Relaxed

Relaxed

Sunday, March 22, 2015

I'm So Good!

I've had a great morning today and it is only 7:30!  First off, Mama had a very late night last night. She didn't get home until midnight and then we had to go outside and then play a bit because you have to play a bit after you get out of your crate. I woke up at 5:00 and I knew Mama would say it was too early so I was a good boy and entertained myself instead of waking her up. First I went and got my squeaky ball with feet.



I don't know if any of you have this toy, but it is lots of fun. It squeaks really well and because of the feet it bounces funny so you don't know where it is going to land. I played in the living room with it for a good half hour, squeaking it and tossing it around and chasing it. Sometimes it bounced into stuff and I had to move my toybox when it bounced behind it, but it was great fun as always. Then, I got my double squeaky squirrel. One squeaker goes "Eeee! Eeee!" and the other goes "Oooh! Oooh!" I played with that toy on the couch for awhile. Then after playing so nice and quietly by myself for about 45 minutes I decided to sit quietly and have a chew. I got my two foot antler out of the crate, which wasn't easy because Mama had bumped the crate when we came in from playing outside last night and the door had closed. So I had to bang on the door for a bit until I got it open. Then I had to get the antler out through the door of the crate, which took some work too. Then I took the antler onto the couch to chew. It was a little awkward jumping on the couch with the big antler, but after four tries I managed to do it without dropping it onto the hardwood. I chewed until I heard Mama getting up around 6:15 and then I ran in to tell her good morning and that it was breakfast time and to get praised for being such a good boy and letting her sleep in.

After I got fed and went potty we drove to the gas station for the Sunday paper and while I was sitting in the car waiting I came up with a fun idea. When she came back to the car she found me waiting in the driver's seat instead of in the back seat. She called through the window, "No dogs in front. Get back in back." I refused. She opened the door and I jumped out of the car. We walked around the car to my door and I hopped back in the back seat. Then while she walked back around the car to the front door I jumped back into the driver's seat. We repeated this game three times until Mama became a spoil sport and put my seatbelt on me. Mean Mama.

Saturday, March 14, 2015

I Saw Horses!

Mama and I went for a hike this afternoon at ANOTHER new trail for me. There was a lake and I waded into it for a drink and there was a smell I didn't know and I got nervous and spent a lot of time whining and coming back to Mama for reassurance. Then when we got to the end of the trail I saw this:

 As you can see I was maybe just a bit freaked out by it. 

I'll biggify it so you can see better.


Mama said it was called a horse. I didn't want to go see it any closer. Instead I asked Mama if we could sit on a bench and snuggle a bit, so we did. Then, while we were sitting on the bench that horse thing started to come closer to us, but it had TWO HEADS!! It was almost as bad as a bicycle. I started to growl and Mama hushed me and said, "That is a horse and you don't growl at horses, or bark at horses or lunge at horses. If you do you can't go hiking anymore." Then she had me get up off the bench and stand behind it and be petted while the horse passed. Mama said to the horse, "Sorry, this is the first horse he's ever seen." and one of the heads said, "Well you have to have a first at some time." and I realized the second head was really a person on top of the horse and the horse became more interesting and less scary. When the horse got a good bit ahead of us Mama let me follow it and then all the weird smells I didn't understand at the beginning of the hike made sense and I was much more relaxed.

Horses smell funny but their poop can be yummy

I met three other horses and then that same white horse again as our hike went along and I stood quietly by Mama as she pet me and didn't growl or bark or lunge at the horses.

Total miles hiked: 5.5

Thursday, March 12, 2015

An Update On My Training Goals

Brown means I'm working on it
Purple means I know it, but I don't like doing it so Mama doesn't consider it learned
Green means I have it down pat
  • Sit
  • Lie Down
  • Wait
  • Come
  • Stay
  • Head Down
  • Heel
  • Stop
  • Whoa
  • Come About
  • Turn Right
  • Turn Left
  • Back Up
  • In To Me
  • Freeze
  • Get Out 
  • Spit
  • Give It Me
  • Paws Up
  • Table Up
  • Touch
  • Bump
  • Right Foot
  • Left Foot
  • Back Foot
  • Where's Your Tail?
  • Wag Your Tail
  • Where's Your Nose? 
  • Shake Hands
  • High Five
  • Turn Around
  • Turn the Other Way
  • Hit Your Mark
  • Dead Dog
  • Roll Over 
  • Sit Up
  • Dance
  • Leave It
  • Enough

Sunday, March 8, 2015

Daylight Savings Day Walk

Today is something called Daylight Savings Day. I'm not sure what that means, but I LIKE IT!! Mama got up an hour early and gave me breakfast and then we went for a short walk and she did some chores and then she got our hiking stuff together. I thought we were going to get in the car and headed straight for the garage, but she said, no we were going to take a hike starting from the house. I didn't know it but we can get to a trailhead for the forest preserve by our house just by walking 2.5 miles! We walked to the trailhead and then on the trail and then we took a side trail we hadn't taken before and walked that to a big tunnel under a road and out to another trail which had a big boardwalk on it. We walked after the boardwalk for awhile and then Mama said it was time to turn around and head home. So we turned around. I got to see some dogs, but not talk to them because none of them liked other dogs. I also got to meet some people who did like dogs. Our hike from home took 4.5 hours and was amazingly fun. When we got home I ran in circles in the backyard for a bit and then went to sleep on the couch.

 Boardwalk

What happened here and how do I fix it?

Can we do this again tomorrow?

Total miles hiked 11.5

Saturday, March 7, 2015

State Park Hike

Why was I ever afraid of the car? Today after Mama came back from doing something called, "having my taxes done" she said it was far too nice out to be doing chores and she put my leash on. I thought we were going for a walk and was all for it, but when I saw she wanted to get in the car I protested. I didn't protest for long though and jumped in the car by myself for the first time. Then we went for a ride and we stopped at someplace called a "state park". It was like the trail by our house except there were a lot of trees and hills and ditches with melted snow. There were a lot of other dogs walking there too and I even met a family where the little boy, who was about my size, played "tug the stick" with me. When we got back to the car I didn't hesitate at all, I just jumped right in and settled down for a nap. Then on the way home Mama and I stopped at a building and Mama went in and left me in the car and when she came out she had something called "gyros" and something else called "french fries". Let me tell you, both those things are WONDERFUL!! So, cars are NOT scary things at all. Bikes are scary though, and I still don't like the dog in the bedroom mirror.


 Nice view
 
But why do I have to stand in a big crate to see it?

Yee-haw!

Miles hiked 3.7 but it felt longer because of all the slushy snow.

Monday, March 2, 2015

My Training Goals

I came to live with Mama already knowing "Sit" and "Come" and in one walk I learned loose leash walking. Now we are working on more basic obedience and Mama says that we'll throw some tricks in soon too. Mama says that someone has a lot to answer for because when we started training I became very anxious, especially when I didn't understand something. Mama had to work with me a bit to make me understand that training is never scary or painful, it is only fun even if I make a mistake. Mistakes only mean Mama says, "Awww..." or "Nope." and I don't get a cookie instead of Mama saying, "Good!" or "Yes!" or "Right!" and I do get a cookie.  

Here are some of the things Merlin knew how to do. Mama is hoping I'll learn them too.

  • Sit -- I knew this already
  • Lie Down -- I learned this on Sunday
  • Wait -- I'm working on this
  • Come -- I knew this already
  • Stay
  • Heel
  • Stop -- I'm working on this
  • Whoa -- I'm working on this
  • Come About
  • Turn Right
  • Turn Left
  • Back Up
  • In To Me -- I'm working on this
  • Freeze
  • Get Out 
  • Spit -- I'm working on this
  • Give It Me -- I'm working on this
  • Paws Up
  • Table Up
  • Touch
  • Bump
  • Right Foot
  • Left Foot
  • Back Foot
  • Where's Your Tail?
  • Wag Your Tail
  • Where's Your Nose? 
  • Shake Hands
  • Turn Around
  • Turn the Other Way
  • Hit Your Mark
  • Dead Dog
  • Roll Over 
  • Sit Up
  • Dance