The Face of Evil

Until last night, this was Henry's current favorite toy. He picked it out at Petco last month during a lonely Saturday night shopping trip.

We played with hippo almost every day. He brought it over to me when I sat on the couch. I'd throw it in the kitchen. He'd bound off after it. Rinse, repeat.

Last evening, I screwed up. I lobbed the hippo high into the air so it would come down and bounce around the living room. The first time I threw it not so high, just over my head, and everything was fine. The second time I threw it higher. Henry instantly spooked, tucked his stubby tail, and backed into the path of the falling hippo. It hit him squarely on the back.

He was terrified. First he jumped up on my lap and curled into a ball. Then he dashed outside to the porch to hide.

I tried smearing peanut butter on Hippo (that's the white residue visible in the picture), and sure, he licked that right off, but immediately went back to being scared. Twenty-four hours later he still remembers.

Just how, I wonder, does an animal develop such a fear of objects falling from the sky? A puppyhood home with really unstable shelving?

Weaving for Breakfast

I think he finally has it. :)

Six Weave Poles, Baby!

I'm pretty excited. Make that super-excited. As of yesterday, Henry's doing 6 weave poles. Not fast, but he's doing all six, and he's doing it without me being right next to him. It's like the lightbulb finally went on and he got it!

Last week at class, we did something a little different and had the dogs enter the weave poles while they were walking next to us. We only did 2 or 3 poles at class, and only a couple of repetitions. So we started working at home on that method of entry, first with 3-4 poles, and then 5, and finally yesterday with 6 poles.

Until today Henry required me to walk right next to him. If I didn't, he left the poles and followed me.

He got over that this morning when he had to weave for his breakfast. After 2 tries he finally did it. We worked on it again tonight, and now he will enter the poles and weave while I wait for him at the end. I'm crossing my fingers hoping that he will do this at class tomorrow.

How excited am I? I dreamed about freaking weave poles last night. No kidding.

Feline Housemate

Couldn't resist sharing this shot of my elder cat. It was taken on our screened porch, which has awesome late afternoon and evening light. I've gotten some of my best cat pictures on the porch. Plus, the cats (and Henry, too) love hanging out there.

Fast Friends

Henry spent his first weekend with Blitz, and I'm relieved to report things went very smoothly. They took to each other instantly and spent most of the daylight hours outside playing in the big fenced dog yard at my dad's house. Both slept very well each night!

I hope I'll be able to teach Blitz a few commands, but agility won't be an option with my limited time with him. Luckily, he is so well-behaved that my father doesn't have an urgent need to train him further.

 

Blitz's New Bling

Blitz models his new collar, Lupine's "Wild West" design. And I apologize in advance. I got a bit obsessed with the Hipstamatic iPhone app this weekend, so there will be lots of weird-looking photos coming.

Class - Week 3

When Thursday night rolled around this week, I was so tired and cranky that I nearly skipped our agility class. That's not my style, though. Plus, I paid good money for it, darn it. So I was determined to drag myself there and gave myself a pep talk on the way, "Do not cry at agility...do not cry at agility..."

I'm glad I went because it turned out to be just what I needed. Henry did really well. He learned to walk to the end of the teeter board (flat on the ground) and stand with four paws on the yellow contact portion.

He also ran through the tube part of the chute (minus the closed tunnel part) on the first try. I hope that means he'll zip through the tunnel the next time we try that.

At the end of class we did two runs of the tunnel-less chute, pause table, and two jumps. Henry absolutely LOVES getting to run from one thing to the next without stopping. And he has not yet run away from me. That is the truly amazing part. We have come a long way since March!

Driving Mr. Blitz

It made for an exhausting mid-week trip (2 hours each way) but it was worth every minute. Yesterday Henry and I drove down to pick up my dad's newly adopted dog at the animal hospital and deliver him to his new home with my dad.

Blitz is a fantastic dog. He's absolutely perfect for my dad. Who would think that a young dog straight from the shelter would be better behaved than Henry?! OK, maybe it's best that those of you who know Henry don't answer that.

Blitz wasted no time trying out the inventory of toys in the fenced dog yard. 

Blitz surveys the neighborhood for the first time. Since the weather's been so nice, he's been spending most of the daylight hours outside keeping an eye on things.