Monday, August 02, 2004

Puppy Wars

Sam II goes to his fourth puppy class tonight. I have been doing "down" with him all week with little to no success. Sniff, sniff. I tell him down and wave my hand appropriately and all that. He looks at me and doesn't move. So, I go to level two...pull his paw out and roll him gently to that same side. Then I get big results. He resists, pulls back, and nibbles my hand. I wrestle him to the ground and say "Good dog." What?!! Yes, I've battled him to the ground everyday this week for the sake of "down."

Is Sam testing me? Am I doing something confusing to him? Does it normally take more than a week to "get down?" And dear, sweet Ashley. She's come on the scene a few times. Sits promptly next to me when I tell Sam to sit. Goes down with grace and beauty in perfect Olympic form when I tell Sam to do the "down." Ugh. So he figures if she's got it, he's off the hook.

Glen, oddly enough, observes from a distance and just laughs. With me of course. Well, I leave for Minnesota on Wednesday. He'll have the bulk of the training time this week. We'll see how it goes. This week's command will probably be something easy like "leap on the sofa" or "chomp on an avocado" or "look sincere" or "beg for an ice cube" (his new treat of choice).

Livestrong. Laughstrong. Downstrong, please.

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