Working-K9: June 2007 Posts

Friday, June 29, 2007
Speak

I learned a new trick today. I have been working on this one a very long time, oh and mom has been helping – can't forget her. Until today I just didn't understand what mom and teacher wanted from me. Let's face it; I have a very thick skull sometimes.

I saw Jovie today and she was barking on command and getting lots of treats for doing it. I sat there and wiggled a lot, tried looking cute, tried giving kisses; I even brought teacher a chew toy and still didn't get a treat!

Finally I decided that Joives' noise was distracting teacher from my cuteness so I let out a quick bark to let her know that I was still around. What do you know; I got a treat for it! Normally I'm not allowed to bark in public so this was a first and for awhile I wasn't sure if I should bark again or not. I mustered up the courage and did a quick check to make sure the squirt bottle was still safely put away and let out another quick bark. Another treat followed.

It wasn't long after I finally realized that if I barked when told to it was actually a good thing.

Monday, June 25, 2007
I Drool

Yes it's shocking I know, and a bit of a surprise that I'm willing to admit it but it's true. I tend to drool, and when I'm not drooling I like to keep my tongue moist so I can give slobbery wet kisses to all who come within reach.

I'm a lover after all; I love everyone, and to show my affection I lick and slobber. I don't discriminate between species either. I'm just has happy licking another dog's face or nibbling on the ear as I am licking a humans hand or toes.

My need to lick and the tendency for my licking to be very wet has earned me the nickname "Slobber Beast". I'm not sure what that means exactly but it's a term my mom uses now and then when I just can't stop myself from the relentless act of licking her arm.

When my mouth starts to dry out I quickly dash off to the water bowl to replenish my drool reservoir.

It's an addiction I can not break and all of my moms' efforts to help me break this addiction have also failed. All her efforts haven't been in vain mind you. I have gotten better about not sneaking up behind people and giving them a quick wet kiss on the back of the leg at the grocery store. Apparently that wasn't such a good thing for a service dog to be doing but it sure was fun!

Friday, June 15, 2007
All Quiet Around Here

It's been awhile since my last post, mostly because nothing interesting has happened lately. My human is still recovering from surgery and isn't allowed to start walking on her new hip yet.

All the while I have little to nothing to do. Actually I think my human is as bored as I am. Granted I've been asked to help with doors a few times and flip a few lights on and off but for the most part, we both just sit and watch TV.

On a few occasions Kevinmiller has been kind enough to come over with his human in tow to escort me on a walk. That is always fun. The other day Raine came by for a visit and we got to play as the humans had dinner. Naturally we spent equal time pleading for table scraps as we did wrestling around the yard.

Yesterday we even went out to the mall for a quick practice of my "Stay" command. That wasn't much fun for me but my sweet and pathetic facial expressions did afford a lot of laughter and giggles. Even though I didn't want to stay put I did. I was determined to be a good little dog in the hopes we'd get out of the house again soon. I'm still quite hopeful and trying to be patient.

Friday, June 01, 2007
Shut The Door

I learned this once already. Why do I need to do it again, and why is slamming the door shut by jumping on it such a bad thing anyways? I'll tell you why. It's because humans like to take something simple and complicate it. I will never understand humans, but I really want those addictive treats so I will do my best to comply.

Opening a door is usually fairly simple and for that I get to use my paws. I love using my paws. If I'm not scratching up a door, I'm tearing at the light switch or holding my rawhide chew at the optimum angle for maximum chewing.

Closing a door is also pretty easy. I run up to it, jump up on my hand legs and throw my paws in to the door slamming it shut with a victorious BANG to signal to all of my great accomplishment. People jump and yell and I get a tre.. Wait! Where is my treat! What do you mean I did it wrong?

Apparently after months of closing the doors my regardless of what my human says wasn't going to cut it anymore. Back to the teacher for more lessons. Fine by me, I love teacher!

A new word was introduced in class. This time it's shut the door, not open the door and they want me to use nose to shut the door. This makes no sense to me. Jumping up and using my paws is so much easier. Why use my delicate yet cold and wet nose to push it shut? That I simply refused to do, so the teacher decided I could use my head or side to nudge the door shut. I'm still not impressed with this idea but if it'll get treats heading in my direction I may be willing to make a small concession.

Naturally my innate stubbornness won't allow me to simply do as I'm told. Besides I've learned that when dealing with humans you need to make sure they really know what they want before giving in. They are far too prone to changing their minds later on.

So I played dumb until frustration set in and teacher grabbed my head and gently pushed me in to the door and gave me a treat. I allowed her to do this several times so make sure she wasn't about to change her mind or just give up on me. I admit a small part of me is always holding out for the humans to give up and allow me to claim even one small victory. Never happens though.

Finally I gave in and shut the door with the body. The crowd went wild and I got so many treats tossed at my feet I didn't know where to begin. Woah. Kewl. I know I had to do that again, and so I did. Treats were falling from the sky. Oh glorious day, oh delectable treats. Playing dumb for awhile, that's the key. For all you four legged readers out there, head my wisdom. Play dumb a bit, and reap the rewards!