I’ve been working on integrating the Microsoft Kinect, the Wiimote (from the Wii console) and various other hardware to allow a user to control events on a PC without looking at it. To me this is the first step towards things like VR, military training simulators, real-time sound effects for live stage performances, and research. Here are two scripts I’ve written recently.
The last few posts have been general personal information. While Kiya is still doing very good, I wanted to take a moment to highlight Biggs Production’s first large scale job. Thanks to Beau Fodor, our little crew had the opportunity to film at Bras for the Cause and capture their yearly Gala event. This was a huge opportunity for us. While we had never done a project on this scale before, we where able to adapt to changing conditions and seamlessly operate in the background of the event. I’m happy to say that our team captured some amazing video and audio, to include over 15 sit-down interviews, interviews on the move, and B roll footage, without disrupting the event in any way.
Due to school and Army Drill, Its taken me a while to finish editing this project, but today I’ve finally put the last touch on it. As soon as I get approval for the third song’s use, and an OK from Beau, this project will be complete.
She likes my bed more than I do!
Life can be seen as a series of challenges, or a series of successes. It seems to me that successes tend to come after challenges, so to be challenged is to have many opportunities to succeed. This month I took on three major obstacles at once. I started my first semester of college, I moved into my first apartment (Military barracks don’t count), and I adopted a dog. I was worried I might have chosen the wrong place to live, paid too much or ran into pay problems. I was concerned that my GI bill might not come through, or that college might be far to difficult for me, and oddly, above all else, I was concerned that I might have taken on too much by adopting a wolf-dog with more energy than 4 normal dogs. None of these concerns will be laid to rest any time soon, but I can say for sure that things are looking up so far.
I’ve been to all of my classes and got a feel for what is required of me. English is shockingly easy, covering run on sentences and comma usage. I mix up my ‘than’ and ‘then’s quite a bit but I feel like I have a reasonable grasp on the basics of English. Art 101 is ambiguous nonsense that is chocked up to memorizing the names of artists and pretending to agree with the ‘established’ view of art. History might be a little harder though because I’ve never done well with raw memorization. Finally there is Intro to Film; A class on Fridays where we watch a movie and talk about it… Yes I do get credit for that. No I don’t know why.
The apartment seems to be working out just fine. Both of my parents were an enormous help getting me moved in/out. I’ve got all my crap moved in, and space to keep it somewhat organized. My daily challenge is dealing with the dogs, not life on my own. Zac and I had introduced Athena and Kiya early on to help smooth this transition but there are oddities of dog behavior that couldn’t have been accounted for. It turns out Kiya is a saint! It was clear from the start she was a very accommodating dog, but every day I find another reason why she is wonderful. She has never had an ‘accident’ in the house. She tells me when she needs out, and doesn’t have to go every 20 minutes. She doesn’t chew on wires or expensive items. She doesn’t shed much as long as I keep her brushed. I couldn’t have asked for more, but her behavior is only so shining when she is the only dog around.
The Xbox and projector take up a lot of our time
Athena is great in her own right. She is super playful, easy to handle outside and quick to learn. The problem is, she is extraordinarily territorial and possessive. Zac’s room is her biggest hot button. If Kiya walks in, she attacks ferociously. This wouldn’t be a big deal, but Kiya happens to be a bit of an instigator. If we let them do their own thing, often times they will do the exact same thing over and over for hours. Kiya will sneak, crawl, or walk int Zac’s room. Athena will grown and make unearthly sounds before lunging and viciously attacking, running Kiya out of the room. Then Kiya will turn around and start back in again. Over and over. If we close off Zac’s room, the dogs play together nicely… at first. Eventually someone’s feelings get hurt and it turns into a brawl. Most of the combat gets broken up as soon as we can manage, but the dogs seem to love it. Just like with Zac’s room, they will repeat this process over and over for hours without stopping. To make things even more confusing, we’ve found that putting the dogs out on the patio stops the fighting. They sit outside and interact like sisters.
I don’t think this behavior is standard ‘pecking order’ business. To me it seems to be poor social habits and misunderstanding. Kiya seems to think that biting another dog’s neck is the only way to play. When Athena gets serious, Kiya still thinks they are playing. Eventually she gets beat up too much, or Athena gets a good bight in, and she’ll come ruining to me, but before you know it they’re back at it again. Athena is deathly afraid that another dog will take her food (because her siblings stole from her when she was younger) so she defends her room like it is life or death. She also will eat any dog food left out if she is hungry or not. If its out, she must have it.
The behavior problems seem to be improving rapidly though. We break up the playfights when they’ve been at it for too long, or when it gets too rough. I’m teaching Kiya to stay out of Zac’s room to avoid the problem all together, and the use of ‘soft’ punishments like the deck or carrying the dogs to different rooms seems to be working. Its just going to take some time.
Athena in her 'territory.'
On the bright side of all this, both dogs get a lot of exercise without even being outside. I was worried that Kiya would have way too much energy and that she would need a long run and a walk each day to keep her happy. So far she’s doing fine with walks and bathroom breaks outside. I’ve tried running with her, but she still doesn’t understand walking on a leash very well. If I keep her on a shorter leash, she does much better at staying on track, but while running she will often veer in-front of me to go after a scent and nearly kill us both. Other than the occasional relapse, every walk is better than the last. The apartment doesn’t seem too small for the two dogs, and having three people around to play with them helps too.
Kiya likes having access to the whole place (save for Zac’s room). I ended up not kennel training her because she seems to be deathly afraid of kennels, but she sleeps all night in my room with no problems. She’ll get up several times a night for water, and to come make sure I’m still there, but otherwise she is fine until morning. Today she figured out how to open the trash can, how to open unlatched doors, how to move the curtains so she can see outside, and that toilets never run out of water.
Speaking of being impressed by Kiya, last weekend I went to the Old Threshers Reunion in Mt. Pleasant Iowa and brought her along. She handled the crowds of people and loud machines wonderfully. Sadly I don’t have any pictures of us there because I didn’t carry my camera in the first time. The second time when I did bring my camera, I left her at my grandparents house where she broke her leash chasing a rabbit. It was a good thing she decided to come back a moment later and someone caught her.
Old Threshers Reunion
Here is the best picture of her so far. She fell asleep upside down the other night.
Kiya passed out on her back
Yesterday, after I had already posted, a few important things happened. I originally planned to have Zac’s dog Athena and Kiya meet at the dog park after I walked her there. I figured, neutral territory, both dogs would have less energy and it might go over smoother. Athena actually needed to go to the vet, so she wasn’t going to the park that day. Instead, Zac brought her over to my parents house afterwords. Athena is known to be the alpha with most of her friends, so this could go south quickly.
As soon as Kiya saw Athena, she went crazy. She REALLY wanted to check out this new dog, but I had to get her off the leash first. Once I managed to get my hands on her collar, I let her go, and Zac unleashed Athena. It was a tense few minutes. Kiya wasn’t trying to be threatening, she was just so excited that she couldn’t hold still. Athena was afraid of this big scarey looking dog that came running up to her, and for a few minutes she ran away trying to hid behind me or Zac. Eventually she realized that Kiya just wanted to sniff her, and before long they were running around the yard together. Athena would chase Zac, and Kiya would chase Athena. Kiya would do big laps around the yard and then make a run for Athena, only to break off at the last second and zoom right past her. At no point did they do anything that had us worried. It seemed Kiya is smart enough to know not to play too rough with a younger dog, probably a benefit of coming from a foster home with children.
Kiya and Athena hanging out
This was the first time she had been off the long leash in the yard without me being right next to her. I had been given fare warning that she could jump fences, but I was more concerned about her meeting Athena while off the leash. The experts say never to introduce two dogs while they’re leashed because they feel more vulnerable. I’m hoping eventually Kiya will respond to her name strongly enough to not run from me. Name response and recall are high up on the list of things for her to learn.
I also visited the pet store yesterday. It was hard not to spend half a grand in treats and toys. I picked up three different kinds of treats so I could find out what she really liked. I need a highly desirable treat for training. This turned out to be Beggen-strips by the way. I also got a retracting leash, a 30 foot extension for the yard leash so she could explore more of the big space, a knot-free big rawhide bone that she loves to bury next to trees, a training clicker and a dog mat that she won’t lay on yet. I’m guessing its too hot as it is, so a soft fuzzy mat doesn’t look real appealing to her right now. I’m sure in the winter she’ll take more interest in it.
For now I did not buy a kennel. Not only were the large wire kennels expensive, but I don’t feel the need for one just yet. She does just fine outside on the long leash, and hasn’t so much as licked a pare of shoes or household item inside where she sleeps at night. I’m continually impressed with her temperament and good habits. She doesn’t even bark much! And when she does, its more of a howl-bark that is not annoying like a normal dog bark can be. Maybe its that parental reaction in me again.
Kiya making yet another perfect picture.
Today I have to get to work early (5 Pm to 3 AM) so I won’t be able to do much with her, but I’m hoping to get a good walk in along with as much petting as she can stand.