At last! Finding Fido

Hi Kaye,

The adventures of 'Fido' The Scrub Poodle are well and truly underway. I was
so pleased you were home yesterday morning and that we could have a little
training chat. No amount of reading prepares for the  5 hour drive and the
night ahead.


(The owner has given me a months trial and I'm treating it like a trail. If
he is not right for me he will be perfectly happy back on the farm with her
13 other dogs.)

Luckily, he did settle in well...cried for 5 minutes and then slept all
night. I am glad he did cry. I got to hear the extraordinary range of his
voice, from rooster to cat imitations and some very round vowels. I haven't
had an opportunity to hear it since.

What a thing it is to be blessed with seemingly limitless energy,
playfulness and curiosity. I've only spent a day with the little chap but
capture seems like the way to go, because there is something worthwhile
offered in almost every wakeful second.

I'll describe our day. Luckily we did get a good nights sleep and woke to a
blissfully warm morning. I took Pepper for a walk around the paddock and
Fido tagged along with his tail up and great enthusiasm.

If a tail is a good mood barometer his is perfect, with a generous white tip
so even a dope like me notices it. It sticks straight up in the air when
life is good, flies at half mast or is packed away completely between his
legs when there is something to worry about.

I've put most of my attention on capturing sit. He is enthusiastic, but not
demanding food rewards, at this stage. I'm not clicking, just using he word
'sit' when he sits of his own accord and just like in your books he is
sitting regularly in front of me looking up asking for a treat. I'm not
giving meals. There is chicken stuffed in his Kong and I'm measuring his
meals and giving them when he has earned them in treats.

He retrieved the Kong and a tennis bell many times so I'm starting to add
words. Some how I am not comfortable with 'fetch' because it sounds like dog
training and that is the last way I want to think about this relationship,
so 'Bring it here mate' seems to be coming out of my mouth for better or for
worse. (With a nine week old pup surely the relationship can be built on
mutual enjoyment.....many words will be eaten no doubt?)

So the sit and the chase and fetch dominated yesterdays adventures with a
bit of plastic bag tug of war. He seems very soft mouthed so I treading
carefully. He drops anything for food so the 'Give it to me' is no issue
yet!

We all went off to the produce store and the supermarket for a little jaunt
in the late afternoon when it started to cool down. HE melted straight into
the arms of my burley produce man and one of our neighbours, with no sign of
discomfort. He is also very fond of Sally and followed her about all
evening. He loved a bit of spray when she was watering the veg.

Last night I didn't put him in the crate. I did do a bit of 'learn to love
your crate'. Getting him to chase the Kong in there and rewarding sit next
to it. I would never trap a horse in a float. The tail gate only gets closed
when the horse is happy to be in there for considerable periods,  without
any restraint. I'll see how I go. I might make a wire one today so it
doesn't feel so claustrophobic for him.

The only time I saw his tail down yesterday was when I took him with me to
collect eggs and feed the chooks and ducks. (It didn't go down when I put
him in the empty bath tub or up on my work table.) He stayed pretty close
and kept a very keen eye on the birds.

One day has passed without toilet accidents. He 'goes' very readily on grass
and we've got a good spot and have a little play around the dam when the job
is done.

Seems  a shame not to turn this into a blog site doesn't it?

Sunday looks like it might not work for a visit. We are coming to town
tomorrow for a music recital in the morning.

Should I enrol in puppy pre school yet?

Cheers,

Richard

PS.Patch is the pups father and is probably one of the ugliest dogs I've
seen. He was just a bit overdue for a serious tidy up and pretty bleached I
reckon he'll grow up to look just like his old man.....hopefully with the
benefit of a good clip.