February 23, 2012

Surviving the Next Snowstorm

December 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Winter Driving: A little Preparation Makes the Difference in Getting Around

People who have lived for  while in the Cascade foothills area realize that we see some snow during the winter months. The lower elevations in and around Issaquah can receive up to a foot of snow, with greater amounts on the Sammamish [Read more...]

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Hit The Slopes

December 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The Best Way to Make Winter More Fun is to Develop Skiing or Snowboarding Skills

For those who like to race down snowy slopes, the Eastside is one of the best places in the country to live, thanks to the quick access to winter skiing and snowboarding options. Developing proficiency in either winter activity extends residents’ ability to keep active year-round.

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Prescription for Your Pre-Adult Dog

November 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

July 1st, 2011 | By:

Fourth article in a series on training your best friend— your puppy.

In previous articles we guided you through selecting and raising a puppy, and taming a teenage dog. This article focuses on the next stage of your dog’s life: pre-adulthood.

At 18 to 24 months, dogs look nearly full grown. Habits, good or bad, become practiced and ingrained, and the resources a young dog controls are starting to cement for life. Active youngsters are easily bored at this age, and still need plenty of physical exercise, but also mental stimulation, as well as more practice perfecting obedience skills.

So, what can go wrong in this stage? Sadly, owners are often already tired of regular training (this usually happens during the teenage stage) and now give the dog very little direction and supervision. Left to his own devices, a pre-adult dog will often do one of two things: become either overly reactive or frustratingly independent.

  • The overly reactive pre-adult. Overly reactive dogs bark and lunge at other people and other dogs while on-leash. Most of these dogs are actually filled with anxiety and fear. They display aggression when they become anxious, so that whatever is causing their anxiety (unfamiliar people, dogs, etc.) will go away. Owners tend to respond by tightening up on the leash, further alarming the dog, and doing a lot of shushing and petting, which the dog interprets as “Well done! Good dog!” Rewarded behavior is likely to be repeated.
  • The independent pre-adult. Independent dogs, in the absence of meaningful time with their owners, completely disconnect and seek interaction elsewhere. These dogs often bolt out the front door. When they get out to explore the world, they don’t come when called. Why should they? Home is boring. Once home, they try to make life interesting by chewing shoes, jumping on counters and digging in the yard. This type of dog will take what he wants, go where he wants and do what he wants because no one is willing to direct his energy toward productive outlets. Often, the only attention these dogs get is negative attention, which for them is better than none at all.

What, then, should you do with your pre-adult dog?

  • Generalize your dog’s training. Practice commands for longer durations, in new and novel places, at greater distances and around more complex distractions. For example, be sure to practice off-leash gradually; don’t walk on-leash one day, then expect perfect off-leash control the next. Provide interim steps, such as walking on-leash, then letting your pet drag the leash for several minutes while you use only voice commands. When your pet is successful with that, work with a 30-foot-long line. When this is consistently successful, try short off-leash walks. Small, successful steps are the key to ensuring that your dog’s training is solid and will hold up to new circumstances.
  • Exercise with mental stimulation. It is much harder to tire out a nearly grown dog than a young puppy.If your dog is in better shape than you, and you can’t easily tire him out, switch to activities that include more mental work. For example, instead of putting your dog’s food in a bowl, try a Buster Cube. If your dog likes to fetch tennis balls, try throwing a Frisbee instead; trying to figure out where a Frisbee will fly is much more challenging than catching or chasing a straight-in-flight tennis ball. Or, train your dog for a Dock Dogs event—not only will you add swimming as exercise, but your pet will also have to learn to stay and plan a proper takeoff into the water, both highly intellectual activities.

Remember, your pre-adult puppy may in many ways seem like a full-grown adult dog. However, he still very much needs your guidance and steady leadership to ensure that he will continue to develop into a well-trained and well-mannered companion. Slow and steady progress will help your dog master skills and gain confidence.

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Summer Reading for Kids

November 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

July 1st, 2011 | By:

The number one rule for summer reading? Make it fun!

Whether you and the kids are trundling off to the beach, zooming away to distant lands or simply hanging out at home, why not while away those long summer days with a basket of books? Booksellers Lori Mitchell of Island Books (Mercer Island) and Christy McDanold of Secret Garden (Ballard) helped put together a list of surefire favorites.

Picture Books (ages 4 – 8)

Summer shade, a cozy lap and a just-right book—do lazy days with little ones get any better than that?

  • Good Night Sam and companion book Good Morning Sam, newly available in paperback, from Marie-Louise Gay’s delightful Stella and Sam series. Sam can’t sleep and big sister Stella is, as always, there to help him work things out. With soft, flowing water colors and tongue-in-cheek humor, Gay tells a story that is perfect for young siblings.
  • Adelaide by Tomi Ungerer, reissued from 1959, a fun romp about a flying kangaroo whose curiosity takes her on adventures around the world.
  • Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator, by Mo Willems. Tender, surprising and funny, Amanda’s friendship with her stuffed alligator hits a bump when a surprising new friend enters the scene.
  • Morning in Maine and Blueberries for Sal, two summertime classics by Robert McCloskey. A 1952 Caldecott honor book, Morning in Maine is a warm, well-told story about Sal, a character both boys and girls will relate to, who loses a tooth while mucking for clams on a summer vacation with her family.

Middle Grade (ages 8 to 12)

Summer is perfect for books that speak of quieter times.

  • The Friendship Doll, by Seattle author Kirby Larson. Based on the Japanese ambassador dolls exchanged in the 1920’s to ease cultural tensions, Larson’s newest book tells the tale of four girls and the doll that changed their lives.
  • The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy. by Jeanne Birdsall. This National Book Award winner is a about the sweet, funny Penderwick sisters (ages 4 – 12), social misfits who spend the summer in a Berkshire cottage where they befriend Jeffrey, son of their pretentious landlady, and plot to save him from being sent to military school.
  • Scorpia Rising: The Final Mission, is the ninth and final book in Anthony Horowitz’s NY Times bestselling action-packed series about Alex Rider, a teenage spy whose adventures often mirror real-world issues.
  • The Throne of Fire, second in Rick Riordan’s latest series. Carter Kane and his sister, Sadie, use unusual powers to battle gods of Ancient Egypt released into our world. Perfect for fans of the wildly popular Percy Jackson books
  • Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright. Cousins Portia and Julian share a magical summer adventure discovering an (almost) abandoned Victorian village. Published in 1957, this summertime classic has a timeless feel.

Young Adult (age 12 and up)

Perfect for the beach bag or camp locker.

  • Honey Baby Sweetheart by Deb Caletti of Issaquah. It’s the summer of her junior year and quiet, shy Ruby McQueen falls for Travis who is rich, handsome and, as she discovers, dangerous. Teens will root for Ruby who makes some bad decisions while traveling down the road toward wisdom.
  • Feed by M.T. Anderson. This brilliant first-person satire about consumerism and corporate power takes place in a world where teens are connected directly to information, media and one another via implanted computer chips—“Feeds.” A computer virus forces the main character, Titus, to see things differently.
  • Matched by Ally Condie. Fans of Collins’ The Hunger Games and Lowry’s The Giver will be drawn to this romance set in a dystopian world where everything is perfect—or maybe it isn’t.
  • The Dark City by Catherine Fisher. For fantasy fans, the first of four books to be released, one each month, until the end of summer. Here, in the mysterious, ancient world of Anara, sixteen-year old apprentice, Raffi, accompanied by a young woman named Carys, searches for a relic with power to potentially save a crumbling world.
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