Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Summer is flying by!

Hard to believe it's July 23 already! Where does the time go? Today is finally a cooler day - I am loving it! Mom loves it to and we both have so much more energy than when it's hot and humid. Thank goodness we get breaks in the heat like this in a typical Ohio summer.

Lately we haven't really done much out of the routine. We start each morning with my lessons - working on basic obedience stuff like heeling, figure eight, stays, recalls, and a little dumbbell work. Then we go on our morning walk in the neighborhood. I am doing well on the walk these days. Mom drapes my leash around her neck and I am fairly good about staying by her side. She occasionally has to give the leash a quick tug to remind me about what I should be doing. We have a routine with cars now too - when we see one coming, mom tells me to sit and to wait. Then after the car goes by, mom waits for me to look away from the car (sometimes it takes forever for me to forget about those CARS!) and to look up at her. Then we keep going. I am better about not losing my cool and barking like a maniac when cars go by, but I do slip up from time to time. The past few days we have been doing lessons during the walk too - we go to a quiet area of the neighborhood where there is a sidewalk in a grassy area that used to be used for elementary kids to walk to school - there mom puts me through my paces to see if I will listen to her in a different environment. I've been great so far! I even held my down stay when a big flock of Canada geese flew right over my head!

After the walk, we often come home and do a little agility. Lately we have been working on some serpentines and pinwheels and weaves. Yesterday mom set up our teeter on the cement patio - previously I had only done the teeter in the grass and mom wanted to see if the "bang" from the board on the cement would bother me. Nope - I had no problem with it - as a matter of fact, I don't know what she is even talking about. I didn't hear anything. I was focused on the target with the treat on it!

The rest of the day we do gardening, or teach viola and violin if it's a Tuesday, or go to the park, or play in the hose, or chase squirrels in the backyard, or go for car rides, or visit grandpa and grandma.....as you can see, I have a wonderful life!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

2 comments:

Cowspotdog said...

Hey Ricky
You are one busy little barkley!!! Hmmm barking at cars......I have never had the inclination to do that....riding in them - every chance I get.....but not barking at them. Now that darn pesky cat that sits by MY fence tormenting me......him I bark bark bark bark bark and bark at! Other cats don't bother me at all.....but that one....I just have to tell him off for teasing me! It sounds like you have your human very well trained getting her do all the things you love you do. Aren't humans funny - they think they are training us when really its the other way around. Time for my daily brushing....gotta go.
Reilly

DESERT PUPS said...

Woof Ricky

There's no way in heck that our Mom would drape our leashes around her neck. You must be really good. And don't worry about the barking at the cars thing, that just what dogs do.
Desert Pups here just saying hello and meeting the neighbors cause we're new in town.

Woof, woof
Scuba, Keiko, Norman and Toby from Life Inside The Fence