The dog musing/vent thread
- Thread starter Laurelin
- Start date
Gushing over my dogs. Nothing unusual, I just love them so much. Riff and I have come so far. When I got him we had so many problems and he SO wasn't the dog I wanted. Then he had his torsion and although we had finally started bonding a little before that, it really cemented the fact that I was getting attached to him. After he had the surgery & recovered, I learned to appreciate him for the dog he is, not the dog I wanted him to be - it's cliche but SO true! He is not my incredibly smart, focused, eager worker. I still want that in my next dog... but that's not Riff. What he IS is an incredibly lovable, SILLY, happy (happy happy HAPPY) dork who is not very bright but always gives me 110%. As he matures a little more, he's gaining more focus which is making him easier to train. He doesn't learn things super fast, but his willingness to please makes up for that, and honestly Rowan learns SO fast that I think it gave me unrealistic expectations.
He's still afraid of strangers, especially men. He's still kind of anxious and nervous if he thinks there's the slightest chance he's in trouble (raised voices not directed at him, things like that.) He's soft, a lot softer than I'm used to.
But the dog is joyous. Everything is his favorite thing. Treats are his favorite. Toys are his favorite. Snow is his favorite. Running is his favorite. Cuddling is his favorite. Rowan is his favorite, even though he's usually grumpy toward Riff. My mom and my brother are his favorite. Being outside is his favorite. Being inside is his favorite. Everything is just the best.
Sometimes he still looks at me like he's not sure, like he's worried. It breaks my heart but I think that's just him. He's insecure. I've learned not to take it personally because 99% of the time he looks at me like I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread (which, by the way, really IS his favorite.) He's also gained a LOT of confidence in the year that I've had him so it's still a work in progress. I've learned to temper myself and keep a calm head with him, because my reaction to frustration is to be verbally upset. Rowan couldn't care less if I'm wandering around grumbling and swearing. Riff gets very worried so I've made a huge effort to not put him in that situation.
What he lacks in brains, he more than makes up for in heart. I am just so glad I stuck it out with him because he's such a wonderful little dude and our relationship has become great
I've learned so much from him and I just adore him.
As for Rowan, well, Rowan is perfect. End of story. Except for the diarrhea all over my house yesterday... but that's not his fault and comes with owning pets sometimes. And hey, I needed to steam clean anyway!
So lucky to have my boys.
He's still afraid of strangers, especially men. He's still kind of anxious and nervous if he thinks there's the slightest chance he's in trouble (raised voices not directed at him, things like that.) He's soft, a lot softer than I'm used to.
But the dog is joyous. Everything is his favorite thing. Treats are his favorite. Toys are his favorite. Snow is his favorite. Running is his favorite. Cuddling is his favorite. Rowan is his favorite, even though he's usually grumpy toward Riff. My mom and my brother are his favorite. Being outside is his favorite. Being inside is his favorite. Everything is just the best.
Sometimes he still looks at me like he's not sure, like he's worried. It breaks my heart but I think that's just him. He's insecure. I've learned not to take it personally because 99% of the time he looks at me like I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread (which, by the way, really IS his favorite.) He's also gained a LOT of confidence in the year that I've had him so it's still a work in progress. I've learned to temper myself and keep a calm head with him, because my reaction to frustration is to be verbally upset. Rowan couldn't care less if I'm wandering around grumbling and swearing. Riff gets very worried so I've made a huge effort to not put him in that situation.
What he lacks in brains, he more than makes up for in heart. I am just so glad I stuck it out with him because he's such a wonderful little dude and our relationship has become great
I've learned so much from him and I just adore him.As for Rowan, well, Rowan is perfect. End of story.
Except for the diarrhea all over my house yesterday... but that's not his fault and comes with owning pets sometimes. And hey, I needed to steam clean anyway!So lucky to have my boys.
Abrams swam in the ocean for the first time today! He had a blast. Pictures will come when we finally have internet.
He was a little sketchy at first with all of the people out and about (he's actually never been out in public walking besides in stores), but once he got over the fact that there were people EVERYWHERE and he really didn't need to bark at people sitting down he did wonderful. Very proud of him.
He had a blast. Pictures will come when we finally have internet. He was a little sketchy at first with all of the people out and about (he's actually never been out in public walking besides in stores), but once he got over the fact that there were people EVERYWHERE and he really didn't need to bark at people sitting down he did wonderful. Very proud of him.
Went to a large park today. Jari did SO WELL. There were dogs everywhere and he was only a bit whiny sometimes as we passed by. I'm hopeful this reactivity thing will be a thing of the past soon if we keep putting the work/training in. And Kimma was ecstatic to lay in the freezing creek water because she's insane. At least she enjoyed herself?
Yeahhhh I don't mind barking but even that's a bit much for me
Haha I'm just happy we passed. Our biggest slow down was on exteriors where my only goals where for him to find the hide and NOT pee and we met both those goals. He actually did find the hide relatively quickly but I didn't quite trust him mostly due to the hides location.
He doesn't have a solid alert simply increased interest in the hide location. Maybe 10-15% of the time he'll give a solid alert like poking it with his nose, looking at me and maybe poking it again. This hide was on a wooden frame holding a trash can. With Jubel it was quite possible he was just interested in the trash can smells instead of being on odor. So I did notice and register his interest there but had him walk around the rest of the search area, they called the 30 second warning so I took him back over to the trash can and he put his nose right back into the corner of the frame and I called 'alert'.
Everything else went pretty smoothly other than derping out on vehicles at first and wanting to go check out the picnic table off to the side. Once I got him focused on searching the vehicles he found the hide quickly and gave a beautiful alert.
So with our slow times we came in 17th out of 39 competitors, 22 of which got their titles. I'm very happy and proud of my boy! Thanks everyone for the congrats.
He doesn't have a solid alert simply increased interest in the hide location. Maybe 10-15% of the time he'll give a solid alert like poking it with his nose, looking at me and maybe poking it again. This hide was on a wooden frame holding a trash can. With Jubel it was quite possible he was just interested in the trash can smells instead of being on odor. So I did notice and register his interest there but had him walk around the rest of the search area, they called the 30 second warning so I took him back over to the trash can and he put his nose right back into the corner of the frame and I called 'alert'.
Everything else went pretty smoothly other than derping out on vehicles at first and wanting to go check out the picnic table off to the side. Once I got him focused on searching the vehicles he found the hide quickly and gave a beautiful alert.
So with our slow times we came in 17th out of 39 competitors, 22 of which got their titles. I'm very happy and proud of my boy! Thanks everyone for the congrats.
Why WOULDN'T you want pretty? I'll settle for "good enough" but I'd totally want pretty.
I think I've mentioned it here before, but Cohen should have NQ'd on her last RE leg. She broke her honour, but the helper didn't see it I guess. I wasn't even in the ring when they were calling out placements... they called me in and I was so confused - I think we placed 2nd... The other competitors completely knew should have NQ'd too.
Judges make mistakes, and I'm kind of okay just rolling with her decision that day, but I feel badly for taking a placement from people who did it properly.
I think I've mentioned it here before, but Cohen should have NQ'd on her last RE leg. She broke her honour, but the helper didn't see it I guess. I wasn't even in the ring when they were calling out placements... they called me in and I was so confused - I think we placed 2nd... The other competitors completely knew should have NQ'd too.
Judges make mistakes, and I'm kind of okay just rolling with her decision that day, but I feel badly for taking a placement from people who did it properly.
Well, I'm there to have an experience with my dog. And yea, it's fun when Squash is being flashy and pretty, but honestly one of my favorite Q's with him was probably the ugliest run we've ever had. We were at a WCRL trial, the last run of the day where we did an all day trial for the very first time. We were both tired and fried and we barely squeaked it out by like, a couple of points... but I was so proud that he was able to hang in there and stick with me. And it didn't feel like settling for anything, I was probably the happiest person in the ring getting ribbons even though we were dead last.
