[nagdu] Finicky eaters

[Tamara Smith-Kinney]

OMG! Are we *sure* they're not twins! /lol/  I have a hard enough time
keeping up with the things our two teach other.  With 4, also trained in
service tasks -- like reaching for things -- your dogs have extra tools for
trouble making!

Hm...  Nobody knows, really, where poodles came from.  I have some theories,
most of them from Sci-Fi. /grin/  But I've had some good opportunities for
Dobie watching over the last couple of years, and have some suspicions about
shared ancestry there, somewhere.  Some of Laveau's behavior -- the good,
the awesome, the completely bratty alike -- sound scarily familiar.  /smile/

I was watching a gorgeous dobie female about Mitzi's age a week or so ago,
while she and Mitzi tried to out-cool each other trying to pretend they
didn't want to do anything so silly as play.  I finally blurted out the
observation that dobies and poodles had to be related somewhere ...  I'm not
sure, but I think the dobie's owners were offended.  /lol/  Theirs is a
serious dog breed, while mine is, well, a poodle.

Mitzi has more wild and crazy silly whimsy than I've seen in even young
dobies.  But her response to training and some of the things she does
shockingly well -- like boundary training -- remind me a lot of the dobes.
There are a few other things as well.  And while most people think of
poodles as silly fru-fru circus dogs with crazy dos, the standards do have a
guarding and police work background in other parts of the world.  It's there
in Mitzi, but of course translates nicely in the protective aspect of guide
work.  I did notice last Halloween when we walked into our backyard to find
it was being occupied by adolescent trespassers that she can be quite
fierce.  Also, when those curls all stand on end, she's suddenly kinda big
and scary.  They seemed to think so, too, by all the scrambling and fence
leaping.  /lol/  Mitzi didn't try to chase them, once she had warned them
off, which I was glad of, and she wasn't out of control, so I was able to
praise her for that and for listening to me.  She hasn't shown signs that
the incident unleashed the beast within, which is also good to know.  I did
work on making sure of that over the weeks following -- extra c/t -- just to
be sure.

Anyway, love the stories of your flat-coated poodle.  /grin/  

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of The Pawpower Pack
Sent: Sunday, July 04, 2010 6:48 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Finicky eatersve

  Tami,

I don't know; I think Dobermans may be tied with Poodles in the  
sneakiness department.  My retired border collie guide, Gracy comes to  
stay with us once a month or so.  I swear she is teaching Laveau all  
of her bad habits-- the worst and most offensive being shoe thievery.   
She doesn't chew them, or destroy them in any way.  She just moves  
them.  I am Deafblind and can't catch her in the act, so many years  
ago, I taught Mill'E to find the stolen shoes because along with the  
slogan "know thy dog," another of my favorites is "pick your battles."
Well Gracy has taught Laveau the art of shoe thievery and the Dober- 
dog is proving to be an apt student.
Laveau was also a consummate counter-surfer in her day and I thought  
we had fixed that little issue until three days ago when I went to let  
her out into the yard via the back door in our kitchen.  I opened the  
door, and turned to call her when I saw her, bold as brass, standing  
on her back legs with the front ones braced on the counter, looking  
into my sink, which is the place we put meat to defrost.
Old habits die hard, and leopards don't change their spots.  So while  
I appreciate the fact that she does behave the majority of the time; I  
know for a fact that she's always going to have inclinations toward  
food thievery and I need to consistently reinforce the behaviors I  
wish her to display.
She's a clever one, she is!

Next time Mytsi takes your shoes; I'll send Mill'E over for she has  
become quite adept at shoe-finding.

Rox and the Herbal HenchHounds
Bristol (retired), Mill'E SD. and Laveau Guide Dog, CGC.
"It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point  
out that the emperor has no clothes. But the half-wit remains a half- 
wit, and the emperor remains an emperor."-- Neil Gaiman
http://www.pawpowercreations.com/retreat.html
pawpower4me at gmail.com
AIM: Brissysgirl

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