Posts Tagged ‘Shepherd Mix’
Obedience Training
Asher’s first day of obedience training happened yesterday. Consistency and repetition will be a challenge for us but he is a smart enough dog I think he will find a way to overcome our shortcomings and get us wrapped around his paws in no time. The hour-long session was almost too much for my stamina but Asher did fairly well despite having ingested a meal’s-worth of treats by the end.
Some of the things we worked on were made a little more complicated by Asher’s historic pattern of behaviors and the variety of commands he’s already learned before coming to live with us. Still, the routines the trainer demonstrated produced results for us that will serve as a good foundation for the lessons to come.
Asher would perform the desired action but we were usually off in our deliveries of the gestures or verbal commands or treat rewards. He is definitely treat-motivated. Our challenge lies in effectively tying his behavior to our commands and not allowing him to figure out how to get treats by recognizing our unconscious signals and playing off of them.
We want him focused on our commands and not on the bag of treats.
One initial exercise that I found impressive was when the trainer said the word, “Puppy” and none of the dogs reacted. She then repeated the word but in a two-tone high voice like the “ding-dong” of a doorbell. I didn’t notice all the other dogs but Asher instantly turned his attention to her.
Asher already knows the “Sit” command but we made great strides in moving from that to having him lay down on his stomach at a “Down” command.
It quickly became apparent to Cyndie and me (when the trainer pointed it out) that we need to stop using “Down” when we are trying to get Asher off the couch or the bed or from putting his front paws on people’s shoulders. Using the word “Off” will become our goal.
Now all we need to do for homework is to practice today’s routines roughly a hundred more times in approximately 5-minute sessions throughout the week before next Thursday.
I’m trying to picture both Cyndie and me consistently delivering precise commands one hundred different times.
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Developing Patience
If you aren’t sure you have as much patience as you should for dealing with life’s challenges, get a “teen” puppy that needs to be trained. You will be able to practice over and over on developing your ability to be patient.
Asher had a grooming appointment yesterday and the report from the groomer was that he was so dirty she needed to wash him a second time. He’s like a whole new dog. Except for the lack of training. That’s at about the same level.
Although, on the bright side, he is showing signs of being relatively quick to grasp what we want from him. Progress on the “Stay!” command continues to impress us. I don’t expect we will make impressive headway on more than one thing at a time so convincing him that our bed is off-limits will have to wait. He really likes to jump up on our bed.
Even though he could easily defeat our temporarily leaned gates to keep him out of the kitchen or our bedroom, he is respecting them and will eventually lay beside them and wait. I guess he is showing us he’s got some respectable patience of his own.
We did battle against some insanely intense vines that were choking out every helpless tree they could reach.
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The tree above was trying to grow despite the constriction of the vine. I don’t know what kind of vine this is but it is different than the common grape vines around here that sprout little shoots to wrap around branches. This vine just grows around and around so efficiently that it is the wrap that holds tight to branches. In springtime, it is much easier to spot these vines before leaves pop out everywhere to conceal what is really going on.
I need to work on my patience for rooting out the infestations of these insidious vines even though it seems like a losing battle.
I wonder if Asher could be trained to sniff them out. I’ve seen evidence he is more than capable of digging ’em up if we can just locate the main roots.
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Meeting Ash
A gray, chilly, rainy day that started out somber ended on a much happier note. Cyndie and I took care of the horses early yesterday and then dressed up and drove off for Fort Snelling National Cemetery to join her family at the memorial service for her uncle, Jon Brolin. It was a first for me. I had driven past the cemetery many times but never been amidst the rows upon rows of repeating identical headstones. That alone is a powerful thing.
In what felt like a scene in a movie, we stood protected from the spitting rain beneath a gazebo roof as veterans performed the rituals of saluting, gunshots, the mournful sound of taps, and the excruciatingly precise folding of the U.S. flag.
“On behalf of a grateful nation…”
Jon was a Marine who served during the Korean War.
After a precious few hours with the family at the reception following the service, Cyndie and I set off on a new adventure. We were going to meet a Shepherd Mix named, Ash who is just over a year old and currently being fostered in Stillwater, MN.
Last week, Cyndie asked me why I didn’t want to get another dog. I think I probably talked for three minutes straight listing all the reasons I could think of against owning a dog again at this time. She listened patiently to everything I said and politely acknowledged all my points. Then she told me, with her voice breaking in grief over her still raw emotions over Delilah’s passing, why she felt the need for the companionship of another loving canine.
In fact, she had found a Shepherd Mix pup that was up for adoption from the rescue organization where we had donated food after Delilah’s death. Ash needed a forever home. Cyndie read me the details about Ash, including a description of him that had been written by the foster mom. There wasn’t a single thing that I found concerning.
At that moment, all of the reasons I had articulated seconds earlier about not having a dog melted away.
I wanted to meet Ash.
We weren’t disappointed. Ash was everything we expected.
I think we can give Ash the home he deserves with the parenting he needs and years of companionship from which we all will benefit.
Since Cyndie had recruited coverage for our horses for the rest of the day, we took advantage of the freedom to have dinner at a Stillwater restaurant after we visited Ash at his foster home. After a quick phone search of options, Cyndie selected MatchStick Restaurant & Spirits. What a treat! Every bite was a delight of fabulous flavors, including the best cedar-plank salmon I ever tasted and the most enjoyable caramelized Brussel sprouts in a Thai peanut sauce.
While we were luxuriating in the pleasures of fantastic food, we pondered the fact that Cyndie noticed a car in front of us on our drive to Fort Snelling with “ASH” on its license plate, after which we found ourselves sprinkling flower petals over the urns of her aunt and uncle’s ashes.
We feel like bringing this endearing pup into our lives is what we are going to do.
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Relative Something 