Working-K9: August 2007 Posts

Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Doggie Therapist

Not only am I a canine good citizen and a service dog extraordinaire, but I'm also a miracle working doggie therapist. That's right, you give me an emotionally withdrawn and timorous pup and I'll work to bring out his/her playful nature.

A few months ago I met Savannah while taking my human for a walk. She's a rescue dog and a mutt. She's apparently known several humans and spent a fair bit of time wandering in the desert. Now she has a permanent home with a very nice human lady and her husband.

With her tumultuous upbringing Savannah lacked many social skills; both with humans and dogs. At our first encounter she hid behind her human and wouldn't even let me sniff her butt. Can you believe it! The humans chatted and I tried everything to get Savannah to come greet me. I bowed, I laid down, I offered her my butt for sniffing, I even let her human pet me so she could see that I was a nice dog. Still nothing more than a quick glance behind returning to the safety of the back her human's legs.

On another visit Savannah and her human came down to my humans home so we could play. Again she did little more than hide from me. She'd venture out to sniff around the house but as soon as I got up to initiate play, she'd jump and run back to her human. I tried enticing her with my favorite rope toy and was snubbed rather quickly. Thankfully I am very stubborn and don't give up easily.

On another occasion my human and I went to Savannahs home. I was so excited I could hardly contain myself. I love exploring new places and once that leash was off so was I. I even helped myself to Savannahs food before anyone could stop me. Watching me dart around the house was more than Savannah could handle and it wasn't long before she was giving chase. The chasing quickly lead in to wrestling and finally in to playing. I had done it. I had finally drawn out her inner dog and I loved it. I think she was pretty happy to but more importantly I had made another friend!

Since then we've played a few times, mostly at my humans house which is far more dog proof than most houses. Granted we do tend to get carried away and ok so maybe the kitchen table isn't always where the human left it when we are finished but it's worth it.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007
I Heel

All I ever wanted to be in front. To be the leader, the top dog, the one in charge, the benevolent ruler of all that I survey. I should be in charge anyways. I'm the one taking care of and looking after my human. I enjoy helping my human, she needs me. So is it too much to ask that when we walk I get to go first? Apparently so.

After a year with my human and I battling over who gets to lead the walks, and I was winning, she brought in another trainer. I could just look at this guy and know he wasn't going to let me win. Not to mention he could easily pick me up and put me in my place in a matter of seconds. Not that he ever needed to.

After 30 minutes with him I knew I'd have to heel from now on. Honestly I always knew what was expected of me but simply refused to heel for my human. She's small and I'm stronger so the way I see it, I should be in front. The trainer didn't agree and asserted his dominance over me without ever touching me. Oh I'm being such a wuss.

Now that I'm following, not leading my human seems happier and less apprehensive about taking me out in public. To keep me in place the trainer gave my human some new commands and instructions so she would be able to keep me in check.

As a way to checking up on my progress and behavior my human along with the trainer and his wife and a friend have been hanging out a bit more. Every human in our little group has service dog and we all go out together now and then.

Apparently this fella is going to be coming around a bit more often as I've overheard my human discussing some other small behavioral issues with him. Issues? I have issues? I scoff at that notion.

Tuesday, August 07, 2007
A new playmate

No I'm not talking about the ladies in the magazine.

My humans' cousin stopped over for a visit and her little puppy tagged along. His name is Smokey. He's a Terrier and Spaniel mix. A tiny little thing, I doubt he'll be 20 pounds when fully grown. He's a very cute but rather nervous little fella. I think my size might have been a bit intimidating at first but he did eventually warm up me.

I would have liked to run and chase him around the yard but every time I tried he'd run back to the humans and hide from me. A few minutes later as he worked up some courage he'd come back over to me and we'd play a bit more. As long as I stayed down low he wasn't as skittish.

At one point he became so comfortable he jumped up at my face. Now while I enjoy playing with little dogs the jumping in my face is something I don't care for. With a swift yet gentle wave of my paw I pushed him to the ground and held him there for a moment. I couldn't let the little guy forget who's in charge around here.

During the little play date my human did the unspeakable. That's right; she gave him some of my treats! Naturally I did my best to keep my face between her hand and his mouth to intercept any treats gone astray. My human was not impressed with this and for a time I was forced to sit out back and watch from the window as he was given my goodies.

Naturally she wasn't giving the treats away without just cause. He did learn the "Down" and "Come" commands while my human worked with him. He also tended to jump on people in his excitement; that behavior didn't last long in my humans' house.

I tried to show him a few other tricks like Play Dead and Spin but he lacks any degree of an attention span. Puppies *huff*..

I have a feeling I'll be seeing a lot more of him in the future. His human seems to think my human knows how to train dogs. *laugh*.

Monday, August 06, 2007
I don't like the rain

In reality I don't like being wet at all. I know I'm a retriever, practically a water dog, but that doesn't mean I have to enjoy being wet. In fact I actually despise being wet, damp, or drenched.

You see it all started when I was a puppy. My human took me to a dog park. This dog park had a small lake. I thoroughly enjoyed running along the waters edge. The sand between my toes; my ears flopping in the wind; the light spray of water as I dashed around the shallows, great fun.

I was playing with some other dogs on the shore line when their human tossed a ball in to the small lake. They dashed off after the ball and in the heat of the moment I tagged right long.

No one bothered to tell me that the water would suddenly become deep and I'd have to swim. As I leapt from the shallows in chase of the ball I suddenly found that there was no ground beneath me. I plopped in to the water and for an instant I went under. It was terrible. I had water in my ears and my eyes. It took a moment for me to get my bearings before I could paddle back to shore.

Once on solid ground again I ran over to my human and stared her down. After all, she should have warned me that was going to happen. How dare she let be bound off and nearly drowned. Of course if she had warned me I doubt I would have listened anyway, but since I'm the dog and this is my blog we'll leave the blame on the human.

To this day that experience haunts me and I fear bodies of water and even small pools. I also don't enjoy taking baths, running through sprinklers or getting caught out in the rain. Thankfully I live in Arizona and rain isn't a frequent occurrence. The few times my human has tried to take me out in the rain, even if it's only a slight sprinkle, I resist. Yes she has actually pulled me from the van and dragged me in to walmart because of how much I dislike being wet.

Friday, August 03, 2007
Dinner and a Movie

Finally some fun with friends. As hard as I try to keep my human company I know it does her good to hang out with her own species now and then. Throughout most of the days and weeks it's mostly just the two of us. Not that I mind, I rather enjoy having her all to my self but I know how much she likes being able to carry on a conversation now and then.

So it was, plans were made, and much to my surprise; I got to go too!! In fact it was almost a party of humans and service dogs. Annie brought her human, Bowdie came with his humans and we all met up for a night out on the town. Four humans and three dogs; we did draw a few curious looks but I'm sure they were simply mesmerized by my cute puppy face.

While the humans visited above the table we dogs laid about underneath. I wish they could have found a bigger table however. Bowdie sat on Annie and I became a foot rest for a few of the humans.

After dinner we trotted off down to the movie theatre. I had never been to the movies before but Annie and Bowdie said it would be ok. I trust them and went willingly. The movie was loud, very loud but since I don't understand a word these humans say most of the time, it was also rather boring. So I fell asleep.

Afterwards the humans were all riled up and chatting about the movie while sitting at the edge of the parking lot. I don't understand all the hub-bub and to-do about giant robots that turn in to cars and such but the humans were happy and that's what matters.