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Keeping up with the Jones

Vindicated

[A Mom Entry]

One of the last times I went to the beach with Cobi and Tess, it was very early and there were only a few people there. One of the women, a regular at that early time, had two large Chesapeake Bay Retrievers. Since the other dog at the beach was older and doing his own thing, Cobi and Tess joined in a game of water Frisbee with the chessies. Tess was content to just swim out after them until the water gets too deep, then wait for them to come back. But Cobi was boisterous and splashy and a little herd-y. As they were splashing out to get the Frisbee, Cobi nipped one of the chessies. She turned around and administered a doggie smackdown (which he deserved). Her owner, however, got on the holier-than-thou wagon and warned me that if he kept doing that, her dogs wouldn't tolerate it and would kill him. Because, she said, THAT'S HOW THEY ARE.

The whole encounter stung for more than one reason. First, the assumption that Cobi was somehow misbehaving. Second, that her dogs didn't need to be corrected, just mine. And finally, that because she was there first (and is more of a regular than me) that I should be the one to change my routine to suit her. Feeling burned, I left. And spent quite a long time (as you can tell by this post) angry. Not only at her, but at myself for letting her do that to me.

So today I purposely waited until later to take Cobi to the beach. Even though it would be more populated with the Sunday crowd, I knew she would be gone. There were lots of dogs at the beach so Cobi spent the first ten or fifteen minutes just zooming up and down the beach, checking things out. Amazingly, he didn't bother anyone and no one bothered him.

After a bit he spotted a pair of German Shepherds playing ball with their owners, very much like the woman and her chessies. Cobi went over to investigate and get in on the action. Strangely enough, no problems. The owners even told me that their dogs don't usually like to play with other dogs, so they were surprised at how well they were getting along with Cobi.

Hm. Interesting.

Then Cobi noticed an Irish Red and White Setter stalking some birds near the brush. He went over to the dog and watched, fascinated, as the setter stood there patiently for the longest time, crept up toward the birds, then gave chase. Cobi decided this was a fun game, so when the setter stood, Cobi stood. When the setter stalked, Cobi stalked. When the setter ran, Cobi did a wide border collie arc and reach the spot where the birds had been at the same time as the setter. They did this until it was time to go home and never once did we have an issue.

Which, of course, leads me to the conclusion that the woman with the chessies needs to get over herself. And makes me feel a whole lot better about my dog.

P.S. We worked on recall today at the beach with treats. From short distances, Cobi dropped whatever he was doing and came when called. We still need work on the longer distances, but I was VERY happy with the results.

See? What a good boy!

It's my birthday!

I don't know what that means, but Mom seems pretty excited about it. And that usually means treats!

Love,
Cobi

[Mom's note: Since Cobi is adopted, we don't know his real birthday. When we got him, our intent was to change his name to something nautical, since my husband is a sailor. To go along with his new nautical name, we chose to make Cobi's birthday on the same day as the Battle of Lake Erie. (Longer story there.) As it turned out, we kept his name, but decided to keep the birthday. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Cobi! Treats ARE involved!]

Beach Day!

My mom took me to the doggy beach today WITHOUT Tessie! I mean, I like my Aussie sister, but (and don't tell DAD) Mom let me sit in the front seat with my head out the window on the way.

When we got there it was still really early so there weren't many dogs. But the tide was way out and the beach was HUGE. So we played Frisbee for awhile--my jumping catches are getting better. Then the other dogs started showing up, so I ran and ran and ran and ran and... well, you get the idea.

After about an hour and a half, Mom asked me if I was ready to go, but I wasn't. So she let me play a little longer and THEN I was ready. It's nearly midnight and I'm still tired, so I think I worked all the zoomies out of my system for one day.

Gnite!

Love,
Cobi