BUMPER PHOTOGRAPH POST - ANIMALS - McKAYNINE TRAINING CENTRE and ONDERSTEPOORT!

GREETINGS FROM SOUTH AFRICA!
MAXMOM & TOBY here...

Hello there and Happy Sunday, to all our friends across the world!

Today's post is a bumper post of animal photographs:
Taken at two different venues:

Firstly:

Toby's training school (yesterday)

As many of you know, Toby has embarked on his training towards his Canine Good Citizen accreditation (Bronze Level).  Our classes take place on a Saturday morning and there are LOTS of distractions at the school - which is a farmyard setting.  These are some photos taken of the animals at:

McKAYNINE TRAINING CENTRE:

Drum roll....Our feathered friends!

 (Who occasionally enjoy escaping from their own accommodation, in order to roam the grounds - a great temptation for some of the canine students)

Then there is 'Sheep' - who is always there to give us a warm welcome.

I can't forget to mention beautiful 'Donkey', who always supervises the canine classes. 
We regularly take a carrot along for his enjoyment...

Delightful and perfectly pawdicured doggies...

Toby, getting a talking to...

(Shall we say, he was not on his best behaviour yesterday -

according to 'Maxmom')

Then the second set of photographs was taken on Friday...

 A friend and I were invited by Miss "R", on a guided tour of her veterinary training facility at

ONDERSTEPOORT
a few kilometers north of Pretoria.
(Miss "R" is a student there and is hoping to be a vet one day)

Thank you, Miss "R" for showing us around...what a privilege!

Amongst the many things she showed us, here are some pictures of some of their resident animals:

The two resident mascot goats: "Spyker" and "Jezebel"

Miss "R" and one of the many horses.

Some of the many squealers...:)

A 'Blacksmith' Plover

(I believe there is an upgraded name (?) for this beautiful bird)

Four 'King Ibises' and one 'Hadedah Ibis'

A 'cattle eagret' in the background

The life of luxury...

The Beagles at Onderstepoort are under close supervision of the students.  A Beagle interest group has been set up and volunteer students are matched with various pups.  The students are responsible for training and walking the pups. 

Time spent with the dogs is affectionately termed

"Fuzz Therapy"...

Miss "R" has been allocated a sweet little pup, who is called

"Willri"... (Pronounced: Vill-ree)

Willri is a really cute little thing. 

She accompanied us during our tour of the grounds.

The horses, too, are ridden by the students. 

I am glad to report that I also received my own dose of

"Fuzz therapy"

Thank you again, Miss "R" for your kind hospitality.

We are so proud of you and know that you are going to make a pawsome vet one day!!!

Wishing all our readers a really happy Sunday!

Lotsaluv

TRAINING A DOG IS A JOURNEY IN PERSONAL GROWTH!

GREETINGS FROM SOUTH AFRICA!
MAXMOM here...

  A soaking, rainy day. 

It was the perfect opportunity for a private practice session, on stage (without the cast), for Toby's debut as 'Sandy' in the musical 'ANNIE' which is only about 6 weeks away.

We'd planned to meet up with Shannon - our McKaynine chief instructor and the owner of

 McKaynine Training Centre,

here in Johannesburg, South Africa.

She is an incredible trainer and qualified animal wrangler, and it is a great privilege to be able to work (and learn) from her.

Thank you so much, Shannon!

 Toby barked at the motorbikes, as we travelled along Beyers Naude drive, towards the campus of the University of Johannesburg and its beautiful theatre. He is very perturbed by motorbike riders, especially ones who wear yellow, reflective jackets. At his age (nine months), all sorts of little insecurities generaly start to make their appearance.  In Toby's case, motorbikes are just one of them, and they set off little barks of insecurity.

As usual, he has his 'potty' call on our arrival in the carpark. 

There I was, with my collection of little black packets, picking up his 'bits', while he looked on, enthusiastically wagging his tail. 

Oh what it is to be a dog-mom!

We took a short walk around the grounds before we met up with Shannon at the theatre. At the moment, Toby is also nervous of the large, concrete slabs on the walkways.  

Many of them are loose and they wobble when we walk over them.  It's going to take some time to help him over this little fear of his too.

Once indoors, he's always more relaxed and always happy to meet new people.

(Although we are still working on curtailing his exhuberance)

(Shannon working with Toby in the corridors of the theatre)

 

I continue to marvel at the beautiful theatre with its large auditorium. 

(Toby on the stage of the UJ Theatre)

The floor of the stage is very nice too.  It's a bit slippery, but this may well be a blessing in disguise, because it slows down my energetic pooch. 

We were able to practice his 'send away' command, as well as a few bits and pieces from his other scenes.  Toby loves the stage and he loves working indoors.  His scenes are coming along very nicely and we should be more than ready by the time the curtain goes up.

(Practicing the 'away' command)

By the way, the vertical 'stripes' in the background are the various ropes and pulleys for the stage props - could be quite a 'dangerous' area for a dog...

Shannon helped introduce him to one of the 'trolleys' with its loud wheels. (This is for the final scene, where "Sandy" will be brought onto stage in his crate and
'given to Annie as a Christmas present')

(Shannon introducing Toby to a trolley)

---xXx---

After rehearsing with Toby, Shannon spent a while chatting to me.

Our discussion prompted a ...

 'LIGHTBULB' MOMENT'!
(For me, personally!)

(Have you ever had one of those?)

You see, over the past 11 years, I have come to realise that:

Training a dog is a journey in personal growth!

When we nurture our own children, we have to be sensitive to our own parenting style. At times, we have to adapt our styles, if we are to coax our children in a direction that will maximise their own growth and potential. We have to, on occasions, step out of our comfort zones and allow them to make their own mistakes in life.  It is these mistakes that give them the knowledge towards the pathways of success.

 Similarly, in order to train Toby successfully, I need to be sensitive and understanding about my own, personal quirks, body language, training style and emotional space.

For example, I have to admit and accept that I am a controller.  I have to admit that I am a person who needs to be organised, but I am a bad delegator. I have to realise that I prefer working with a degree of predictability around me.
This is me...exposed!

It is for this reason, that I have always tried to train in 'predictable' behaiour in my dogs.
  Predictable dogs serve to enhance my own comfort levels.

However, there is an element of irony in all this:

Your see, training towards predictability may, indeed, be promoting unpredictability.

Why do I say this?

As with my children, if I had been too controlling, then I would have restricted their ability to discover themselves and to find their own special talents.

Since Toby is in my company every moment of the day, I have fallen into the habit of giving him continuous, sometimes subconscious, commands and cues.  Admittedly, he responds beautifully, but I have to understand that he is now relying totally on my instruction... for everything! 

Some of my readers might see this as a good thing, but where does it leave Toby?

What does he do and how will he react when I am not around?

SO....

I need to change a bit!...

I need to allow Toby a little more space!...

I need to allow him the opportunity to feel uncertain...

and then to choose...for himself!

In order for the two of us to ultimately be a good team, we have to learn to trust each other.  I have to build his self-confidence and to somehow communicate to him that I trust his little choices.
It's time to make a training mindshift.

And its also time to step outside my own training comfort zone...

This beautiful dog of mine, is still a package to be unravelled...

"TRAINING A DOG IS A JOURNEY IN PERSONAL GROWTH!"

...Maxmom

SOUTH AFRICAN SCENERY - WORDLESS, with captions

GREETINGS FROM SOUTH AFRICA!

 (Sunrise Ramsgate: Kwazulu-Natal)

 (Landscape: Vryburg)

 (Giant Dung Beetle: Vryburg)

 (Side road: Vryburg)

 (Sunland Baobab tree  6000yrs old) : Limpopo Province)

 (Cream-striped-owl-Moth, Vryburg)

 (Cactus: Vryburg)

 (Cactus Flower: Vryburg)

 (Pebbles, after the rain, Vryburg)

 (Landscape: Vryburg)

 (Yellow Mongoose: Vryburg)

 (After the rain: Vryburg)

 (Montrose: Kwazulu Natal)

 (Thatch grass: Vryburg)

 (Praying Mantis: Vryburg)

(Sunset: Vryburg)

(Many thanks to my daughter for the 'Vryburg' pictures)

Sending lotsaluv and lotsalicks,

DREAMING OF BUNNIES...

GREETINGS FROM SOUTH AFRICA!
TOBY here...

Hello there every-furry-buddy!
It's Friday and almost weekend. 

It's going to be a special weekend too...!

This weekend our household will be back to normal again with all our humans back in residence.

Welcome home, Miss R and Miss J!!!

(Don't tell anyone, but us dogs are planning a huge bedroom-rampage to welcome our young humans home!)

---xXx---

My other news is that Maxmom is on another mission.  She liked my
POGO PLUSH BUNNY

so much, that she's decided to make a few of her own...

Okay, I admit, these are a little different, and they're not for her!

They are, however, for sale!

  This is some of her 'stock' for the coming Easter celebrations.  Maxmom always likes knitting during winter, so she's decided to make these bunnies and see if any of her South African friends want to buy them.

What ya think?

She doesn't want me to play with them.  I simply have to lie down and watch the blur she makes with those knitting needles. 

 Mmmmph! I'm sure I could make mince-meat of those bunnies!

They look very soft and cuddly - for humans, that is!

Mind you, those Easter eggs look even more mouth-drooling. 

I'll just have to wait for that special moment, when nobody is looking, to practice my counter-surfing techniques.  I'm sure Aunt Tam' and the King will appreciate my efforts. 

We could practice our bunny-shredding skills too.

Something tells me that I shouldn't even think about it!

"Dream on, Toby!"

Wishing all my buddies a wonderful, bunny-filled weekend.

Lotsalicks

NOTE TO MY SOUTH AFRICAN FRIENDS:

I am selling these bunnies for R75 each.  Should anyone want to purchase one/two/some from me, please email me, or leave your email address in the comments section, and I'll get back to you.

They really are cute, and should make a wonderful gift for someone special.