Winter is Coming...

 was just listening to my latest favorite podcast, "stay tuned with Preet".  he is fair and knowledgeable.  he gets some pretty interesting guests as well.  this week he was speaking with Gary Kasparov.  he was arrested a few times in Rus because of his views and was a world chess champion.  now i think he writes and speaks.  i believe he has a book out of the title of my post.  "winter is coming".  may want to read.   for several years i have noticed that people say pleaded guilty where i always would have said plead guilty...Preet says plead guilty...funny to hear him toss that in there...

 interesting to hear what techniques Rus has used in their nation to control the information.  one that we now see being used here.  mostly, blurring what truth is so that the citizens become jaded and give up the fight really.  phrases that i hear all the time like yes, this administration is corrupt, but they all are so what.  the whole fake news.  when you can convince the citizens to believe these things you can start to control them.  propaganda has worked for ages and none of us is above it's impacts. we all must be mindful and aware. 

 he just had some interesting things to say about all going on at this time.  he seems to believe beyond doubt that Flynn had put a deal in place.  a dictator like Put would never want to appear weak.  when the sanctions were put on Rus by Obama regarding the election interference, Rus did nothing.  Kasparov believes the only way Put would not respond is if he felt sure that he had a bigger deal coming. 

 also feels the taxes that iitoo refuses to release will probably show the depth of the financial entanglements between iitoo and Put.  these are serious issues.  they do matter.  we have made mistakes, our leadership over the years have made mistakes...the so called leadership now is making more than mistakes and a good percentage of the population wants to ignore it all and not look into it as their agenda is more important than getting to the truth.  we have made mistakes with Put but ultimately Rus needs to deal with Put to move forward. 

 the snowflakes and libtards did have a good day though...Moore apparently lost the election, though he has refused to concede at this point.   the whole thing was a losing situation for GOP, i suspect it would  have been worse for the party has this freak won.

 stayed up late, slept in late and then did finally hit the trails.  you can see the few shots i took above.  it is funny this time of year to see the sun so low on the horizon. this was at like 2 or 3 in the afternoon. 

 the rest are again at Hunter Cabin.  the pups were enjoying the sunset with us on the back porch.

 headed to a friends to watch movies as she recovers from OR.  we watched a documentary about cats in Istanbul.  Kedi was the name and also how one says cat in Turkish. not much substance but it did have lots of cute cats and beautiful scenery. then we watched the third minion movie.  i hadn't seen the first two but it was pretty cute and silly.

 more from the sunset over the Alaska Range...and Denali.

 we kept watching the clouds form shapes and imagining what they were.

 was thinking earlier today about language and dogs.

 when i was learning how to really train your dog i learned that you need two words for come.  for me come is the must react call.  this one you should reserve for training when you have control over what the dog is doing so they really understand that when you say this you expect them to return to you immediately. 

 you also need a looser come call. when the dog is in the yard or other situations where they do not have to immediately get to you.  for Blossom and Rio it was a higher pitched, singing, "here girls" for these guys it's "here puppies".  they have been responding to this since they were 8 weeks old...it's really my best return call for them.

 in their first weeks i would randomly sing it out to them from different parts of the house or if they got playing together in the yard I'd randomly call them back, praise them and treat them like hell. they respond well to it at this point. 

 of course, with Blossom i discovered that there would come situations that i would forget what i had trained the dogs.  i have done this with all my dogs.  i mean when you have a bear nearby, the last thing your brain is thinking is to sing out "here puppies".  you often start screaming like a crazy person, "get over here" "come now"....

 most of the time when my dogs aren't responding to me it's because i have stopped speaking the words they have learned.  i have words I'm supposed to use but it's so easy to forget them.   one book suggested a family to have a dog command dictionary...which is a great idea.  when there are several in the household it's best to teach the dog the same command. 

 dogs are much better at human language than we are at dog language.  it's actually pretty impressive how many of our words our canine companions can learn.  it's much easier for them, especially in a crisis, if we stick to the language we taught them.

 these are from drive to Fairbanks with a stop in at Denali National Park.

 when training dogs,  most owners repeat commands over and over...this does not make the dog understand what you want more...it simply teaches them that when you want them to sit...you will say, "sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit" and then they will sit.  if you keep repeating, "Come" but eventually get pissed and yell, "get over here now" as i often did with Baby Huey...well you have just taught them that all those "comes" are gibberish and that you will scream, "get over here now" when you really want the dog to come to you. 

 these were really eye opening moments to me. 

 i think another shocking lesson i picked up in class is that you can train your dog to avoid certain rooms in your house.  dogs love to eat cat poop out of the litter box...teach the dog that the area with the litter box is off limits.  it works.  it's amazing!

 great to watch Cesar Milan before you get a puppy...not just for the power breeds though he has some great techniques for dealing calmly and assertively. 

 it is just great to see how he directs dogs calmly and assertively.  the techniques work. they are simple really.  mostly i use the asserting space stuff with the puppies.  good for when they crowd you when you are trying to eat.  simply stand up and move towards them, forcing them to back up. 

 i read a variety of books each time i got puppies.  always good to get a reminder.  it usually been a long time between new dogs and we could all use a refresher. 

 it is fun though, training them.  it can be frustrating at times too, but in the end, having well trained dogs is awesome.  going to class this week i could see where my dogs are now from where the other dogs in the class are.  Tusker is in a beginning class so the other dogs haven't had classes and he's now in a 4th class. for him and for me it's a refresher and reminder.  helps me to see areas that he needs to focus more on...greetings. they are still just too excited with greetings.

 today was a grey day though.  tough to get motivated on grey days like this.

 the massage was great.  much less painful than last time.  will probably schedule another one in a month...after the holidays.

 grabbed some food for those of us who can eat..poor MT...can't eat solids for weeks probably.  that tonsil removal in adulthood looks rough.

 moose sighting in Denali...decent rack.

 and the pretty trees.

 guess i should crash.  back to work again tomorrow night. my next stretch off I'll have to take some evenings and drive around looking at Christmas lights. always a fun single gal activity. 

grateful for:  A.  chill times with friends B. cleats, I'd be all broken without them  C.  down comforters and ceiling fans...love being warm but with cool air on my face.  so spoiled.