What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

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JudyN
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by JudyN »

Thank you :D
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
JudyN
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by JudyN »

I was in the garden this afternoon and heard Jasper barking from in the house - not a 'There's a baddie at the front door' cacophany but a single 'Mum, I need you' bark. I called out something along the lines of 'No, I'm busy, go and settle down,' but a moment later he barked again so I went in to see what the problem was.

He was standing next to the table, where I'd left a plate with an apple core on close to the edge. He could have reached the apple core just by sticking his nose out for it but no, he wanted my permission. Now this was a bit of a surprise given that if you cut him in half he'd have 'thief' written all the way through him but I think the difference was that he knows he's allowed apple cores, so he likes to ask. If it was a bread roll, he'd have just helped himself.

It's funny how their brains work at times!
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
DianeLDL
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by DianeLDL »

Judy,

I love it! "Good boy, Jasper!" 8)
Of course he asked nicely for something he knows you would give him. :D
But, as you said if it were something he knows you would say "No", then of course, its time to just take! :wink:

Sandy thinks anything that hits the floor is his. The other day I was eating at the table & dropped something that I was not good for Sandy to eat (can't remember exactly what but might have been a muffin). I had my Crocs on & my foot went on top of it so fast, just before Sandy got to it. I threw it out. Then thought nothing of it. I went into the bedroom, & outside the door I heard growling! Sandy had never been like that before. I opened the door & he growled at me again & appeared to give me the look that he was angry with me for "stealing" from him. :oops:

So, I realized that I had to make peace & got him a treat that he was allowed to eat. Then, he went back on his chair & that ended that. :D
But, it was the first time he had ever growled line that at me. I guess in this case even though it was for his own good (what dog knows that :roll: ), I realized I was the "thief" in his eyes. :shock:

Judy, our dogs have been training us? :lol:
Sandy, Chihuahua mix b. 12/20/09
JudyN
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by JudyN »

They certainly have, Diane :lol: Sometimes I think the real reason Jasper walks well on lead is that he's trained me to speed up, slow down and wander from side to side in time with him.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
DianeLDL
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by DianeLDL »

Judy, Maybe add some music. Sounds like he's leading you in the "dance" :lol: :lol:
Sandy, Chihuahua mix b. 12/20/09
JudyN
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by JudyN »

Ah, we dance together, Diane :D And, I suppose, we train each other too :wink:
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
JudyN
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by JudyN »

A friend of mine was sitting in his regular nice secluded sunny spot in the woods yesterday, while his elderly Staffie, who's not very mobile, toddled off to introduce herself to a family sitting in the middle of the field there. He got a phone call from his wife: 'Where are you? Where's J?'

'Erm, I'm in the woods, J's just made some new friends about 10 yards away.'

The family hadn't seen him sitting there, assumed J was lost, and had rung the number on her collar :lol:
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
DianeLDL
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by DianeLDL »

At least the family called about him. That was really nice.

This is a good one for the funnies list, too. :lol: :lol:
Sandy, Chihuahua mix b. 12/20/09
Erica
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Erica »

One of the things we are supposed to do for the training course I'm on is capture a lip lick. Delta had a lot of trouble with that one. Zero idea that his tongue was something he could control and get clicked for! So I've taught him to lick a glass jar thing I had lying around and he finally gets it. Going to shape a lick to another object as well, then go back to capturing the lip lick.

We had the first workshop over this past weekend. It was great fun, and very informative! I can't wait for the next one (although I sure don't want it to happen soon -- lots of material to get through in a month!). We stayed in a hotel, and Delta rode his first elevator/lift. A bit of counter-conditioning when it started moving, and he started trying to get in it whenever we walked past :lol: He also relaxed and slept in his king-sized crate, thank goodness. The workshop was a good eight hours the first day and at least four the second. That's a lot of time for a dog who isn't comfortable, so working on his crate has payed off well.

I am also supremely glad he's an easy car rider. He doesn't adore the car like many dogs, but he'll get in on his own after a couple minutes and settle in quietly enough that people have gotten in the car and ridden with him for twenty minutes without realizing he's there! :) The drive up to the workshop took about seven hours (Richmond and DC traffic, ew), and four and a half on the way back.

One of the dogs in the course decided Delta was evil incarnate, maybe because we were the last to arrive, maybe because Delta's intact, maybe because he has an upright carriage of his neck and tail. Who knows! But we're planning to get some time to work the two together before the next workshop.

Possibly more coming at another point; we did a good bit of shaping (of humans and each others' dogs!) and it was very fun. Great group of people in this class. Awesome teacher. I'm very happy and very tired!

But oooh golly. I emailed one of my clients on Tuesday of last week, saying "I'm out of town this weekend and may not be able to respond to emails. During the week of the 15th, I have availability for an appointment on Monday at noon, Tuesday after 6pm, and Friday any time" etc etc. On Saturday, four days later, they emailed me asking for an appointment on Monday at 4:30. One, that is way too late to book an appointment when I've told you I may not be checking my emails on the weekend! Two, that's not the time I have available on Monday! People :roll:
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
JudyN
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by JudyN »

Note to the cyclist on the trailway this morning: if you ring your bell when I'm bent over picking up a dog poo it may take a little more than 4 seconds for me to get up and move my dog to the side of the path. His lead is not the equivalent of a strong attached to a child's toy, I need to communicate to him where I want him to move to, takes more than 2 seconds (allowing me 2 seconds to stand up from picking up the poo), given that he has the length and occasionally the manouvreability of a narrow boat.

It's lucky for you that my dog doesn't tend to move suddenly because if he'd moved towards you when you cycled past him at a fair speed, clipping his tail on the way past, chances are you'd have come off your bike and then we would BOTH have told you what we thought of your manners :twisted:

And no, the sign doesn't say people shouldn't block the path, it says cyclists should give way to walkers.

Moron :evil:

I am wondering if I should start 'parking' Jasper at the side of narrow paths when I need to pick up a poo, not because I feel I have any moral obligation to, but because unlike this morning's cyclist, I like to show courtesy and consideration to others. But wouldn't it have been nicer for us all if the cyclist had slowed down, just a bit, I had managed to gather up the poo and lead J to the side of the path, and we could both thank each other?
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
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Nettle
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Nettle »

Knowing a lurcher that was hit by a cyclist, breaking her shoulder and her owner's ankle, on a FOOTpath :evil: I think moving him to the side away from possible moron-attacks would be very wise. Sadly,you can't fix stupid, and there are more of them than there are of us.

May he cycle through unpicked-up dog poo every day for the rest of his cycling life.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

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JudyN
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by JudyN »

Most dogs on this path wouldn't even be on lead, and given that most of the local owners' approach to training is rather 'relaxed' (mainly because most of the dogs are easygoing and generally issue-free), I can't see many of them being able to shift their dog quickly enough for this idiot!

I think I need to work on 'get your bum out of the path' training. I can lead his front end to the side, but his back end doesn't respond to a gentle nudge and a harder shove results in his head coming out again :lol: I think it might be to do with his rubbish rear-end awareness.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
MPbandmom
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by MPbandmom »

Glad you enjoyed the classes Erica. Sorry about the Richmond and DC traffic. :( It shouldn't have been too bad on a Saturday depending on what time you hit town.

A friend of mine and I headed for Pennsylvania at 6:15 in the morning from practically just across the river from DC and we had a clear shot in spite of the rain. :lol: We went to the Pennsylvania Sled Dog Club meeting and to hear a guest speaker who runs Samoyeds and has participated in the Serum Run 3 times so far.

The Serum Run is essentially a re-enactment of the original serum run to Nome. It was started by a Samoyed musher when the Iditarod committee passed a rule limiting the time that mushers could take to complete the Iditarod. This ruled out slower breeds like the Samoyed. It is run every other year and starts out at the train station where the mushers pick up the package of "serum." Of course the Serum Run goes to Nome and the end sections overlap with the Iditarod route. The Serum Run goes first and there have been a couple of very close calls between the Serum Run entering Nome and the Iditarod winning musher entering Nome, as in the Serum Run mushers arriving the day before the Iditarod mushers. This means a hasty departure from Nome on the part of the Serum Run participants.

One has to apply for acceptance to run the Serum Run and it is more of an educational deal as the mushers meet with local students at the various stops and tell of the history of the musher who ran that leg, as well as having a "medicinal" purpose with providing some sort of public health message.

Veterinarians travel with the mushers and dogs are not dropped but may take rest time riding in the basket of the sled. The mushers and dogs bed down at schools along the way and may stay for a couple of days in the same spot depending on weather. The Serum Run may also be cut short if it is determined the weather is too severe to continue.

JudyN the rule here in the USA about stopping and trails is that one is to move off of the trail when stopped.
Grammy to Sky and Sirius, who came to live with me, stole my heart, and changed my life forever as I took over their care and learned how to be a dog owner.
Erica
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Erica »

MPbandmom wrote: Wed May 17, 2017 11:51 am Glad you enjoyed the classes Erica. Sorry about the Richmond and DC traffic. :( It shouldn't have been too bad on a Saturday depending on what time you hit town.

A friend of mine and I headed for Pennsylvania at 6:15 in the morning from practically just across the river from DC and we had a clear shot in spite of the rain. :lol: We went to the Pennsylvania Sled Dog Club meeting and to hear a guest speaker who runs Samoyeds and has participated in the Serum Run 3 times so far.
I drove up on the Friday before (not a fan of getting up at 3:30am to drive five hours to an eight hour workshop ;) ) and had the bad luck of hitting Richmond around 4:30 when people were starting to get out of work, I think. Next time I am leaving in the morning -- either to take the scenic route and visit a friend a little further west, skipping much of 95, or try to actually beat the end-of-the-work-week traffic on 95.

The Serum Run sounds fascinating, and it's awesome that they're talking about it. It sounds like they take great care of the dogs, too. :)

Re: dogs and bikes -- I've taught Delta that "scooch!" means "get off the asphalt and a few feet into the grass/leaf litter" to avoid cars, as there aren't sidewalks in our neighborhood. It works well for bike-populated trails and poo stops, too.
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
JudyN
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by JudyN »

MPbandmom wrote: Wed May 17, 2017 11:51 am JudyN the rule here in the USA about stopping and trails is that one is to move off of the trail when stopped.
There's no room to move off this particular path, unless you stand in a narrow verge with long vegetation (and probably dog poo) - the only way to let a bike past is to stand right to one side... and get your dog also to stand to the side, in front or behind you & not beside you, pointing in the direction of the path. Not easy to negotiate rapidly when you're in the middle of picking up a dog poo, but the vast majority of cyclists happily slow down and wait for you. In fact they'd do that regardless, because any dog might suddenly move back across the path.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
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