have to be so accommodating.
To be continued...
Friday, May 4, 2018
Goober Part 2
It was decided that Goober needed a new name. He became Cooper.
As soon as we brought Cooper home, he got a bath. Steve got a bath too, as it was quite a struggle to keep Cooper in the tub. :) The poor guy was muddy, needed brushed and also needed his nails clipped.
He seemed to ignore the cats initially, but that quickly changed. He was determined to chase them every chance he got. Riley was more bold and held his own. Alexandra on the other hand was afraid and stayed hidden. This was not fair to her and we hoped it would change.
After a week or so we questioned whether we could keep this crazy Cooper. Aside from tormenting the cats, he jumped up on everybody, counter surfed, and was basically too much too handle. The thought of giving up on him made me cry. The thought of keeping him made me anxious. My biggest concern was my nursing assistants and their well being. I didn't want him to hurt them on accident. I asked myself, "Would they quit because of this crazy dog? Would they be okay with his shenanigans? Would they help me with his training techniques if we did keep him?" It was a lot to think about it.
Each time Steve and I planned on taking the trip to Indiana to return him, we would find ourselves not following through with.it. We didn't talk about not going, we didn't talk about giving him more time, we just didn't talk about it at all. We simply ignored the elephant in the room. :)
Too be continued...
As soon as we brought Cooper home, he got a bath. Steve got a bath too, as it was quite a struggle to keep Cooper in the tub. :) The poor guy was muddy, needed brushed and also needed his nails clipped.
He seemed to ignore the cats initially, but that quickly changed. He was determined to chase them every chance he got. Riley was more bold and held his own. Alexandra on the other hand was afraid and stayed hidden. This was not fair to her and we hoped it would change.
After a week or so we questioned whether we could keep this crazy Cooper. Aside from tormenting the cats, he jumped up on everybody, counter surfed, and was basically too much too handle. The thought of giving up on him made me cry. The thought of keeping him made me anxious. My biggest concern was my nursing assistants and their well being. I didn't want him to hurt them on accident. I asked myself, "Would they quit because of this crazy dog? Would they be okay with his shenanigans? Would they help me with his training techniques if we did keep him?" It was a lot to think about it.
Each time Steve and I planned on taking the trip to Indiana to return him, we would find ourselves not following through with.it. We didn't talk about not going, we didn't talk about giving him more time, we just didn't talk about it at all. We simply ignored the elephant in the room. :)
Too be continued...
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