Awww.....

Today's the Day

Flash doesn't know this yet, but today's the day he gets an attitude adjustment...or neutered. I am not looking forward to the "cone" and all its disadvantages...like fitting through the dog door. There will be a week of that.

50-50, the cat, will go along with Flash to keep him company...and get her eye checked.

Today's the day, but it's not looking good for Flash, poor baby. My dog-mother's heart feels for him.

Out All Day

Today was trail riding day for me so Flash was velcroed to Homero all day. After I got back, around 1 p.m., Homero took Shalla out for a ride on the ranch and Flash went along. So, basically, Flash was out all day.

When Dennis got home tonight, Flash had just come in but was ready to "go" again on his daily bike ride- along with Dennis.

In the morning before I left for my ride, I tried some "holds" with limited success. We also did some Go-gos. He's getting pretty good at Go-gos because cookies are involved.

Wednesday Lessons

Wednesday is our day for horse riding lesson and dog training lesson. Lately, these have merged while I'm training Flash to be comfortable with the barn and horses. Betsy introduced Flash to "Find Doc," where Flash goes to Doc's stall door and jumps up to touch it. If he does it right, he gets a cookie.

Doc, Flash and I took a walk around one of the trails while my sister Angie walked along. I had Doc doing the Granny Walk. Flash ran around mostly ignoring us.

Later in the afternoon Rachel came over to do some more training of Flash and us. Flash got very irritated when Rachel wanted him to Hold his dumbbell and walk at the same time. I'm afraid he skinned up her finger with his teeth. BAD BOY.

We also worked on putting Flash on leash, throwing a toy and then asking him to Bring It while tugging on the leash. Then we worked on getting him to sit and wait while we open a door. Dennis worked with him on this using the kitchen door.

From now until next Wednesday, I need to get Flash to hold his dumbbell for 30 seconds without dropping it. Plus all the other stuff, too.

Getting Better

Flash is getting much better at Hold--holding an object until I say Give. Of course, he knows a cookie is coming.

Hold and GoGo's

Flash, Dennis and I took a walk at 7 am and then Dennis took Flash with him to the office. While Flash played with Shannon's daughter and other people at the office, I went shopping with my sister. I went to PetSmart and bought a dumbbell-like toy for Flash so we could work on the Hold command.

I tried it out with Flash when I got home and found out just how stubborn he is. In the beginning he refused to take the toy in his mouth, preferring that I throw it so he could run and get it. Eventually, though, I got him to take it in his mouth by squeezing it and making it squeak. He was really good about holding it as long as I had my hand under his mouth. He gave it up readily, too. We did a few Holds and then we did some GoGos. He has improved so much on this "game," we did it without a leash.

I keep forgetting how smart Flash is.

Rattlesnake Avoidance Training

What an interesting afternoon. Dennis, Mom, Gary and I, along with our dogs, Flash and Honey (Mom's dog) went to Rachel & Henry Amado's home in Alpine for Rattlesnake Avoidance Training. The handler, Tom Minga, Snake Solutions, brought several rattlesnakes of different varieties for the training. The object was to teach the dogs to avoid snakes, by smell, sight and sound. The method was to administer a light electric shock when the dog approached the snake.

I think Flash did very well--exactly what was expected. As you can see, he went up to the snake, nose first. The handler then administered a shock to the collar Flash was wearing. Flash ran away and wouldn't come close to the snake again. 

There were many other dogs there, too, some for training, some for a recheck to be sure the training stuck. Some dogs had mild reactions and some were very upset at the shock, especially the whippet who did a complete flip after being shocked. The strangest reaction, though, came from Honey who was so nervous I don't think she even knew there were any snakes. She was never shocked because she never got anywhere near the snake. The last three photos show Honey averting her head and body away from the snake. Rachel said this is called "avoidance." 

For the humans, it was interesting and fun. Thanks to Rachel and Henry for hosting the training.