FitDog Friday: Tug DIY

Almost two years ago, I shared this brief DIY tutorial on how to make a fleece tug toy. I still use that method to make most of the tug toys I use with my dogs, though I often vary it to make a spiral pattern instead of a square. This past weekend, I ended up going through five tugs for Koira. Some of them just got so nasty from the dirt and dog slobber combination that I threw them away. Others ended up being sliced up by Koira, who apparently has a new habit of chewing her tugs apart (for the first time in her life!).

Going through 5 tugs in a weekend made me want to learn a quicker way of making new tugs. A team mate of mine has a dog who goes through a tug about every 2-3 races, and she uses a four strand braid rather than a four strand weave like my previous tutorial. So this morning, I set out to teach myself how to make them, and decided to do a tutorial for you guys as well.


First step with any tug project is to cut up your fleece. I like to cut it into 4-5 inch wide strips, as it makes the final product beefy enough to give the dog a good grip. Using a straight edge and rotary cutter makes the entire process much faster, but you can of course use scissors as well if that is all you have. I cut up enough strips for at least a few tugs at a time so I don't have to pull the cutting mat back out all the time.

Piles of fleece to cut

Using a straight edge, rotary cutter, and cutting mat to cut fleece strips

A pile of fleece strips once they are cut

Then, separate out four strips. Each of these is just the width of a piece of fleece. I find it gives a decent length tug, but you can cut fleece lengthwise for longer tugs as well. I like to use two sets of two matching fleece strips. The picture below has two lengths of pink plaid fleece, and two lengths of a pink and dark pink valentine fleece. You can use any different colors, or all the same, I just find it is easier when learning to use sets like this.

Four strips of fleece; two are pink with writing, two are light pink plaid

Next, tie a knot in your four strips as near to one end as possible.

Tie your knot in the end

Then, separate out the different kinds of fleece so the matching strips are opposite each other. You may have to manhandle them a bit right next to the knot to get started, but it will look fine later.

You kind of have to force the strips into this position right next to your knot when starting out, but they will look fine once you start braiding them

Now, you braid them all together. The easiest way for me to do it was to do each matching set at a time. I would take the top strip down towards me, across the knot, and to the right of the matching strip. Then take the other matching strip up towards the top and to the left of its matching strip. It should look something like this.

Each of the pink plaid strips flipped over. The one that was on the top is now on the bottom to the right, and the one that started on the bottom is now on the top to the left

Another view of the strips. This one shows how I like to separate the strips out with my fingers while braiding, and a bit of the started four strand round braid

Then, cross the next pair, flipping the one on the right to the left and to the top of the other one, and then the one on the left flips to the right and on the bottom. You can pull them tight as you go or leave them loose. This one was done pretty loose.

I apparently didn't get any pictures of flipping the strips with writing on them, but it is basically the exact same thing, but side to side instead of top to bottom.

Just keep repeating until you get close to the end of your fleece strips, then tie a knot in the end like you did at the beginning. And boom, fleece tug toy.

This is the first one I did. I pulled it tight sometimes, and sometimes was putting the fleece strips to the wrong side of each other. Which means the final product is a bit random in color and kind of lumpy. It is still perfectly useable, though.

You can see this one is a little wonky in size and pattern, but it is still just as usable.

And then, here is all four tugs I was able to make using that pile of cut fleece you see up top.

Different width strips and different types of fleece, as well as how tight you pull the braid, will change how thick the final product is.

Big handful of tugs. 

Hopefully, since we practice on mats and are running on mats at our next tournament, these four tugs will last for a little while at least. You can kind of get an idea of the length of them in this picture. New like this, each tug reached a bit above my waist from the ground. They will stretch out with use though as well, but they start out much longer than the four strand weave style tug in my previous tutorial. You can of course make them shorter or longer by starting out with shorter or longer fleece strips. I like the nice long tugs for flyball, since it gives my dog a large visible target when recalling.

Dog Tongues

So, I had a bit of a mixed reaction from people about the dog tongue photos.

So long and shiny

Not so much here on the blog (that I have heard about, at least!), but on my personal Facebook page. Some people think dog tongues are totally adorable, and love the photos.

Perfect curl

Other people are telling me it is totally gross, and they wish I hadn't posted those pictures where they have to see them.

Sloped like a slide at an amusement park

I guess it never actually occurred to me that people might think dog tongue pictures are gross to look at.

A decorative curl

I've always thought dog tongues were adorable, and I've tried for a long time to get awesome photos of my dogs' tongues.

Furled at the edges

And when I was bored the other day and went out to take some pictures of my dogs eating peanut butter, I remembered a screen saver I had seen years ago, of a puppy cleaning the inside of the computer monitor.

Stuck inside the computer, working hard

I thought it would be total genius to try to do the same thing, but of my dogs.

Man, who spilled peanut butter inside the monitor?

And then, I was so proud of how they turned out.

Look at that big flat tongue.

In fact, my current desktop is a slideshow of all of these dogs-licking-the-inside-of-the-monitor pictures.

The peanut butter may be gone, but the drool may not be entirely streak-free

So now I want to know. What do you think about dog tongues?

Working hard to get the last of the streaks gone.

If I haven't totally grossed you out and scared you away from my blog forever, please let me know! Either leave me a comment with your opinion of dog tongues, or fill out the survey below. Are dog tongues totally gross? Am I crazy for taking and sharing pictures of them? Or are dog tongues totally adorable, and you want a how-to post on how to get a picture of your dog to clean the inside of your computer monitor?

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Journey of Blogging Photography, Part Two: Your First DSLR

So, in Part One, I shared some pictures from before I purchased my first DSLR camera. It certainly is not required to own a DSLR to take photos, or to share those photos on your blog. However, I do believe that if your goal is to improve your photography, a DSLR is necessary equipment.

Choosing your camera

Decide first whether you want to start small or go big. You might decide to go small because you aren't sure you are going to like a DSLR and don't want to make a huge investment in something you never use. Your budget might push you there. You might want to go big because you have the money for a big purchase and believe you will use it a lot. There is nothing at all wrong with either of these choices.

I went small. I found a small, local used and new camera store in my area (Focal Point Photography in Dallas, OR for those in my area who may be interested). I went into the store knowing my budget. I talked to the owner of the store for a while, letting him know what I planned to use the camera for (indoor high speed sports like flyball being my main interest), what my experience was (nill, in regards to DSLRs), and what my budget was. He hooked me up with a Canon EOS Rebel XT and a 50mm 1.8 prime lens. He also spent some time going over the basics with me and showing me how to use my new camera. That part of the interaction was invaluable, and made it well worth going to a camera shop rather than purchasing a camera off Craigslist or similar. 

First and most important (and stated everywhere in basic photography guides) is to take you camera off the Automatic settings. I won't go so far as to tell you to put it on Manual all the time, though. I didn't. When I tried, my pictures were horrible and I got discouraged. Instead, try starting out with Program. It is like the automatic settings, in that it will choose aperture and shutter speed for you, but has more flexibility. Mostly, you can choose your own ISO and your own focus point, which you can not do in the automatic settings. Program mode will help you get some good photos while also helping you learn what you are doing.

As you start off taking your first pictures, pay attention to the settings that the camera chooses. If you really love how a photo turns out, make sure to note the aperture and the shutter speed. Paying attention now, when you shoot in Program, will help you out later, when you are trying to figure out what settings to use in a certain situation. Faster shutter speeds are not always better. Large apertures (small numbers) are not always better. 

At some point, you will likely notice something you don't like in Program. Maybe the camera is choosing too slow of a shutter speed and making your fun action shots all blurry. Maybe the aperture is not giving you the nice blurred background you were picturing when you set up a shot. This is the point where you will want to start experimenting with your manual modes. There are three of them: Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, and Manual. Shutter priority has you setting the shutter speed, but the camera choosing aperture. Aperture priority is the opposite, with you choosing aperture and the camera automatically deciding the shutter speed. Manual is where you are choosing everything, including aperture, shutter, and ISO. 

If you enjoy a structured learning situation and are looking to move out of Program, this 31 Day to a Better Photo course is awesome. It is free, a fun challenge, and a good way to learn a ton about your camera. I wouldn't personally do it until you get more of a feel for your camera and are comfortable at least messing around with the different settings, but just want to improve your overall knowledge and quality of photos. You could jump right in the day you pick up your camera, though, if you are willing to spend time reading your manual and really work on it. If you are a blogger, you can even post the different challenges and see if your readers want to follow along with your, or start a blog hop with other bloggers.

You don't have to do a specific learning course, though. You can teach yourself through trial and error. Just make sure that you don't miss a once-in-lifetime event (like a wedding) by sitting there messing with your camera buttons!

Say you are taking pictures of your dog playing fetch or running/playing. Your camera is choosing a shutter speed that is leaving the dogs blurry. So, you take the big plunge and switch over to Shutter Priority mode for the first time. Before you switch over, make sure to look at what shutter speed the camera was using in Program mode. Now, flip your dial over to shutter priority and make the shutter faster than it was in Program. You don't have to go overboard. If the camera was using 300 and the pictures were just a bit blurry, step it up to 450. There is no need to go straight to 2000! Of course, you can also just start up at a high shutter speed and then adjust it back down until the lighting is bright enough and the motion is stopped. 

You can do the same thing, of course, with aperture. Use the camera's choices in Program mode as a starting off point, and then adjust from there.

At some point, you will probably be in Aperture Priority and realize that the camera is making the shutter speed way too slow, or the other way around. And that, my friends, is when you will switch into Manual.

Patience is a virtue. No one gets amazing pictures right off the bat. Expect to get some totally blown out, over exposed pictures when you forget to put your ISO back down when shooting in full sun at the park after taking a cute picture the night before of your dog settling down for bed. You will miss some shots. It happens. But as you learn and get better, you won't only get a so-so shot of an amazing moment, you will learn how to get amazing shots of amazing moments, and even how to make so-so moments look amazing in pictures. 

I wouldn't have believed it when I first got my Canon XT, but I now shoot almost exclusively in Manual. But it has taken me almost a full year and a half to get there. Many pro photographers still use the Priority modes as preference in their shooting. And I still use Program sometimes, if I just need to get the once-in-a-lifetime shot.

How To: Photo Editing With Lightroom

Yesterday, I shared a few photos from the park with Koira, and how I went about shooting them. I also asked if anyone would be interested in seeing my process for editing photos- and you said yes. So here it is. Also, at the bottom of the post, I included links to download my favorite Lightroom presets, so enjoy!

I currently use Lightroom 4 for photo editing. It is my favorite editing program that I have ever used. I feel like it is easy, fast, and gives great results. That said, I have previously used other editing software. You don't have to go out and buy Lightroom to make your photos good.

The first, and most important, photo editing tip that anyone can ever give you is to take good photos to start with. No editing software in the world is able to fix a photo that is out of focus or taken from the wrong angle. In my opinion, at least, post processing should simply be used to enhance an already good photograph into a great one. Keep in mind, though, that everyone has their own style- what I like may not be what you like, and vice versa. And that is okay!

Here is a really simple example.

The Before photo was a good photo. It is exposed properly, has decent framing, correct focus, and the dog is looking adorable. The After photo is very similar but, in my opinion at least, it is also much better. The colors are more vibrant and the dog's eyes are sharper and more expressive. But none of that would matter if the dog was out of focus!

Here is a bit more obvious of an example.

The Before photo is good. The dog is in focus, there is a definite feeling of motion. But, the After photo is more vibrant, sharper, the dog pops and is more obvious. The dust cloud behind the dog looks more like a dust cloud from motion and less like an out of focus haze. I know I strongly prefer the After photo.

Okay. So, lets get down to it. How, exactly, do I go from the Before photo to the After one? I am going to assume that you have Lightroom and know how to import photos. My personal preference is to use Presets. Presets are basically a way of saving all of the changes made to a photo so that you can apply them to a different photo all in one click. You can see in the below screenshot that there is a list of Presets on the far left hand side under the preview picture.

A view of my screen in Lightroom

I almost always edit photos in the Develop mode, though I will sometimes apply a preset to an entire collection of photos from the Library dashboard as well. The above screenshot is in the Develop mode. Along the bottom of the screen are the photos you can select to work with. Click on a photo to work with it. If you then hover your mouse over different presets, the preview picture in the top left corner will show you a preview of what that preset will look like once applied to the photo. Click on the preset to apply it to the photo. (Ctrl+z is Undo if you make a mistake and want to go back.) 

In the above screenshot, you can see in the preview picture that the preset would seriously over expose and wash out the photo.

Important to note is that most presets can not be layered on top of each other. For the most part, applying a preset will override any previous editing you have done to the photo. Apply your preset first, then go in and tweak the settings if needed. A few presets edit just a single thing in a photo, such as color curves or sharpening, and can be used with other presets.

You can apply a preset to an image and call it done, and it is literally a one-click edit. You can get some pretty decent results from doing this. I think it is a great method for pictures that you plan to share (on your blog, on Facebook, etc), but that don't ultimately mean a whole lot to you. One click makes them good enough to share and saves you a ton of time. I especially use one click edits when I take hundreds of pictures at an event (like a lure coursing weekend), since most of the photos will only be looked at once or twice and then forgotten. I can always go back in and do more edits to a photo later if the need arises.

One-click edit using the preset Faithful

Of course, how the final photo looks after applying the preset depends a lot on what the original photo looks like! So, results may vary depending on the out of camera photos you are working with.

Because I love all of you guys, I decided to put together a small collection of my favorite, most often used presets to share with you. You can access and download them here on Google Docs. I included my six current favorite presets. Feel free to download them, try them out, tweak them your way, resave them as something else, etc. They are yours to use. To install, click on the link. click the preset you want, then click download. Note where the file is being downloaded to. Then open Lightroom, go into Develop, and right click on one of your folders of Presets. Select Import, then select the file you just downloaded. It should be good to go!

A little bit about each of the presets, to help you get started with them. 

Faithful is a very basic preset. I used to use it all the time, and still use it in certain circumstances. I often end up going back in to edit the exposure after applying it, or do other tweaking, but it can do a lot for getting a picture close to where you want it to go.

Eye Pop is probably my most used preset. I find that it works great on a variety of photos to give an extra boost of color, a bit of extra umph, and that it especially does wonders for a dog's eyes. It can do some funky things to human skin sometimes though.

Curves Pop and Curves Pop Matte are two of those rare presets that can be used on top of other presets. They only change the tone curve. Curves Pop makes your colors and blacks more vibrant, while Curves Pop Matte does the same thing, but also applies a mild matte effect as well.

Before/After with Eye Pop and Curves Pop Matte

Flyball is the preset I use for editing indoor dog sports such as flyball and agility. Since those situations generally have poor lighting but require fast shutter speeds, I normally have to crank up the ISO. The Flyball preset does some lightening and also smooths out some of the noise.

Smooth As Silk is a very basic smoothing preset. It can be applied on top of other presets. I normally use it to smooth out grain from high ISO, but you can also use it to create a softer look on photos without much grain to start with.

When you are done editing your photos, whether you spent two seconds selecting and applying a preset and left it at that, or spent an hour tweaking all the little things that could possibly be tweaked, head back over to the library. Select the photos you worked on and click export. Fill out the export dialog to name the files, put them in the proper folder, resize them, or apply a watermark. Then export and share!

Edited with Faithful, then adjusted the exposure and temperature 

I hope you enjoyed reading a bit about how I edit photos. Please let me know if I didn't explain something clearly enough, or if you have any questions, please ask!

You can also find additional Lightroom Presets in many places on the internet. This website has a good collection of presets. I tend to lean toward clean edits that just enhance the photo to look more like what you see in real life, but many people make presets to create many different looks. It all depends on what you like in your own photos.

Wordless Wednesday: Painting

I painted Koira. Painting obviously is not my life's calling, but I'm pretty happy with the finished products.

Full body

The adorable head part

FitDog Friday: How to Make a Spring Pole

So, the spring pole is probably my new favorite way to exercise Koira. She absolutely loves this thing, and I don't have to do anything. Koira just grabs onto the spring pole and starts tugging away. From watching her, I think it is probably an amazing workout for her core more than anything else.

Do you think your dog might love a spring pole of their own? If so, the first thing you should do is make sure they are legal to own in your area. Spring poles are often classified as dog fighting paraphernalia, along with dog specific treadmills, collars wider than 2 inches, and other things that have nothing whatsoever to do with dog fighting. However, because of this, it is a good idea to check with your local animal control to make sure owning a spring pole won't get you arrested. I called my local animal control officer before building one just to make sure.

Now, don't let all that scare you off. I really do think that a spring pole is an excellent tool for conditioning your dog.

Alright, lets get into the fun part. I built a spring pole for eight dollars. These are the supplies:

1 spring
1 rope
1 place to hang

The spring I chose- it is firm but with a little give when I pull hard on it- just perfect

What I used was an eight dollar spring from the local hardware store. Many other tutorials recommend garage door springs. I found, when I looked at them, that the garage door springs were too long for the location I have for my spring pole, as well as being quite a bit more expensive. So far, this lighter weight spring is working great.

The lead rope, knotted along its length, attached to the spring with a carabiner 

The rope part of the spring pole is for the dog to grab onto. For mine, I used an old lead rope, like for a horse, that I happened to have on hand. I got the lead rope for free from the local new and used tack store since it was really well worn. If you don't have one of these just laying around, you can use any number of other things. Any type of relatively thick rope, a fleece tug toy, etc. Just keep an eye on what you do choose to use to make sure it is easy for your dog to grab onto and doesn't wear out super fast. I tied knots in the lead rope to help give the dogs a place to grip and not just slide down the rope. The latch on my lead rope was broken (running it over with a lawnmower does that apparently), so I also ended up using a carabiner to attach the rope to the spring. You can do this with your rope as well, or find some other way to attach it. Just make sure it is secure.

The spring hooked onto the swing set using the hooks previously used to hold the swings

The best place to hang the spring pole will be very dependent on what you have around and how your dog likes to use it. I chose to use an old swing set frame that I use in the summer for hanging hammocks in the yard. It is pretty low, but Koira prefers having her feet on the ground while playing with the spring pole, so it works for us. Plus, it has the handy hooks from where the swings used to attach that I could just slip the spring's hook onto and be in business. Other good places to hang a spring pole would be an overhead beam (if inside, on a patio, etc) or from a tree. Whatever you choose, give it a few good strong tugs before letting your dog at it to make sure it is nice and secure.

The whole set up- spring attached to the swing set frame, rope attached to the spring, ready for action

Then, have at it.

Koira getting started with the spring pole

If your dog is an avid tugger, it should be really simple to get them interested in the spring pole. Just initiate a game of tug using the spring pole rope, then let go so they are tugging against the spring. Most dogs who love tugging will love spring poles. The spring makes it much more fun than a totally stationary toy because it tugs back and gives when they tug.

Tugga tugga

As you can see, Koira totally loves her spring pole. I loop the rope up over the swing set frame when we are not using it to keep her from going crazy on it all the time. Using the spring pole is a seriously intense workout for a dog who is really into it.

Dogs should be limited in how long they can use the spring pole, especially at first. Start with no more than five minutes of tugging and gradually build up to longer periods of time. I would recommend no more than 15 minutes in a single session even once the dogs is used to using the spring pole. Instead, make your dog take a break and do something else for a while.

I also want to add, it is very important to supervise interactions with the spring pole. You want to check the spring, rope, and support mechanisms before every use to make sure none of them will break while the dog is playing. You also want to watch during play to make sure there aren't any problems such as broken equipment, the dog getting tangled or stuck in the rope, or other issues. Basically, better to be safe than sorry, so make the spring pole a toy with supervision only.

Also, while Koira likes having her back feet on the ground to play with the spring pole, and Pallo likes having at least his back feet and sometimes his front feet on the ground as well, some dogs will prefer leaping up and grabbing the spring pole much higher, so their entire body is dangling. This is perfectly fine, but you want to make sure you mount the spring pole high enough that the dog won't accidentally grab the spring when they jump. If either of my dogs turns into a jump grab and hang spring pole style, I will need to find a new place to put it, because it would be too low where it is.

And of course, don't forget to take funny pictures of your dog hanging on the rope! You might have to wait a while to get them totally obsessed with the spring pole first, before you go sticking a camera in their face, but once they are totally into it, you can get some pretty awesome pictures. I am trying to come up with a way to mount the GoPro on the spring pole looking down, and see what it can get.

Lastly, here is a video of Koira using the spring pole. You can see how much of a core workout she is getting when she tugs at the spring pole. Don't be fooled by the lack of major motion- this is a major workout and your dog will get tired. Always supervise, and have them drop the rope and end the game before they get too tired or get bored of playing with it. Keep it interesting and fun!