Canon Rebel

So after a week full of research and price comparison I finally decided on my first DSLR camera, a Canon Rebel T1i. I absolutely love it! I am pretty shocked by the instant picture quality upgrade from my point and shoots.

Most of my weekend was spent taking a million pictures of Danger, and reading through the T1i instruction manual and the iPad app for LIFE Guide to Digital Photography. There is certainly a lot I have yet to learn.

And of course here is one of my fav’s I took of D:

Things I Like:

Scott Kelby – photography blog

Do you want to be a big German Shepherd, or a litt...

Boy oh boy is dog food expensive… Danger is actually a pretty dainty eater and I tell him daily if he wants to grow to be a big boy GSD, he better start eating more. Generally if he wont eat I tickle his belly and sing to him “Do you want to be a big German Shepherd, or a little German Shepherd?” Hmmm that actually sounds pretty stupid when I type it out, but I promise it is cute, and he enjoys his tickle and song time with me.

I  know I could buy a cheaper dog food, but I have done a lot of research and I rather spend a little bit extra on Blue Buffalo then just settling for Purina or Bil Jac. I think this will be his last bag of Large Breed Puppy, before we make the slow transition to grown up food.

Here is a pic from last week of Danger with a wonk looking eye.

Question:

Is $52.99 too much to pay for a bag of dog food?

Things I Like:

http://www.photographyblog.com/

A Fresh Start

Dear lord I lose interest in stuff way to fast. I must have ADD, that is the only reasonable explanation of my numerous yet short lived hobbies. After we got Danger in September I underestimated how much time I was going to dedicate to this dog, not only in training but just loving him up. So Dog Curve fell to the backburner while I enjoyed my new and interesting life with a furry friend.

I now plan on using Dog Curve as a more multi-purpose personal blog, but still with a focus on dogs. I hope most of my former readers continue to follow me.

Now for a bit of an update:

I have been following a lot of food (or foodie type) blogs lately, and I really enjoy their light-hearted, always cheery, and scrumptious postings. Maybe that is the direction I need to go in.

I also have a new found interest in photography, and am looking into purchasing my first DSLR! Geez they are kind of pricey.

Yes that’s it! Maybe my new hobby is photography, better yet food photography! About 6 years ago when I purchased my second digital camera (Fuji s5100) my interest in picture taking peaked and I really got into posting my photo’s on deviantART – Yes here is even a link to my page that has not been updated in over six years, http://jnest.deviantart.com/

And here is one of my favorite photo’s I took on beautiful Lake Erie:

Dog Curve wouldn’t be complete without a photo of Danger! I found this one on the breeder’s website when he was about 5 weeks old:

Things I Like:

http://slickdeals.net – my horrible obsession

http://www.dailygarnish.com/ – food blog

http://www.pbfingers.com/ – currently going through her entire post backlog

First Day of School

Wow it has been quite some time since I last posted… Where did the time go? Raising a puppy has definitely been an experience so far. Danger will be 6 months old in two weeks! He is extremely smart and doing quite well with my training, but today is his first official training class with 10 other dogs.

Really the only behavioral problem we are having is on walks… He doesn’t quite understand the concept of heeling. I have been trying luring him to my side with treats, but he always just ends up tugging at the leash.

Danger and his Pink Raccoon

Quick video of Danger and his new pink raccoon toy.

Danger’s First Trip to Petco

When we entered Petco for the first time last night, I noticed a large Boxer and his owner talking to an employee. As soon as the sliding doors opened I asked the man if his dog is friendly to puppies and he nodded his head. I could see the Boxer wagging his tail enthusiastically so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for Danger to meet his first dog outside of his families. Danger ran through the doors and didn’t noticed the other dog at first, and I believe once he swung around to him he caught him off guard and started giving his semi-adult sounding bark. I let him bark for a few seconds, but he didn’t stop so I picked up him. I know I probably shouldn’t have, but I was afraid he would just keep carrying on. It seemed like a pretty slow night at the store so we just walked around for a few minutes, met some people and grabbed his bag of Solid Gold Wolf Cub and headed out.

I plan on taking him to PetSmart tonight, so let’s hope I have a bit more of an eventful story to share.

Since that was such a horribly boring story, I feel the need to at least share a cute picture so you don’t feel like I completely wasted your time

Video of my puppy and his Flirt Pole

I built Danger a Flirt Pole over the weekend and he absolutely loves it! It is basically 3ft of PVC piping with a hole drilled in one end, nylon cording through the hole and a toy at the other end…

I have spent far to much money on toys, its amazing such a simple thing would be his favorite. Oh the joys of being a puppy.

Here is a quick video I made with my new pocket video camera I bought for traveling purposes.

On a side note if anyone knows the best setting to output Flip Ultra HD video in iMovie to actual HD quality – please let me know.

First Week of Clicker Training

What a first week. I felt like Tom Hanks in Turner & Hooch!

In all seriousness though I am having a blast with our new pup. It is definitely a huge learning experience for me, puppy’s can certainly be confusing if you have never owned a dog before.

Initial training is going well. He is not food driven at all, and we have tried at least 7 different treats now. Everything from Wellness Puppy Treats, Blue Buffalo Treats, Dehydrated Liver, and hot dogs. The liver and hot dogs are definitely his favorite, but he still loses interest in them faster than Rosie O’Donnell loses interest in a salad.

A few days ago I finally figured out that he will work for his raccoon toy! He has a very high prey drive. So I have been training him by letting him play with his raccoon if he gives the desired response. It is working so far, however this way will definitely take longer than training him with treats. Maybe he will develop a food drive as he grows older.

We have been feeding him Eukanuba Natural Puppy food, because that was what the breeder was feeding him. Tonight I plan on starting the transition over to either Wellness Large Breed Puppy, Blue Buffalo, or Solid Gold Wolf Cub. Maybe a change in diet will make him want to work for food a bit more.