Despite having a lazy human whose been spending 10+ hours/day at work
(instead of attending to the amusements of her dogs), Duke passed the
CGC test last night.

He's come so far since I got him. Admittedly, he was much better
behaved then than he is now; I think he was too mentally shut down to
take much interest in, say, wastepaper baskets and dirty dishes. Not
any more! He's developed into quite the character, with a slightly
warped and subtle sense of fun.

His favoritest game of all time, ever, is Manipulate The Human. This
involves play bows, and eyebrow waggles, and being Very Cute so that the
selected treat dispenser puts out. He doesn't get frustrated, like the
Heelers do, he just seems to think his human is somewhat dim and needs
Extra Speshul Help.

I watched this dog make the connection between his actions and rewards.
Training him, more than any of my other dogs, has been about encouraging
him to find new ways to train ME to give him cookies (or pets, or a
walk, or whatever).

His heeling is still abysmal, and he's had enough trouble with sit-stays
that I've started him on a joint supplement to see if it's solely a
physical problem. And he decided that the CGC evaluator was his mostest
bestest friend in the whole wide room. Followed closely by any other
person with a Y chromosome (something Duke seems to value), followed by
anyone he doesn't live with but who might have treats. Followed,
somewhere in the far distance, by me.

On the recall, he made a very polite attempt to climb in the evaluator's
pocket rather than stay where I put him. I was laughing a little to
hard for Duke to take me seriously, I think, but he's not usually such a
social butterfly and it just *figured* that he'd discover the joys of
meet'n greets at exactly the moment I needed him to focus on me.

Anyway, once he was in place (facing the evaluator, not me), he did a
very prompt recall. To me, even. For which I was duly grateful, which
may have been the point all along.

As a reward, Duke got a full stick of Pupperoni (yeah!), three tennis
balls (snore), and a bone-shaped keychain (Duke says "??!?"). And a bit
of leftover pizza crust when we got home. He's now achieved pretty much
the entirety of my goals for him, and can retire to the sofa covered
with a sense of accomplishment.

Mary Healey said in
rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

Wow, Duke has really come into himself. Congratulations to he
and you!

His heeling is still abysmal,

Doesn't he know what breed he is?

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

Mary Healey wrote:
Despite having a lazy human whose been spending 10+ hours/day at work
(instead of attending to the amusements of her dogs), Duke passed the
CGC test last night.

Congratulations to both of you! Isn't Duke the UnLab? He's come a
*long* way.

--
Shelly (Warning: see label for details)
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)

"Mary Healey" wrote in message:

Despite having a lazy human whose been spending 10+ hours/day at work
(instead of attending to the amusements of her dogs), Duke passed the
CGC test last night.

Congratulations, Duke and Mary!

And a bit
of leftover pizza crust when we got home.

I have it on good authority that pizza crust slathered with Cannoli guts is
nummy. I think that Duke might go for that.

Suja

"Suja" wrote in message
...

"Mary Healey" wrote in message:

Despite having a lazy human whose been spending 10+ hours/day at work
(instead of attending to the amusements of her dogs), Duke passed the
CGC test last night.

Congratulations, Duke and Mary!

Seconded!!


And a bit
of leftover pizza crust when we got home.

I have it on good authority that pizza crust slathered with Cannoli guts
is
nummy. I think that Duke might go for that.

At my secondary household (e.g. my S.O.'s house), pizza crusts are referred
to as "pizza bones", and always distributed to the dogs (four, when I'm
there).

Rocky wrote in
:

Mary Healey said in
rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

Wow, Duke has really come into himself. Congratulations to he
and you!

His heeling is still abysmal,

Doesn't he know what breed he is?

Ah, but he's a Lab. Still, I'd rather deal with him going 'lookee over
THERE!' than his imitation of an empty room.

on Thu, 21 Dec 2006 17:36:56 GMT, Mary Healey wrote:

Despite having a lazy human whose been spending 10+ hours/day at work
(instead of attending to the amusements of her dogs), Duke passed the
CGC test last night.

Congratulations Duke AND Mary!

--
Lynne

http://picasaweb.google.com/what.the.hell.is.it/

Isn't it wonderful when they come out of their shell and their true colors
show.

I have a beagle mix who I've had for a year and every little step is a major
accomplishment for the guy. He has some major trust issues and it's been an
uphill battle at times but every bit the effort. Just last week he felt
comfortable enough to play with Mike on the floor like my other dog does.

Celeste

Mary Healey wrote in
.4:

Despite having a lazy human whose been spending 10+ hours/day at work
(instead of attending to the amusements of her dogs), Duke passed the
CGC test last night.
[...]
As a reward, Duke got a full stick of Pupperoni (yeah!), three tennis
balls (snore), and a bone-shaped keychain (Duke says "??!?"). And a bit
of leftover pizza crust when we got home. He's now achieved pretty much
the entirety of my goals for him, and can retire to the sofa covered
with a sense of accomplishment.

I think team Duke and Mary did a fine whangdoodle of a job and a big round
of applause here. Yay! He's an increbily sweet charmer, he is. Your
written personality assessment made me fall in love with him too.

HOWDY AssHowe you moron, scam artist, idiot, child molester, wife
abuser, dog abuser, fraud selling magical black boxes.


He's come so far since I got him.

Yeah? For the benefit of HOWER ineXXXperienced readers, perhaps
you should tell them WHAT the CGC IS, eh mary? AIN'T IT the simplest
NON TEST of all time, mary? Doesn't the CGC signify that you can walk
your dog DHOWEN the street witHOWET him GOIN INSANE at passersbye???

THAT'S ALL there is to it, ain't that corrcet mary, you PROFESSIONAL
TRAINER you???

Admittedly, he was much better behaved then than he is now;

BWEEEEAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!

Why is that so incredibly funny?

Those are SYMPTOMS of anXXXIHOWESNESS from
offerin an withHOWELDIN bribes, mary, NOT CUTE.

Can you write a damn thing without using HOWE or XXX?!?


THAT'S INSANE, mary.

Everything to an insane person is, insane.

Anyway,

You mean anyHOWE, mary, just HOWETA RESPECT.

Respect for WHO? YOU?!? BWAAAAAAHHHHHHHAAAA! You are the last person
on this planet who deserves respect.