Woof. Woof woof woof bark woof bark bark woof. Bow wow wow wow, woof bark woof bow wow wow yip!
Maybe I better translate what Lady is trying to say.
Hi, My name is Lady. Mom rescued me from the dog pound in late 1999. I enjoyed going on car rides almost every time mom went somewhere and was sad when I didn't get to travel along. There were several parks that I loved to run in and often chase critters.
While at home, I liked to take mom for walks, chew up everything that I could find, and chase the four cats. The cats are all gone now, but I still find plenty of stray cats in the neighborhood to bark at.
I get to play fetch quite often with Terry now. Usually it is treats, but there have been several ball and other toy retrieval opportunities also. Another one of my favorite things is getting sprayed with the garden hose, I go crazy when that water comes to me. I also enjoy digging up everything in the yard.
My new doghouse is about triple the size of the original doghouse that Terry built last fall. This is made of thicker plywood and a wood frame. This doghouse offers much better wind and sun protection. Terry can also hook on a fabric covering for the front during winter coldness.
I'd like to bark more, but I think Terry is coming with my food dish. Have a nice day!
Watch my AVI video which shows me fetching treats. It is a 2mb .AVI which plays for about 42 seconds.
I used to have free run of the house and yard. However, I could not control my natural desire to chew up things in the house or break things by accident. I am full of energy and often get pretty wild. I would also regularly jump over the walls of the yard and roam the neighborhood.
Now I am an outside dog with an almost 50 foot long living area. I do not get the chance to jump fences or chew important things, though I do tend to munch on the bushes in the yard. I get to be inside the house if the outside temperature is below 40 degrees. My doghouse provides shelter from other things. Life is still pretty good for me.
I'm still full of energy, but I have been learning some things about controlling my energy when I need to. I still have a lot to learn, but here are some parts of my training.
When Terry comes out to play, I have to behave myself or he goes back inside. We play fetch with any of assorted objects and tug of war with the fun rope toy. When we play fetch, I am suppossed to bring the object back to Terry on command. A lot of times though, he will just chase me around my area in a game similar to tag. When he catches me, I have to release the object. As long as I focus on the game and mind the commands given, the games go on until we wear out. The longer I behave, the longer the fun session lasts.
Because these are play sessions, few rules are applied. The main rule which I always have to follow is to not jump up on people. Aside from that, I have to release the object for Terry on command. We both enjoy our play time as long as I can behave.
OK, it's not that severe. I usually get regular meals twice a day, usually with a treat session in the middle somewhere. When Terry comes out with the food dish, I know I must not jump on him while he goes to the feeding place. If I do, he takes my food back inside with him. While I know he will try again in about half an hour, I am still sad to have missed the food.
Once Terry is at the feeding spot, he issues the command to SIT and I nust do it. Once I am sitting, he issues the STAY command so that I stay sitting while he places the food dish. Sometimes now I even do these without the need for the commands. I'm pretty smart, just that sometimes I am so eager that I lose my focus. Once the food dish is placed, Terry walks away from it. But I must remain sitting where I am. Sometimes Terry comes to me and pets me. Other times, he walks away as a test. The total time between placing the food dish and my getting to eat is always less then two minutes, as long as I stay sitting during that time. Terry says it builds faith and consistency.
When Terry points to the food dish and says GET FOOD, I can eat. He always rewards me with a quick back rub then and I show him I am happy by wagging my tail. If I have gone after the food any time before his command, he takes the food inside to try again later.
I have learned that my regular meals will always be given to me, but treats sessions are lost if I don't behave. Therefore, I try real hard to follow the simple rules of treat fetching. There are really only two rules. I must not jump up on Terry and I must sit between treats. Terry rarely has to tell me to SIT during treats anymore because I do it so often by myself now. Usually, the only thing that stops our treat sessions anymore is when I jump on Terry as he is coming out with the treats.
Terry breaks big treats into small chunks so that I get more chase opportunities and have an easier time munching them down. Treats are tossed all over the place. Sometimes I have to jump way up high, sometimes to the left or right, and usually Terry tries to fool me by tossing at different speeds. I catch most every one he tosses, but quickly track down those I don't catch.
Terry knows that I used to run loose in parks and fields, but he doesn't want me to get hauled off to the dog pound for violating leash laws. About once a week, we go out on walks to one of two parks close by. This gives us both a little break from the house and yard and keeps me reminded of the walk related commands.
I know we are going for a walk when Terry brings out the really long lead. While we are walking, I have to be close by Terry, but when we get to the park, I get about 40 feet of diameter to run in. Terry makes me go potty before we leave the yard so that I don't do that while we are out.
While we are walking, I must not pull the lead too hard. Terry used to use the choke collar but doesn't anymore. Now, I have to stop and sit every time I get too wild while walking. I also cannot chase critters or sniff things. I do get to chat with many other dogs as we go, but I cannot otherwise interact with them. Because we are out in public, I have to obey Terry real well and stay close to him. If I don't we go home immediately.
Often when we go down the alley, Terry and I will run for a distance. This is fun, but we have to stop if any people or cars enter the alley. I must SIT and STAY off to the side when others are passing us by.
Terry carries a few treats with him when we walk. If I behave during our walk and park time, I get treats before we leave the park. Terry can throw treats further at the park because there is more open space around.
If Terry is working out in the front yard, he will open the front gate and allow me to travel into the front yard to watch him. My lead allows me to go about 3 feet into the front yard. I can stay out there until either he is done or I start barking or digging.
If Terry is working in my area, I am allowed to follow him around as long as I don't get in the way. When he is using the weed trimmer though, I have to be relocaced for my protection.
The reason why I can't have full run of the entire back yard is because I can jump the walls and get out of the yard. However, I may have even more freedom in the future.
Terry has plans to move my lead arrangement and placement around next Spring. There is one very tall wall that I cannot jump, and he wants to put me in that area. Then he would be able to double my lead length to give me most of the backyard as my area. THe arrangement would have my lead come just short of the nearest wall that I could jump over.
This would allow me to have the covered carport for additional sun, wind, and rain protection throughout the year. My doghouse would be moved to the carport also. I could offer better watchdog ability with that type of setup as well as have a lot more freedom.
I gotta run. I hope you enjoyed my webpage. Visit me again real soon and bring me some real tasty treats.
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