Smoke came to us weak and slow after a month he gained 10 pounds and got faster and faster.

Finally we found a guy in the suburbs who had 5 other Blue Pits that he had taken in. Smoke joined that pack of dogs. The guy said that I can visit him anytime we want.

Look forward to pictures.

I’ve been practicing this stuff with Smoke. I find this dog trainer from youtube easy to watch.

I’m a Geek and I have great geek ambitions for Smoke. Thanks Eric!

The comic cover for his training manual is cool and so fitting for Wondergeek- don’t ya think?

Vision Therapy may be helpful to children who are having trouble reading due to eye problems. Check out http://www.planovision.org for detail explanations and options on how eye training can help improve a child’s reading. I’ve spoke to Dr. Stephanie of Plano at length and they do assist adults as well as children.

My demons can’t bind me in the recesses of their heartless fortress. Poverty can’t hold me within its parched, crumbling mask of decay. I am a poet and thinker who can share those incredible moments of life with others…

As I watch people who can’t read avoid situations that would put them on the spot to read, I can sympathize because I know that I made a narrow escape from the choke of illiteracy. I was not taught to read using phonics. I learned to read by memorization. The down fall of reading this way means that I can’t read or spell words correctly that I’ve never seen before. This gets embarrassing.

Over the years I’ve tried to learn Phonics. My eldest son is a Phonic Wizard because I constantly brow- beat him about how important learning Phonics was to his deeper usage of vocabulary.

Hopefully this will be the magic summer that my son will be able to successfully teach me phonics without me becoming frustrated and storming out of the room.

There is Pain in my memories. When I am trying to learn a thing that I should have picked up as an eight year old I revisit the suffering that my daily abused-life harvested. It is as if the lesson itself-is a trigger to the events that I don’t want to remember. I wonder if it is like that for others.

My bones rub uncomfortably at the joints as the sweet sweet adult baby…looks for way away from the words on the menu that can’t be read…

Because I was able to control my own path, Adult Illiteracy defied gravity in my mind until faces around me became surprising illustrations for the ‘handicap’. Not only is my brother a functional illiterate but some of my closest friends can’t read past a fourth grade level.

One of my younger brothers was completely illiterate until his early 30′s. He is extremely handsome and thought that he could get by without reading!

Finally he got sick and tired hiding the problem from his growing children. Out of the blue, he began to teach himself to read by looking at the titles of movies on VHS covers. His spelling still sucks but his penmanship has become almost pretty- curls accent his t’s or anything with a tail. However the damage has already been done to his social standing. He’s been in and out of jail since adolescence.

Meanwhile I keep learning to do new things.

So go ahead Gang… Geek out! I’m choosing to do the dog geek thing. I will be learning from scratch to train my dogs and posting short fun videos on my http://www.youtube.com/mysterymika

When you take time out to help out the next generation do so by picking up a book. Read to a kid. You might be the reading chaperon that makes the difference in her world.

It’s going on a month and Smoke hasn’t been lathered up in a real bath yet. I’ve been sponging him down (like a nursing home patient) with a bucket full of warm water every two weeks on the deck. I wanted him to get use to me before tossing him into the bathtub.

When Smoke joined our family, his coat was a mess of flaky dry skin. The vet said not to worry- the missing patches of fur would fill in. Smokes’ sores on his butt were from sitting in feces and urine- I didn’t want to further irritate his skin by using soap.

Now that his skin and sores are looking healed and he understands that I am the pack leader, I think that he could stand to suds up with a mild soap added to the water.

Ruby and Butter get groomed professionally about every other month at http://www.barkinglotinc.com . In between times I wash them myself. We live off of Douglas Park, my dogs love to pounce in the bush and on the bank of the pond. Once a month I apply Frontline http://www.frontline.com to control the fleas and ticks. I’ve been infested with fleas before using Frontline but never since. That stuff is magic. Flea  collars don’t seem to work on my park fleas!

Ruby gets long lashes around her eyes causing eye irritation. Her butt needs shaving. I could muzzle her and go for it. Ruby doesn’t like it when I mess around back ‘there’. I’m not the type of person to wipe my dogs’ hinny with baby wipes every time she poops anyway. Baby wipes are an option for those of you who have the proper attitude.

The groomers at the Barking Lot are fantastic. However it gets expensive keeping up grooming with 3 dogs. If I want clean dogs- I have to give baths at home in the bathtub or on the deck in between visits.

The best advice that I can give is to Read everything on Pet Grooming that you can find. When you are at Dog Parks ask other owners for demo on nail clipping etc. Be pro active don’t be afraid to ask others questions. Not everything you hear will be good advice but you can always go back and confirm the information with your vet! If you are lucky enough to find a great groomer, give them a nice tip.

Generally a handsome service tip ($5) awards you a couple of answers to a couple of questions.

Go ahead Geek out on Dogs- it’s okay.

In the end I hope to accomplish the skills to train my 3 dogs to be fun members of my family. I am looking forward to taking this journey with my 3 children who are excited- barely able to contain their high hopes of gaining ‘trick dogs’ through training.

Last Halloween my 7 year old met ‘Canine Lola’ of the Midnight Circus. As I understand it Lola is a pit bull terrier mix and a rescued dog. Wow, if I could only get my Smoke to do that some day!

However before we can get any one of our canines to jump through a hoop we must get them to sit, stay, lay and be quiet. It would also be nice to lessen pee pee accidents in the house!

Mystery Mika’s mind is a blank slate as far as dog knowledge is concerned. (I’ve only dealt with men who are dogs) Seriously, I only know the basics on how to care for a dog such as sleeping and bedding options. As a mother, I already know that the dog must go to the vet for regular check ups- lol, just like my children.

Wondering how I plan to accomplish fantastic feet? Real dog training is all new for me. Study equals geeking out! I picked up Dog Training for Dummies and I am actually reading it and applying the new information to handling my dogs. Homework with the children this summer will be a doggy camp for two hours a day- not counting toilet breaks.

My Pit / Boxer rescue ‘Smoke’ (male) is a mighty dog unlike ‘Ruby’ (female) shitsu /beagle and ‘Butter’ (male) a cock a poo.

Currently I have establish myself as leader of the pack. Ruby is next in line. All the dogs are well socialized with each other as long as they are inside or on the deck. Butter goes nuts if I try to walk them together. Must be a male thing!

Because I want to get the training right and have no room for error due the mightiness of Smoke who seems to be gaining weight everyday- I’ve decided to get professional help with the training.

Curtis Scott dog trainer and dog behaviorist is my choice. check him out at http://www.canisfamiliaris.info

I plan to log my process with the dogs via http://www.youtube.com/mysterymika channel and this wondergeek blog.

All I remember saying was ’please read my stuff’ I’m so embarrassed that I didn’t ask her how she was feeling. Oh my goodness that wasn’t very polite.

Please forgive me Diablo, if you are reading this… I forgot my mature manners… I was simply Star- struck. It was amazing to have such chic adrenaline coursing down my spine. I feel like a teen ager again.

 At 41 years, a lady doesn’t expect much to offer that sort of excitement. Thank you so much for that ageless, weightless moment.  I’ve only jumped so high at Prince concerts. As a matter of fact, I think that my sprained adductor muscles are cured.    

When night time cast it’s velvet cloak over our Skyline- I often pretend that I am jumping worm holes instead driving for miles. My day was spent chatting people up for interviews to add to  http://www.youtube.com/mysterymika all day (talk talk talk)

The girl baby wanted to nurse nurse nurse. She almost seemed like she was coming down with a bug. The stress of that added to me being tottally fried by the time I got on the phone with you. 

On top of that, my pack of hounds where a handful to attempt Socialization. We ended 3 dog outing with the camera being tossed to the ground.

My male dog (Butter) is not digging the fact that there a bigger male (Smoke) sniffing up on his wife Ruby. All of the dogs are fixed but according to the doctor if you neuter your dog later on in his life the tendencies are still in their minds. So right now I am having more trouble getting my docile cock a poo to chill out while Smoke walks freely.

 WHEW. that has nothing to do with Diablo but I’m getting to that part.

 Somehow I put on my dragon lady makeup and went out looking for something for my heart to chew on. (My love life sucks so I’m publically pinnig over it.)

Even though I had just sworn off men again, I notice a very distinguished cap on a cute little head. He was boyish, tall, thin and holding a pack of cigarettes.

He reminded me of being 25 but I’m so not 25. I remembered my oldest son’s dating rule immediately.

“Mom, you can’t date anyone under 30 because if you do they will be closer to my age than yours”

Ever since then, that’s been my rule. 

I don’t think he noticed that I had a crush on him before I started on about my writing and found out that you were his sister.

Anyway, it was nice to speak with you. I hope you enjoy the writing. Let Marc know if you need my number.

What a goof, I didn’t want to waste moments of disbelief rattling out numbers. I’d rather just jump.    

Saturday morning started with the usual grimmy chores. I was settling in for a morning of cleaning out the closets when my babysitter who had spent the night- mentioned a mixed pit bull dog that she had seen being mistreated.

Ten minutes into her story of this dogs living conditions, I was slipping into a canary yellow skirt and  aligning my straw cowboy hat with my curls in preparation to go and pick up the helpless animal.

Is he sick? How close have you been to the dog? Is the dog human/animal aggressive? Is he scratching or bleeding? Not that I have much of a real rescue kit or first aid training in terms of animals but I wanted to know what to tell the vet in order to get him to squeeze our Rescue that same morning.

My plan was to pick up the dog and take him straight to the vet.

The babysitter said that for the past 5 months the dog had been kept locked on a small inclosed back porch. Rarely was he feed or given water. He slept without bedding in his on feces and urine. She described how his back narrowed from malnutrition displaying his spine. The way he sulked through the window she doubted if he had much longer to live.

To make him look intimidating his owner attached a 20 link, thick chain to his 4 inch leather collar. The chain was used as a leash but never removed. When I got the dog to safety the first thing I did after watching him drink nearly a gallon of water- was unscrew that chain.

According to some Pit bull dog lovers and experts Pit bull dogs get a bad reputation due to mismanagement and fight training by humans. One site said that at one time Pit bulls were the number one family dog!

Read more about Pit bulls http://www.midwestrescueabull.org

http://www.pitbullawareness.com

Check for dogs temperment scores at http://www.atts.org     

 How far are you willing to go to make an impact? 

Due to distance and traffic I was unable to get the dog to my vet and had to make a choice of returning the dog to the abusive household, finding a shelter or keeping him at my place until Monday morning. Before I was able to exhale with the dog that I knew very little about in my house I spoke to several people: the vet, a groomer, a dog trainer and a friend who at one time raised Pit Bulls.

Rapid research like this is like a world wind of information flooding and expanding my mind suddenly. It hurts. I keep asking questions until I am confident. Then I pray. I pray for humility with my new found knowlege and the right action for the right reason. 

Within four hours I was given the basics on handling, feeding and cleaning the Pit Rescue dog.

He needed a bath but couldn’t go to a spa without shots etc. His coat is short and slate gray with several patches of missing fur on his tail and behind. His testicals were red from over licking. The volume of flaky skin and dander did a number on my four arms(hives) and sinus. The groomer suggested that I wipe him down with wipes in other words, give him a sponge bath. But no soap.

The biggest problem was going to be safety and were he would sleep. For helath reasons I wanted to keep him separate from my other two dogs. The most logical thing would be to let him sleep on the outside deck but weatherman promised heavy showers and dropping tempers.

I was also leery of bad boys who might have seen him come into my house. It would not be difficult to steal him of my back porch. While I was walking him a kid pulled out $150 and offered it to me on the spot for the dog! 

Still a bit nervous I asked a friend who once bred Pits to stop by and give the rescued dog his once over. My friend could not get to me due to his work schedule until 2:00 am. He reported that he thought the dog was mixed with Boxer and even though he has ‘Battle- cut’ ears, his body didn’t show any signs of fighting. He assured me that the dogs’ temper was very good.

At about 2:30am we took the dog out for a run. My friend said that the dog had had lots of training and was very obedient to voice commands. He had me practice several times with the dog walking on my strongest side.  

Boxer Pit bull is my first Pit rescue. If his vet checks goes well, I’ll sign up for training classes to build my confidence and understanding of commands and handling. If Smoke can manage to get along with Canine Ruby he can live with us.

Please keep track of our progress by subscribing to my http://www.youtube.com/mysterymika channel.

Pro blogger, Darren Rowse http://www.problogger.net has laid it out on a simple to natvigate, easy to cruise silver platter.

Like any Nancy Drew Fan, Mystery Mika enjoyed the thrill of digging up clues in the beginning of the blogging game. However with the crunching economy, the matter of blogging has become more serious.

I am sure that often people feel as though their blogs are having to be placed on the back burner due to having to put more energy into projects that pay. 

It is time saving to have Wonder Geeks like Darren Rowse only a click away to help spotlight marketing portals like http://www.linkworth.com that will help you to become a successful blogger.

Learn more about Mystery Mika’s featured Wonder Geek, Darren Rowse at http://www.probloggerbook.com     

It appears that a WG has the Midas Touch. Somehow the Wonder Geek surpasses us all the first time out the gate.

http://www.stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com was created by Wonder Geeks.