[nagdu] blind clicker training methods / Shaman was good

[Tamara Smith-Kinney]

Mardi,

So cool!  Two was great with Mitzi because she seemed so grown up...  It was
also absolutely maddening because she was such a, you know, total snot!
/lol/  Sometime last spring, a couple of months before she turrned 3, I
suddenly noticed something one day:  She was the dog I had been imagining
she would be all this time!  Not all of the time, yet.  But quite a bit of
it.  Who could ever have imagined?  /lol/

They say poodles mature sometime between 4 and 5...  Huh!  Then again, they
say the silly creatures actually grow up  ...  some time after they're dead
and buried.  I think that's a good thing.  I actually had an hysterical
conversation with some guy at the dog park a few months ago in which his
entire, and oft-repeated, input was, "She's a poodle."  I have got to write
that one up because he played it so perfectly while I kept "guessing" at
what age the curly black sort of popcorn jackalope thingamagig we were
watching at the time would actually "settle down and grow up."  He kept a
straight face the entire time, even after I doubled over laughing and had to
wander off to get myself under control.  I wanted to cry, too, because my
last gasp was "when she's dead????"  Silence.  "Buried for 3 months???"

He squinted at me.  It was a nice sunny day, so I could see that.  Then he
held his hand out and rocked it back and forth....  And shrugged.

I looked at my almost-three-year-old and just about died laughing.  He did,
clearly have a point!

Okay, so poodles are almost nothing like Belgium Shepherds, at least as far
as the, uh, bounciness of it all, is concerned.  But you're on the home
stretch, hon.  Enjoy the remnants of the puppy...  or at least don't
strangle the dog quite yet.  /grin/

Take care!

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Mardi Hadfield
Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2009 11:36 AM
To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [nagdu] blind clicker training methods / Shaman was good

Thanks Ann, I am waiting for Nick to finish his "Finals"so he can help me.
Shaman is still very young. He just turned 2 years old this month. I am
hoping that with age, he will be less distractable. For now, I just have to
keep working on it. He is a good dog and he loves me and I love him. He does
things that just melt my heart when we are at home. He really does want to
please me, and he does try. I some times get frustrated,but I need to get
over that. Shaman has great potential. I once had to correct him for chasing
a lizard while he was guiding me down a sidewalk.Within 5 minutes, he was
saving my "butt" from being run over by a semi truck that ran it's back
wheels over the curb we had been on only seconds before. Shaman moved me out
of the way just in time.There is no question that this dog can do the job. I
need to remember to be patient with him and not give up, and not to get so
frustrated. Easier said than done, but I am committed to seeing this
through. He is a wonderful dog even if he is different from my huskies! Have
a great day,  Mardi and Shaman,and Nala, retired.

-- 
http://wolfsinger-lakota.blogspot.com/
http://wolfsinger2-thegoldendragon.blogspot.com
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