Week 8

Jed gets a taste of SoHo

By now you have figured out that 2 weeks turned into 3, on it's way to 4 since I have posted. No excuses, just lazy. I have had a hard time getting back into the swing of training my dogs since coming home from 16 days on the road. That and the fact that it was 111 degrees here yesterday has inhibited my motivation considerably. Little Jedi is now officially a road warrior, and learned to handle travel with the aplomb of a much older dog. He did good!

5 things:

1. Quit squirming
2. Why didn't you just say so
3. Waiting patiently
4. Loyalty
5. Friends

Somewhere around Las Vegas on our way out, I was considering tossing Jed out the window on the freeway. In the 5 or 6 hours it took us to go that far, he had persistently squirmed and complained. I should have put him in a crate in the trailer, but chose the safer method of leaving him crated in the back set of my truck. I had to swallow my frustration more than once during that time, hoping that he would get the hang of it sooner or later. Decidedly later, he did just that, and because I did not cater to him by letting him out every hour or so, after Vegas, he got the hang of it and road quietly for the rest of our journey. The lesson? Leave them alone, they will adapt.

Once acclimated, the only time Jed spoke to me was when he had to empty. Good boy! Usually, I would first hear a low moan, then whining, and if I still hadn't responded by that time, he would startle me with one, great big, unmistakable bark. His way of saying; NOW! In so doing, he really showed me his intelligence, and I'm happy to report that this was not his only way. I always answered his call, except for once coming through Nevada on our way home. He barked, I answered a phone call and forgot, the cab turned a sour yellow color, at least in my imagination. After a quick roadside stop for clean up detail, and a profuse apology to my most excellent puppy, off we went without any further pollution.

Jed had quite a bit of crate time on the trip, and he weathered it well. After a nice, long outing every morning with all the dogs, Jed got crated either inside or under the RV trailer. None of my neighbors along the way complained about noise problems, and I never heard him in there, so I have to assume that he waited patiently for the next long walk, play time, or to be handed off to a dog-sitter du jour. He learned to love the crate at home by being fed in there, and hanging out in one with me in the house, and it all paid off in spades on the road.

A neighbor had a puppy about the same age as Jed, and we let those 2 romp and play together at Meeker. Jed came to know where she lived, and on more than once occasion headed that way to be rewarded with visitation privileges. One morning, my friend was out walking all her dogs, and agreed to include Jed so the puppies could play. I went back to my trailer, then went out later and took him back home with me. Later, I found out from another neighbor, that Jed had returned home on his own, climbed the stairs to the door, and tried to alert me to his presence. This was valuable practice for him, and might have saved his life later in the trip. On the way home, in Cedar City, UT, I put Jed, Price, Mirk and Star inside a chain-link, designated dog-walk pen, and left them alone. After hours and hours in the truck with only an occasional outing to empty, I thought they needed to stretch their legs. I also checked the perimeter, and thought the enclosure was puppy-proof. It wasn't. But I heard something at the trailer door, looked out, and there was Jed on the top step telling me; "I want to come home now." I cannot express the relief I felt upon seeing him there, nor the sheer joy of knowing how much he loves me.

Jed has a whole host of new friends made while we were away. As a matter of course I will hand off a puppy to any willing participant who will keep him, play with him, and socialize him for me at a dog trial. Usually it's kids who want to play, and he met some of those, but it was the loving adults who tended him best. At SoHo and at Meeker, he went, he followed, he played, and was loved by a fine compliment of adutls who just love puppies. Thanks to them all for helping me greatly to socialize my very gregarious young man. I thank you. You did a fine job, and Jed matured wonderfully through the process.

One Big, Happy Family

Week 7

Three way tie

Believe me when I tell you that this is one well-adjusted pup. I am so busy preparing, training and planning for my upcoming trip to Soldier Hollow and Meeker, that little Jed is way back there, on the farthest back burner having to pretty much take care of himself.  He doesn't seem any worse for wear, and in fact, doesn't seem to mind at all.  He still greets me with his happiest, most wrinkle-nosed smile first thing in the morning, he stills play relentlessly with Star and with Mirk, when Mirk deigns to allow it, and he maintains his happiest to be alive attitude at all times. Other than a house visit in the morning for breakfast, Little Jed is being left to his own devices much of the time, and to tell you the truth, I don't even know he is there. Good little puppy!

Five things:

1. How come?
2. Take that!
3. I'm not so sure
4. A lamb you said?
5. Heaven help us

I have been getting out early these days to beat the heat, load up my sheep and head out on the big field to tune up my big dogs for the trials ahead. It's early, lack of preparedness is causing me tension, and I am running out of time, so I am abandoning all non-essential functions. Unfortunately for Jed, this means that he gets left at home when I go. I have been bringing him in for breakfast, and leaving him crated while I go to the big field to train. If he understood that Dexter is being left as well, I wonder if it would make him feel better?

The big dogs are starting to complain now that Jed has gotten big enough to pester them in earnest. Like a midge (Scottish gnat) he was simply annoying before, but things have escalated. Jed certainly learned the hard way who will put up with him, and who will not. Price is the headmaster, and brooks no insolence from anyone, least of all, what is in his eyes, a worthless puppy well beneath his stature. Jed has learned to give Price a tentative try, and leave it at that. Mirk will allow Jed to have a romp, chew on his neck, wallow beneath his chin, and lick him, but he makes it crystal clear when play time is over. So that just leaves Star, who is caught in the "tween" time when he still wants to play often enough, but understands what it means to be hot and tired. Starman receives the most attention from Jed, and that is as it should be.

Like Star, and unlike every puppy I have raised before Jed and Star, Jed is not getting enough socialization. I am a bit of a recluse by nature, I am not trialing much in this economy, and I tend to stay home unless absolutely necessary. Jed does not go to the store, experience places like PetCo, is not around many strangers nearly enough, and it shows. Lately when he has seen strangers, he has demonstrated a bit of caution around them. Not aggression, but hesitancy. With a pat and a cuddle it is easily overcome, and I am confident that caution is not a big part of nature, so I am not concerned about it. I simply have to make a consceintous effort to get Jed out and around more, and I can think of no better way to do that than my upcoming trip. It will be so good for all my dogs, and even more so for me.

Jed's first interest in sheep came one day when a young lamb was gambolling around his pen. The big dogs were fascinated, and I wonder whether it was their attention that got his. Jed and the lamb went nose to nose at the fence, which made we speculate about when he will "turn on," as they say. I have had pups that have done by now, and others that haven't. I have known of a few unfortunates who never became keen on sheep. It does not happen often, but it does. I had dog named Moe that was a half-uncle to Jed who never paid any attention to sheep until he was 6 or 7 months old. And when he did start looking, he did so in a big way. I sold him as a trained nursery dog, and he went on to win the Canadian National Nursery Championship with his new owner. Because Moe and Jed are similarly bred, I would expect their timing to be similar.

Jed has gotten to the rambunctious puppy stage where everything is fair game. My shoes, even when I am wearing them, my pant legs while I am walking, flora and fauna in the dog yard, other dogs, just anything that he can get his mouth on. He was leaping onto furniture in the house, and making it look easy I might add. In other words, he has become this massive jumble of jubiliant puppy energy, so it's a very good thing that I have taught him to listen carefully. Since the first day I got him, I began the process of teaching him to take a correction. At his age, I certainly don't mean a physical (hitting) correction. I mean verbal corrections, so that now I can just give him a growl, and he knows what it means. That doesn't mean that he always or even immediately reacts, but he definitely knows what I mean, and will always refrain from the offending action at some point. When you wait until puppies are at this stage before you teach them what it sounds like when they are breaking a rule, it's too late. It's also much harder on the puppy, because they are now bigger, and wilder without any understanding when you don't approve. So the too-late correction, when given, must be stronger than had you begun earlier in the pup's life.  When I take pups as infants I begin teaching them manners on day one. They know no other way, and are easy and pleasurable to train, and it sure makes for a nice dog.

My Mornings