Kenai in the throes of his couch-ate-my-ball game, 46 wks old
Tuesday was a long day for K, starting with a store. Normally I wait until he’s had other stops to get in his working boy groove before I go into a store. But he did okay with the gentle leader. Then it was up to the clinic to wait for Mom’s PT to be over. Kenai doesn’t like to wait, the impatient teenager. He was whiney, able to see Mom but not go over and sit with her too.
He made some friends all the same. One doesn’t expect to find a Great Dane in a physical therapy clinic, so he did attract attention. Especially from a former Dane owner, who wore out her phone taking pictures! The stinker knows when his picture’s being taken because he’ll stand up straighter, sit prettier, and hold his head up all handsome like. He gets practice at home…
Speaking of pics, my streak of poor quality shots continues. I may be a camera hag but that doesn’t mean I’m good at it!
One thing I didn’t like about the clinic adventure was he refused the elevator there too. That meant I climbed stairs. I had him to hold onto, but I don’t want to climb stairs when there’s an elevator in the building. We may have to call the clicker training lady from awhile back to work on that. A shot of new person energy might be refreshing to us both, who knows.
While Sasquatch is in his fervent adolescent mode, we’ve gone into a training glide. Having been through other puppy stuff stages with him, I’ve gotten used to the reality of hurry ups and pauses. There are times when he and I zoom along, practicing, and improving daily.
There are also times when he seems to totally forget what he’s supposed to do and has done for months. So I’ve learned to glide, waiting out the phases and hiccups.
Sometimes ya just have to keep on keeping on, following the routine, doing your thing until the weird wears off. I know he’ll turn out just fine, and have had some encouraging glimpses of grown up Kenai.
Back at 9 months old, he was THE service dog in action: I could walk into a place and hardly pay any attention to him at all. Easy is coming I’m sure. He’s a good boy. He just has to grow up, and there’s no rushing that.
There are some camps of doggie training that object to the rigorousness of training assistance animals, competition dogs, drug dogs and the like. It’s believed that expecting the level of obedience required of them from an early age is somehow callous, that their puppyhood is denied them.
It’s true that many pups simply could not be contented with daily practice, daily exposure to new situations. They couldn’t make it through the training with their happiness intact. It’s stressful to be out and about for many dogs. For others, it’s fun and entertaining. Kenai certainly gets housebound!
That’s why there is so much emphasis placed on picking a pup with just the right temperament. There has to be an innate and abiding desire in a pup to be with their human anywhere and helping their human or the work is drudgery. Working dogs have drive. If they don’t have something to do, they get frustrated.
There have been times I questioned myself about Kenai, his independent streak showed itself to be wide and deep early on. He’s not the stereotypical working pup, not by any stretch. He has a mind of his own, with brains enough behind it to keep me on my toes.
Most of the time, 99% of the time, he’s quietly laying down or watching what’s happening around him like some lion king. It’s that 1% that surprises me! For instance, I have to lock the car doors when I leave him because he knows how to open the door and get out. He’s done it, scaring the fool out of me.
His problem solving skills are most often used for his own desires. Yet when he’s not in “practice time”, when it’s a real situation where I very much need him, he’s there. He’s absolutely THERE and on the job whole heartedly.
So with Kenai, I think he gets bored of doing the same thing without a reason. He won’t do the same trick over and over for long, no matter what kind of treats or toys you have. He’d certainly never put in the hours of repetition that a dog in obedience trials or agility does. He just wouldn’t do it. He wants variety, the spoiled brat!
I’ve seen the tendency, but wasn’t so consciously aware of it in my past Danes, that “yeah, already get that, what’s new?” I sometimes laugh about wishing for a dumb hound, or one too obsessive to get bored! Ah, but dumb isn’t any fun. A girl’s gotta have some fun, messing with a sasquatch…
Kenai has taken a big liking to the UK out back (unmovable kennel). He romps, he chases his squeaky bone, he goober runs and plays all out. I need balls. I need lots of balls, and big ones for outdoor time. He gets bored with his toys, so a big stash with big variety is the next penny-scraping endeavor.
I went to buy a basket ball or soccer ball the other day and nearly died at the price. It’s a ball for crying out loud, and it’ll have holes in it within 10 minutes! (Squished balls still play good, BTW). We went home without the basketball.
So the hunt is on for outdoor toys they can’t demolish. Jolly balls look interesting, and toys on a rope too. That’ll be tommorrow’s outing, hitting the puppy stores. Today is Thursday, so we’ll be staying close to home, checking in on little brother BB who has to stay in his expen while Mom’s gone.
Gotta keep the boy company some of the time so he doesn’t get too lonely. Big Bro and me will be having a romp in the UK for sure, and maybe a quickie outing since we didn’t do anything yesterday. Not much today, though. A tidy up upstairs would be a good idea, now that I actually looked at the mess…
Hi Lisa, What do the schools do with their older balls? Maybe the WMCA? Some church groups have basketball courts. Just an idea.