An S&S Turkey Day Hike

Whenever Mom's walking partner is otherwise occupied, I get to hike with her instead. Today her walking partner did Thanksgiving Boot Camp, whatever that is, but Mom still wanted to burn a few calories so she took me with her. Yippee!

Mom put the leash around her waist so I HAD to heel no matter what good smells needed sniffing. At least as soon as we reached the shortcut (the first S) she let me off-leash to climb the hill and run on the Ditch trail. When we reached the switchbacks (the second S), I was very patient with my slow Mom--it's easy to be patient when there are so many interesting smells to investigate, BOL! Mom jogged the downhill sections on the way back and it's fun to go faster than a walk.

Best of all, the quail were waiting for me near the end of our walk. I chased them all over the hill and into the street and across the road. Mom wasn't happy when she finally got me back. Somehow I can't hear her calling my name or yelling "NO!" when I'm chasing birds, but I think the neighbors probably could. (Did I mention it was only 7:30 a.m.? Poor sleeping people.)

Mom told me that I was a naughty dog, then added that at least I had fun. She's a pretty smart human because as soon as she said it, she laughed and said that naughty dogs always have fun, that's why they're/I'm naughty!

Happy Turkey Day, everyone--I'm off to scarf some leftover skin and broth with my kibble. I wish it was Thanksgiving every day!

What $3.96 Will Buy

Kharma and I finally took the agility plunge. Mostly we've been practicing our foundations--flatwork like heeling, sit/stays and attention. But our instructor introduced us to skills using a "gate".

One trip to Home Depot and $3.96 later...
Knocked this gate out in less than a half hour. Maybe someday I'll put mesh on it instead of this fabric--but it puts the fabric to use and it was FREE...Kharma is now practicing "switch" and "tight" with her new gate. Toys are fun whether you're a little kid or a big one.

Beginning Agility

Kharma and I had our first agility class recently. Alas, her lack of foundation skills quickly became apparent to me as she tried socializing with the other canine pupils, barking at the workman next door to the ring and bouncing around on her leash. So we've spent the last week brushing up our heeling skills and some manners.

In the process I'm trying to convert to a training system that our instructor uses: the dogs in Beginning Agility are on-leash naturally (and I rarely work Kharma on-leash); a marker word rather than a clicker; naming an obstacle right from the beginning; and projecting calm rather than excitement.

It's a lot of changes for me right at the beginning. I catch myself training off-leash and using a clicker at home. So I'm going with it and then adding a leash, losing the clicker and using our marker and release words. I think of it as proofing our behaviors.

We're supposed to be practicing flatwork--our teacher wasn't exactly clear what she expected so we are focusing on driving to a target with food on it just like in class. Kharma figured out that touching the target was what I ultimately wanted within the first five minutes. She ate the treat, looked at me, nosed the target and looked at me again. She got a laugh out of me and a treat. Now she's trying to figure out if it's better to nose the target or paw it. And I'm clueless whether it's either or both until the next class.

Clearly it's more about training the trainer than training the dog (at least at this point)!

Recall

Mom says that the biggest difference between us dogs with creatively-mixed bloodlines and the pups with papers isn't our intelligence or our price or the love we give, it's a fancy name. So Mom decided that I deserved a fancy name too.

You may now call me "Pogonip's Always Good Kharma". I feel pawsitively regal.

A Good Walk

Mom sneaked me and my leash out this morning. Shhh, don't tell Zelda. I'm ready to go!

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Uphill is not an excuse. Get a move on, Mom!

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Look, Mom, I found some goldenrod. Doesn't that mean autumn is just around the next bend? And doesn't that mean school is starting again? Time to practice Dog Zen, Mom--live in the moment!

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What's that smell? Squirrel? No. Hmmm, bear? Not hardly. Might have been, yes, I think it was that friendly pair of golden retrievers that just passed us.
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More good scents...bullfrog? duck? lawnmover?
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Playing the "Up" game: it took me a few tries before balancing on this little stump.
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I love rolling on green grass. Especially after I've splashed through the creeks and ditches.

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That was fun, Mom, are we gonna go for a long walk again?!Please?

Dog Pie

Mom is so nice. She made a beautiful apple pie for The Big Guy's birthday. She must really love me because she left a giant piece out on the counter just so I wouldn't feel left out. Yum!

Mom's Note: The dogs have been eating so many windfall apples from our tree, that they (actually Kharma) must have thought the apple pie was fair game! Ack!

Kharma Cousins

Border collies run in the family.Okay, sometimes they just lie in the shade and chew sticks.

Mom visited these two guys, Ruff #3 and Time, and she didn't take me. I smelled a lamb dinner on her when she returned. Doubly unfair!

Time was bred by Mom's uncle who's trained champion Sheep Dogs. Time cost about fifty times more than me, but Mom says I'm actually priceless.

I would believe her more if she'd pulled some nice tender lamb scraps out of her pocket. Sheep dog, smeep dog, I know what lambie pies are actually for (and it's not herding).