Gideon did better than I did this weekend.
While Gideon was running through the go-to-ground pipe with no more encouragement than a piece of kibble (I think he is going to be great in the field), I failed to catch a squirrel for his critter practice. It would have helped, of course, if I had baited the Havahart trap for a few days before hand, but I failed to do that. Live and learn.
What I did to, Saturday morning, was rip out my back doing yard work. It wasn't the junior lumberjack--with-a-chainsaw stuff that laid me out -- I did that first. It was the hedge clippers! Somehow I held them in such a way, for a long enough period of time, that I ripped a long muscle out on one side of my back. It had gotten worse by Sunday (I could barely stand), so I called the spouse in Chicago (she is at a convention) and asked her where she kept the stuff that makes pain in the back go away. Two of those pills helped a little, but I am still not 100%.
Gideon and I are working on two things: going up and downs stairs, and a basic sit. Gideon is not used to stairs, so I have been putting a light parachute cord on him for encouragament. As for sitting, the position seems entirely foreign to him -- he likes to stand, thank you very much. We are working on a basic sit, nonetheless, if for no other reason than a sit is the doorway to "lie down" and "roll over."
Gideon loves toys and he seems to already know his name. He has done very well with our basic morning and evening routine, and he is easy to bathe and seems to enjoy it.
Gideon is a bit fascinated by TV, and he seems to especially like dramatic action music and fight scenes. He does not like power tools -- or perhaps he thinks they are alive. The blower, the lawn hedger, and the chainsaw all generate a lot of baying on his part -- he has a voice and it's pretty deep! No worries about the chainsaw, by the way -- he was locked in the garage while that tool was in motion!
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8 comments:
Pictures?
Hoping for video if I can get a squirrel today. Otherwise it's just the ass end of a dog. I want to hear Gideon BAY!!
Patrick
Of course he only likes to stand! He is very handsome and radiates LOOK AT ME.
I think he'd do very well at a JRTCA show - a natural stacker!
If he ever sees a show, it will be from the sidelines. His real evaluation comes in the hole by someone who cannot hold a pen. With that head and voice, however, I think he may do well ;)
P
Did you injure your back trying to re-enact that Yogic dog thing you've posted below? No more showing off! (G)
Gideon sounds like he's settled in to your place very quickly. Your new kid bays, and mine sounds like a tiny coyote. "Excellent", as you might say!
Seahorse ;)
Hey Patrick! Sorry to hear you've thrown your back out - I've done much the same thing and it is NOT fun at all. Hope you feel better soon.
About Gideon - one of my dogs is not a natural sitter, either. It's just a pose he never adopts on his own. I guess that there's something about his conformation that makes it uncomfortable for him - he happens to be rather long-backed (beagle and dachshund, we believe).
Anyway, I taught him the "down" without going through the "sit" first. It's called the "sphinx down" and the dog lowers his chest to the ground first, following with his hindquarters. I've read that this is how the high-level obedience people get their dogs to drop from a full run into a down without pausing them to sit.
Your google-fu is mightier than mine, if you want to look this one up.
Why does he want to be sitting down when he can be up and ready for action? :-D
It's Tueday morning and my back is much better -- still a little sore, but nothing that Advil will not make go away entirelty in another day is my best bet.
Mina has is right with Gideon -- he would rather stand and be ready, than sit and wait for life to show up. An example: if you do the old "food over the head so they have to sit and look up" stuff, he simple stands up on his back legs to get it. Move it backward, and he walks backwards while standing on his back legs. A nice little circus trick there, and instead of ending it, I am training a sit with a mechanical push. I want to keep the dog walking act around to see if I can train that up a into something cute or interesting. ;)
P
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