Gimme and I remain very busy, which is the only excuse I have for my lack of blogging.
First, Gimme has a new best friend, Grafton. He's a boxer-coonhound mix; they love to run and chase. (I've mentioned him before, since he's in our nosework class) Grafton tries to go "vertical" during play and she quickly puts him in his place. She lets him know in no uncertain terms that he can't be pawing at her - she's not that kind of girl! So we've been getting extra walking time in. Its really funny because Grafton hides in the long grass (he's lion colored) and Gimme trots close to him very obviously pretending she doesn't see him, then she suddenly "startles", springs aside and races off - and the chase is on. I'll get pictures soon.
I have two other potential playmates lined up for her. There's Tucker the lab and Molly the Aussie. We'll get pictures of them too, when it happens.
We are continuing training - some things are coming along quite nicely. We've had rally classes on Monday nights for the last seven weeks - with just one more to go. They are running another class right away, but I think I may pass. The next two months will be very busy almost every weekend and that class is kind of a chaotic environment, so I'm looking at other options.
In Nosework last week - we were doing some handling things differently. Basically the handler stood still until the dog found the hide. Everyone observed closely to see how much each dog checked in with their handler and how. Gimme checks in more than is immediately apparent, because she uses her peripheral vision to do it. She always knows exactly where I am. I think that is because during our free walks, if she goes out of sight I'm prone to disappearing behind a tree, a bush, or laying down in deep grass. So she's learned to really keep one eye on me or I'll get lost and now its a habit for her.
I was concerned when I saw that Joyce had put one of the hides inside a cardboard middle. That is what I call the cardboard tube that toilet paper and paper towels come on. Gimme loves those things and plays with them all the time. She closely watches the toilet paper roll in the bathroom and if it gets really low on the roll - she carefully unrolls it all before ripping the cardboard middle off the holder. She knows she's not supposed to waste toilet paper. So I was just sure she was going to make off with the cardboard middle and destroy it.
She did knock it down, but otherwise was more interested in the odor inside. I was very proud of her. Joyce called that "odor obedience". That means she was on the job at hand and not distracted by other things. She also checked out the mother load location (where all the treats are for Joyce to pair with our hides), but got down before either of us could get there - not finding her odor there. Again, another sign of odor obedience. What a good girlie she is.
Tonight she's been a real silly pill. She found her baby Kong out in the yard yesterday and brought it in the house. She has been pestering me with it every chance she gets. If I'm on the computer she brings it and drops it on the keyboard (thank God for spell-check). I was sitting on the couch with her watching a movie and had a comforter over my lap. She'd drop the Kong on the comforter, and repeatedly pick it up and drop it again - trying to get me to toss it for her. When that didn't work, she'd stick her head under the comforter and nose around until the Kong fell to the floor and then she'd leap off and grab it. The first time *might* have been an accident. After that it was decidedly deliberate.
That's m'girl - workin' all the angles...
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