Photo Shoot

 I took some photos of Flash for next year's Christmas Letter. He was stunned that I let him up on the furniture. Later he found out that it was only allowed for the photo shoot. Poor Flash, so confused. He's pretty cute, though, isn't he?

Good boy.

After the fiasco at Flash's lesson, I left him outside the house with a "kind stranger" while I went in the house to make a phone call. I left him for several minutes and when I went back outside to get him, he was sitting in exactly the same position at the "kind stranger's" side. Neither one of them had moved a muscle. Good boy.

Flash, the Nipper

Flash, the border collie, at rest at the front steps of the house.

Last night's training session was disappointing for me and Flash. I thought he would get his Good Citizenship award, but it was withheld because of his nipping problem. We got Flash when he was 8 months old. At that time, we noticed that he would nip at your hand if you grabbed his collar or otherwise tried to stop him from doing what he wanted to do. Over time, I thought he became more comfortable with us and more relaxed. He hasn't nipped at me or Dennis for a long time. I do know that he has trouble with children. He tries to avoid them, but I believe he could nip if he felt threatened. This bothers me a lot. It could be that he has become imprinted with his early upbringing in a family with 3 children. I wish we had gotten him when he was a puppy. We keep learning that lesson over and over. Start with a puppy!

This doesn't mean we don't love Flash. We do! He's a very friendly dog. He loves us and he loves everyone on the ranch--his domain. Yesterday, Dennis left Flash outside when he left for a meeting in the morning. When I was getting ready to pick up Mom for the movies, I drove down to the barn to give the farrier his check and found Flash down there "helping" Dave. Dave's comment was, "He's a very friendly dog!" And he is. I was getting back in my car and, of course, Flash wanted to come with me. Just then, Joanne from the office drove by and stopped and opened the back hatch of her car. She called Flash and he very willingly jumped in. I love to see how comfortable he is with everyone. He only has a problem with nipping if he is confronted or stressed. What to do, what to do?

Good Citizen?

Last Tuesday, Flash and I took the Good Citizenship test at Rachel's house during our regular lesson. He passed except for one little detail. When it came time to leave him with a kind stranger and go out of sight for 3 minutes, he nipped at the first two volunteers. Not good. We will have to work on that. Any volunteers?

Good job, Flash

I have spent a lot of time complaining about Flash not retrieving balls and toys. He wants to play, but play means he want us to throw the toy and then chase him. We're too old to chase a young border collie.

The other day, I put the retractable leash on Flash and we went to the back yard to train. Flash loves it. He doesn't think of it as training, he things we are playing. Anyway, I threw a tennis ball and, of course, he went after it. Then I tugged on the leash a little and asked him to bring it back. And he did! So we played this game for awhile, interspersed with a cookie from time to time. He was having fun. He would bring back the ball and drop it into my hand and I would reward him either with a cookie or with throwing it again.

Then I took the leash off and played the same game. Whereas, formerly he would just run away with the ball, this time he actually brought it back! Time after time, he would get the ball, bring it back, drop it into my hand, and get a cookie or get to chase the ball again. Yea! Good dog.

Trainer Rachel was right. You just have to repeat the task again and again until he gets it and wants to do it. I know it will take many more days of working on this exercise before he will forget about taking the ball away instead of returning it, but at least we had a breakthrough. I'm happy.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Flash takes a walk on Connie's Loop

Today, Dennis is taking Flash on a walk around Connie's Loop, a 5-mile trail we usually use for horseback riding. This will be a big deal for Flash...and Dennis!

Flash and his Daddy

While I was trying to sell some of my jewelry at a Craft Show in Pine Valley yesterday, Dennis took Flash with him on his weekly shopping trek down the hill. They picked up Uncle Johnny and did their shopping errands. At Costco, Dennis bought Flash two hot dogs. Flash was very attentive. He met a lot of people who wanted to pet him. He is a very happy dog.

Uncle Johnny feeds Flash a hot dog