In Life, as with Dogs, the Only Constant is Change

The Puppies!

It's been just over a week since they were born, and the puppies have more than doubled in weight. Tumbleweed, the white and tan, is now 10.7 ounces and Sarsaparilla, the black tricolor, is 10.8 ounces. Yuma is becoming annoyed with them, because they are no longer staying where she put them! That's right: they're crawling like little speed demons and disrupting Yuma's orderly world. She likes it best when they are nursing and in one place, even if it means she has to stay still. The video below was taken on April 11, when the puppies were six days old. Yuma still wasn't certain how she felt about me leaving the door open and possibly letting Leela or Yaddle in.

It's amazing how fast puppies develop. They're little ears are starting to unfold, which means they will start hearing sounds soon. In a few days, they might be cracking open an eye or two. Tumbleweed has started to push up a little, so once they "have eyes" we can expect him to start toddling. Over the next month, the changes will be coming fast and hard. I am glad I can share them with you!

Widget Makes Progress!

We took Dan to Hattiesburg to get a checkup, so Widget got a super-deluxe, extra-full training day of FOUR ten-minute sessions, separated by five- or ten-minute breaks. Three of the sessions were devoted to Rally obedience training. The fourth session, when he was pretty well worn out, was devoted to conformation handling. All of the sessions were devoted to groundwork, as I did not bring a grooming table and he is still a month away from working over jumps.

Naturally, I don't have my phone charger with me in Hattiesburg, so I am lacking photos and video. However, I couldn't be prouder of my little dog. He couldn't be happier, either, as he has a tummy full of cheese! What did he do? Well, what didn't he do? He took everything I asked him to do and pretty much crushed it. (Except for that "sit" thing. That "sit" thing requires him to be still.) Okay, so here are Widget's accomplishments for the day . . .

Session #1: Widget and I primarily practiced with him heeling, in straight lines from a standing start. Every time he looked up at me, he got a tiny piece of cheese. Unlike most of my dogs, Widget and Yaddle are going to be trained to heel while looking up at me, at least most of the time. This posture will keep reactive Widget and soft-temperament Yaddle from being distracted by potentially scary things. We occasionally incorporated some Rally footwork and on-leash recalls to keep it interesting, including 360-degree turns in both directions. He liked those the best, since the 360-degree left turns included a piece of cheese dangled in front of his nose! By the time we finished this session, he was starting to look up at me more frequently, usually as we changed direction.

Session #2: More straight-line heeling, but with U-turns at the end of each line. He's doing great with right U-turns, but left turns and "German" U-turns (handler turns left, dog circles handler to the right) need work. A little cheese dangling can fix the left turns, but I have to get his attention from my left (treat) hand onto my right hand to lure him around me. That's more my fault than Widget's as I have not been alternating treat hands as much as I should. We also incorporated a little slow-paced heeling. It's a good time to do it, as he does not have an automatic sit yet. Lots of dogs with automatic sits try to sit down any time the handler slows the pace. During this session, Widget is still giving me attention, yay!

Session #3: This time, I got out the clicker. He's had a bit of refresher time and time to learn my expectations for the remaining training time. We continued with straight-line heeling and U-turns. Whenever he looked up at me, I would click the behavior, take two or three more steps to extend the behavior, and gave him his piece of cheese. Bang! He's starting to look up at me for probably six steps in a row now. A good start! He did well with stationary sits at my side. We will start to incorporate sitting at my side into the heeling process once he's sitting consistently on the first command in that position. Altogether, it was a great series of sessions.

During the break between sessions 3 and 4, Widget had an admirer stop by. He was in his crate, with his water, and--instead of angrily defending his territory--he let out a few inquisitive barks. The woman drew closer, so I asked her if she wanted to give him some cheese. After a slight miscue, with the cheese being held in her palm, she held it between her fingers. He took that cheese as if he'd been doing it all his life! I never would have trusted him to take the cheese politely six months ago. Thank you, Dan, for all your help teaching him that hands are a good thing!

Session #4: Right now, I am concentrating on Widget's "gaiting," the trotting part of being in the show ring. The spectre of the Classic still hangs over him, as I can feel him start to get anxious the second I put the show lead and snake chain on him. He was lagging behind me as we started our courtesy turn and he didn't pick up his pace as we started the first leg of our triangle pattern. It took several repetitions of the pattern before he began to loosen up and his tail was no longer clasped to his rear. He began to relax when he realized that I would not be putting him on any table. By the time we modified the pattern to do a straight "diagonal down and back," he was actually beginning to enjoy himself. Just for fun, I asked him to do an "L" pattern with me--a straight leg to the other side of our "ring," followed by a left turn to the far end of our "ring," a left U-turn to gait on my right side to the end of our original leg, then a right turn with another change of side. He did it perfectly--twice! He is a potential show dog, if I can get him not to bite the judge! Good job, Widget!

More Change . . .

Unfortunately, Dan's appointment did not go well. His MRI revealed an encapsulated mass that is probably cancerous. He's got a good doctor, who caught the mass early on, so his chances are good for surviving this thing. He is such an amazing person and a huge part of my life. We first met nearly fifteen years ago, when we both attended a dog show in Texas. Imagine my surprise when he was my judge the next day! We were casual acquaintances for a couple of years, after which we started processing venison together during the winter--for dog food, of course! After the winter, he gave me a couple of rows in his garden to plant some tomatoes. The rest, as they say, is history. Please say a prayer for him or send good thoughts. I know he would appreciate them.