Something Has Clicked -- March 26, 2014
Here are a few excerpts from Facebook posts I have written in the past month or so:
February 27, 2014
OMG I WANT TO SHOUT IT TO THE HILLS!!!!!! I don't even have words for how excited I am, but those who know me well and know Bing well, will certainly appreciate this.
I took the dogs for a walk at Wehr's Dam (yes, in 10 degree wind chill). There was NOT a SOUL around. It was slick and I didn't bring my Yak Trax, but we managed. At the very end of the walk, I looked toward my van and saw another van next to it. Hunh, I thought, no one around....wait...I better look around! (because no one in their right mind besides a dog walker will be out...bikers don't go on this path)...and from around a ginormous iceberg of a snow pile appears a pointer. CRAP.
Bing is peeing, but finishes and turns to see him just as I call his name in my happy voice. He clearly hears me but is taken with the dog and approaches it. Then I see the owner and say 'this is not good...I didn't see you till just now! I quickly tell her he won't hurt her dog but may make a noisy scene. So we each call our dogs, and I start running away as I turn to keep an eye on him......they are sniffing and wagging and posturing...AND PLAYBOWING!!!!!!
The whole thing lasts 15 seconds and we go our ways as I call out "OMG THANK YOU FOR HAVING SUCH AN AWESOME DOG!!!!'
I was shaking and celebrating and dishing out treats like crazy and weeping all the way back to the van! I open the van door and find something on which to write a thank you note to put on her windshield (THAT is how excited I am!) and when I finished, there is Bing, laying in his crate, chewing his bone....????....!!!....normally he would be standing, eyes glazed over, waiting for my hand to reach for the door handle so he can freak out and scream.
We then drove straight to Burger King so he could scarf up a burger!!
This has made my day, my week, my month, my year!!!!!! WOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!!!
March 2, 2014
Bing is ready to go on his second run of the day at K9 Jym.
He had no idea he was going to run, and was not stressed at all. He even rode quietly and calmly in the van the entire hour drive. We brought him in to the building, and he was happy to see his friend Debbie Lipartito. He got lots of treats and thought it was a grand time. And THEN I pulled out his agility lead….. he realized he was going to run, and he was over the moon! Tango qualified twice and Bing once (knocked a bar on the second run but was FAST and otherwise precise), and I was super proud of them for different reasons. Clearly, Bing misses doing agility with me as much as I miss doing it with him. I am sad about retiring him for behavioral reasons, but maybe this indicates he can handle semi-retirement. If the location is close enough for Pete to bring him out at the end of the day, it could work.
As if these weren’t good enough reports, I have one more. Last Friday, March 21, I took Bing to see a new chiropractor. Same location, but Dr Donna is gone and Dr Jones has taken her place. Bing trusted Donna after 8 years of work. He had never seen Dr Jones, but when we went into the exam room, and the treats came out, Bing was immediately his friend. Tango got his adjustment first, and Bing did his Bing thing and hid under the chair. When it was his turn, I put on his muzzle, and he allowed Dr Jones to do a rather intensive once-over. He worked on his atlas and occiput (back of the head) in particular. Bing did not put his ears sideways like a cat or growl, as he would have a few years ago. Instead, he just tolerated everything being done to him. When we were done and his muzzle came off, he RAN over to Dr Jones for treats! I guess Bing assumed that I told Dr Jones the rules and he trusted that assumption. WOW.
Not sure why it is all coming together now, at nearly 9 years of age, but Bing seems to be a little more comfortable in his skin. I think he truly believes that I make sure that everyone knows the rules and follows them. Talk about trust.
Ali
Bing Blog 68
