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Emerson's Training Journal

Oh hey! How's it Goin'?

Guess what? It's been two years since my last diary entry. Since I was a "work in progress," I thought I'd finally give an update.

Nowadays, I never drool in the car. I enjoy going for hikes or running with mom, we snuggle all the time (I wasn't snuggly before) and I am silly and love to play! Mom calls me "The Most Handsome". *smug smile* I love to talk, and I do a little song and dance when I want a biscuit. I can sit, nose-target, lay down, and shake paws. I can have my nails trimmed as long as mom occasionally pauses to tell me how handsome I am. But, to be honest, my nails don't require much trimming because I chew them down myself! I've gone to the vet a couple of times, for routine shots and once for an ouchie in my leg. I hug mom tight in the waiting room, which makes other people laugh because I'm a bit big for a lap dog, but when I'm in with the vet I don't fuss. I even let them look at my face! I've got an uncle who comes to visit, and I've warmed up to him nicely. I like to pounce on blankets when I'm being silly! I give big kisses, love hugs from mom, and especially enjoy tummy rubs. I do not like to have my boo-tay brushed! No thank you! I've done a bit of agility but, eh, it's not really for me. My bro Sammy is much better at it than I am. I've lived with a hearty handful of foster dogs and even some foster kittens! Mom's taking a break from all that rescue work, though. Six years is a long time to go - no wonder she's got burn out! Anyway, what else is new? I have a big yard to run in, and I like to dig in the garden. When I was younger I used to swallow my mom's socks all the time. Yes, it's true!! Luckily, none ever got stuck. They were just the small, footie socks. It made for a colorful yard, though, as they came out the other end as whole as when they went in, although compressed and dingy, to say the least. I don't eat socks anymore, but I do eat poop. Occasionally I belch in mom's face and she doesn't appreciate that. Oops. When it's the morning, if my "ruff! ruff!" and thorough face licking doesn't work to get mom out of bed, I bring her her slippers or her socks and wave it in her face. That usually gets her up. One day I actually brought mom her slippers, one at a time, when she was out working on the computer. The other dogs tried to interfere and play tug with said slippers, but I heroically pressed on and delivered them. Heh. We have lots of nylabones to chew on, too. Oh! I should tell you about my new sisters. There's Kylie (mom calls her Stinky), Rosie, and Wiggles. Mom and Wiggles are old friends. And, of course, there is Sammy. Also, Miss Watson lived here for two years but she died back in September, and Butterbean lived here for one contentious year before he died as well. They started out as fosters but mom officially adopted them when they (MW and Butter) were known to be in need of hospice.

Well, anyway. That's about it. I'm a happy, healthy boy and not nearly as scared as I was when I was a Wee Peep. I am mom's favorite and yes, I do respond when she calls for "Most Handsome." :)

9 o'clock at night...

...is the time to go for walks, apparently!

The last two days, in order to beat the heat, mom and I have taken our walks later than usual, around 9 pm. Wow! So many people had the same idea as us! There were 5 groups of walkers all converging on the same spot to walk in the same direction down the same stretch of road. I wasn't sure about it, and neither was mom, so we opted to turn around and go the other direction.

Last night it was less busy. We went off in the same direction and passed someone walking a really adorable terrier. The terrier was pulling in my direction but neither of our people let us meet. I'm not sure I would have wanted to say "hi" anyway, and my mom thinks that I scared the other lady because I put all my back-fur up. I do that aaaaall the time and it has to yet to mean anything other than "Well this is not something I see everyday!" from me. Mom says it's enough to make people go from "Oh my what a handsome boy!" to "Uuh... nice doggie??" in a blink of an eye. Oops. Oh well, I'm not big on "others" anyway so it's OK with me if they keep their distance.

Anyway, last night we went somewhere I've never been! We were walking down the street, and then mom turned left like she was going into someone's driveway. Except it wasn't a driveway, it was a sidewalk flanked by chain-link fences. We passed through there and came out to a huge field and playground. I was on my long leash so I got to sniff around a lot and do a little trotting. It was fun! I thought the playground equipment, looming up so high, was a little scary, but oh wow there were a lot of great sniffs all over the place.

Aaaaaand... then we went home.... good walk, though. :)

Been on hiatus

Oops, I always speak too soon. We were doing so great and then we slacked off. Let me try to remember things that have happened...

Well I had a new foster brother but he's already been adopted. He was a border collie mix. We've gone on walks and car rides here and there but nothing very regular. In fact, I've gotten a bit chubby. Ack!! Mom says she needs to start feeding me less. I don't think I've had any super special outings the last couple of months..... nothing is coming to mind, anyway.

I am much more animated though and I am using my paws a whole lot more than I used to. I frequently bark and paw at mom when I want something. Mom is so happy that I'm not in my own little world all the time any more, that she encourages me to keep it up. She says maybe it will translate into me being looser in training sessions too, which apparently is a good thing.

We have also heard of this new sport called "Nosework" and after watching a ton of videos and asking a ton of questions to people who know what they are doing (and after scouring the internet for local classes and coming up empty-handed) we've been practicing a bit. I like it, the anticipation of getting to sniff out the hides is enough to even make my tail wag, but while I'm in the process of sniffing, I look like I'm miserable. I'm tentative and my ears go out and my tail never wags. Mom says the fact that I even do it at all, instead of giving up and getting as far away as possible, means that I like it, but she wishes I would be a little more enthusiastic! Maybe with time. But that is how everything is with me. "Give it time, just stick with it". Oh boy.

This evening we tried to brave the heat and go for a walk... mom was trying to sneak me out of the house fast without Stewie or Sammie getting too worked up. So my leash was attached to my collar, we didn't waste time with my harness. Have I ever mentioned that I hate walking in my collar? Yeah, I do. It's not pretty. Mom hasn't done that to me in awhile so she had forgotten what a terror it was. The neighbors must have thought I was the worst dog ever. I was pulling so hard that my legs were splayed out to the side, I'm hacking and gagging the whole time, and I keep quite a pace and mom cannot keep up at all. We had to turn around soon after starting and go back for an equipment change. Aaaaaah, my harness. No worries there. Mom has a theory that I like the way my harness "hugs" me and it calms me down a bit. Mom also switched me out for a longer leash so I could have a little more room to trot ahead. It was actually a very peaceful walk, even though it did not start out that way. It was very short, though, and I was beat afterwards. This heat!! It's crazy!!

Mom's actually wanting to get me into dog scootering, since I LOVE to pull and keep a pace and follow a path. It's a bit expensive though. We may have to settle for biking. Mom thinks I would be pretty dog-gone good at scootering. I'm even pretty good at walking past distractions when I'm marching along on my walks. It's when I get tired that I slow down to see what's going on around me.