Independent Puppy

We have survived the 4th of July for another year! It was oddly quiet around here, compared to past years. We weren’t at home for the 4th itself until after midnight, but there was nothing that night after we got home, and very little the days before and after. Of course, the weather has been ridiculously lovely and cool, that may have had an effect as well. For the night of the 4th I took the dogs and hung out at the agility arena having a little party, it proved to be very effective in keeping Navarre busy enough not to stress too much. So that was way better than it was last year. He still gets a little clingy and sensitive, but if you distract him he’s pretty good. We used his thundershirt and anti-anxiety supplement as well, though it’s hard to say how much of an effect they had. But nice to not worry about it until New Years.

We went to a trial! It was, on the whole, not really worth it. The premier course was way too tight and the challenges were just awkward. I was going to scratch and then just decided to run my own course, which was fun – but I really don’t need to pay to go run my own courses. And then the standard course was ridiculously simple, like a novice course, so while we had fun (and the distances were much better), once again, I don’t need to spend time and money to go run that. And we entered for the Dan Butcher courses, of which I got one, which was jumpers. It was okay, it had a backside! But mostly pinwheels. So, yeah, trialing, I’m not missing much.

Still, Bright had SO MUCH FUN, she’s really missed it! She looked good, she was so happy, she was fast and she has needed some special Bright time. So, worth it in that regard. And it was all about Bright as Robert ran Navarre, and they did great. Just a couple little bobbles, both with the weaves – go figure (I’m not counting the premier course, which was stupid). He didn’t knock any 24 inch bars, I think it’s safe to say he can do 24 just fine. So, yeah, at some point we will try to go to WTT, but I need to figure out where and when. There is a lot that is up in the air with AKC at the moment, after Reno was taken away as an option for nationals. So we’ll see, but we don’t have any big event goals at the moment. We should work on some weaves though. And Bright dropped a bar in each run today, so she’s a little out of practice, I think. I didn’t like the surface up there either, Bright slipped several times. Maybe we’ll do a little early morning trials at Salem this summer, as they do very much love it. That’s easy to say when it was 60 degrees today – crazy! Summer is shy this year, but I know it’s waiting to just jump out at me at any moment.

We also had a lovely cool hike this week, where we brought Dove along. OMG, Asher was just running off everywhere, not paying any attention, not coming back when called – that is one independent puppy! So I tried for a bit rewarding him for coming in and calling and trying to make sure he stayed close, but finally when he just took off and ignored when we went the other way I took the dogs up and around the bend and then waited to see what would happen. Dove was surprisingly aware when he headed off in the wrong direction and was concerned about him – what a good mom! Since I knew basically where he was, I waited for a bit and then called him. When he finally showed up he was MUCH better at paying attention where we were going. That is a dog that needed to get ‘lost’ to realize it’s his job to keep track of us, not the other way around. I remember trying that with London, who never cared and never looked for me, and then with Haku, who freaked out immediately to an insane degree. Asher is no London, but he’s certainly more on the independent side.

Asher is also not the least bit soft or worried about being wrong. This is a good thing, but also can present trouble when he’s, say, pouncing on a cat or doing something I need him to stop RIGHT NOW. He doesn’t know what ‘no’ means or, in my case, “Hey, knock it off!”, either way, that tone of voice that turns Haku into a quivering puddle means absolutely nothing to Asher. I think this is also why the other dogs don’t like him much, he just doesn’t seem to get the concept of a warning tone in dog or human. Though he’s getting better with Bright, she has done her job of keeping after him. So while I don’t use a lot of that with my dogs, I’ve found myself a little flummoxed when Asher is just being a dick and I try to tell him to knock it off and get absolutely no response. I’m not entirely sure what to do about it either, as I do think it’s important that he understands when I need to stop what he’s doing immediately either for his sake or another dog’s sake.

Speaking of communication, Dragon has jumped him a couple times. And once for just having the zoomies in the house and Dragon disapproved. Now Angry Dragon Asher listens to! Which is good. Asher is MOSTLY good with the cats, he doesn’t chase them but he does muzzle punch them sometimes, usually when they’re hanging around when we’re training. And they just looked confused when this happened at first, but Fizban has started smacking the shit out of him occasionally. Which, oddly, Asher is not afraid of – only Dragon. And little Marvin has nothing, he’s hissed at Asher but mostly just stays out of his way. But not in nervous way, just like when we’re training Fizban is RIGHT there next to me while Marvin will be laying down 5 feet away.

No, the dogs still don’t like him and there has still been no play overtures. They will involuntarily tug with him, they let him play running around the arena games, but mostly he still just pisses everyone off. I do think he’s getting corrected by Bright slightly less, and Navarre is definitely less dramatic about his dislike, but still total disgust. Asher and Haku snuggle up when they’re napping outside, which is cute. Occasionally the other dogs will let him snuggle as well. When we’re hanging out on the bed at night Bright is much more tolerant of letting him jump on and around her, but still so much angry face.

Asher sleeps in a crate at night, no problems in that regard at all. He’s also great in his crate in the car, and he’s really relaxed with napping there during the day while I’m teaching. He comes into classes less now that he’s a little older, he’s still got a great recall off the other people. He has shown a little nervousness about people in hats, and I would say seems to share a common distrust of people that are too forward and grabby. Mostly he likes to see most everyone, but he’s not obsessive about it.

He did go to the trial over the weekend, but unfortunately had an upset stomach and had loose poo in the facility within minutes of going in. So not a great introduction! And then he ended up having several accidents in his crate as well, poor guy – that was a first for that. He was overall perky, so I didn’t worry too much about it, but I also didn’t bring him into the facility much as I didn’t want him to associate that with not feeling well. Basically I think I just fed him too much the night before. We had been hiking and he hadn’t eaten his normal meals, so when he seemed hungry that evening I just fed him everything at once and I think that did not sit well. Live and learn, and I got some probiotics for him as well as we have had quite the variety of foods lately too. He’s been fine this week.

Training-wise we spent like 5 sessions (aka 5 days) working on the stupidest useless pet trick, crossing his paws. Now there are certainly easier ways to train it, but I decided this would be a good free shaping exercise. It just didn’t progress very quickly! So probably a good exercise just to get him thinking and problem solving and thinking about his body, but I also think we could have found a lot more useful trick to train! And it’s still not done either. It’s certainly not for lack of trying on his part, the boy has got focus. We also worked on sends to a mark (2 feet on a pedestal), and he’s getting distance and commitment.

We also worked on stays and downs out of motion in a group. Progress! He’s getting manners, and can now wait with the other dogs in a stay while I get their dinner ready and hold a stay while I put down his foodbowl. We’ve continued to put things together, and start using them in game situations. So he can now leg weave and hand touch to a toy. And often bring a toy back to target it to my hand! But sometimes not, that varies. He can have a nice retrieve, but especially with the other dogs around, he also likes to show off his prize. He’s growing up and interacting more when we got to the park, he likes his turns with the toy and is getting more stamina and coordination. The boy got LEGS this week, good lord. And picking him up is getting ridiculous. I do a lot less of that as he’s really starting to understand about moving with me and the group from place to place, but if there is any question about safety (like from the house to the car) I pick him up and, good lord. He CAN walk on a leash, but we still haven’t looked at it at all and continue to try to work on him coming with me voluntarily (in safe places, of courses). Oh, and we double checked his weight, still 17 lbs, he just feels like SO MUCH MORE.

The weird part is how ‘right’ having four dogs feels. It’s been a crazy last few weeks as puppies are so much work at this age, yet it continues to feel exactly right. Well, in terms of the amount of dogs. With the other dogs still not happy about him, that is what makes me feel unsettled. In every other way I’m thrilled with him, he’s such a fun dog that I love to hang out with. I just wish we all felt that way. I continue to be patient and recognize the dogs may not like him until he grows out of the puppy stage.

Asher DID finally have a little play date with another dog, a six month old border collie girl that actually seemed to like him. She’s a pretty big girl, but Asher is getting past feeling intimidated by large dogs. I think Asher liked her a lot more than she liked him, but they got to play in a normal way, so that was good to see. He’s still dickish with his littermates, but that’s not uncommon. I feel like he’s doing better with dogs in general.

Meanwhile, Navarre is getting ready for his USBCHA herding trial debut. Heidi very generously took him on Wednesday out to Ian’s so he could get some practice in lifting sheep off another team, which is something he hadn’t done before. Sounds like that went well, other than Navarre ignoring his downs, apparently (not shocking).