Jenny is fully recovered from my latest bit of running away (in her opinion) and is now comfortable enough to get rather insistent on my training. You see, we are having some problems in that regard as I am not picking up fast enough her desires in regards eating. Nope, it’s not the food that matters, but where I am and what I am doing.
For the longest time, my just being nearby was good enough. I could be in the same room, doing anything, and that was great. Then she began to get more and more specific on where I could be and what I could be doing. The thought appeared to be that I would reach a point where I would be in a specific pose and hold it while she leisurely consumed her meal. I fear that she is doomed to a lifetime of disappointment as that just is not going to happen.
Not that she doesn’t try, and sometimes get very insistent about it. Sometimes a little too insistent, as happened yesterday morning when she pushed on that front and a couple of others where she wanted me to do what she wanted right then! In fact, she got so adamant that she earned herself the first time-out she’s had in quite a while, and a tone of voice from me that brought out a serious “oh oh” face on her.
Despite that, I did take her with me to Wolf Park as it was too cold for her to stay out here at home (rather, she seemed to be fine with it but I wasn’t). I also did not trust her inside alone acting out as she was. So, I packed up her crate and my cold weather gear and took off. Wolf Park is closed (except for Howl Nights, please come!), but we did have a private tour and a special guest visit. Also, we are getting ready for Winter Wolves and Wild Valentines, and I needed to check with a couple of people on some things, so…
Jenny was Miss Noncooperative on a few fronts out there, as she did not appreciate being in her crate part of the time. I mean, come on, there are new areas to explore, creatures to investigate, and p-mail to read and mark over… That said, I did get to take her on her first perimeter “walk” since I got back. Well, walk for her Aunt Caity and myself, a mix of trot and run for her. We were bundled up to the point of having trouble moving, while she was quite happy as she was—which got us some very exasperated looks from Jenny who kept looking back as if saying “Come on, hurry up! What’s keeping you?” In point of fact, at one point I expected her to start barking like a drill instructor “Move it, Move It, Move IT!”
A very nice, if different, day was capped off with dinner with our special guest. It was delightful on several levels, not the least of which was her and Dr. Klinghammer getting into tales of various biologists, animal behavoirists, and ethologists they have known and some of the interesting and interesting things these people have done or witnessed. More than one eybrow was raised in “you have got to be kidding me!” mode on parts. It had to end all too soon as Howl Night required attention, alas, but we did have some people brave the cold and come on out. I left before the end, so as to get Jenny on home and my new pepper plant in from the cold. Monty Sloan gave me a wonderful portrait of Jenny yesterday as my Christmas gift, and one of his peppin pepper plants. Those are very tiny, bb size, but have a lot of heat and a lot of flavor to them—Monty actually brought some recently to a Mexican restaurant and shared so that we could spice up the food a bit. Thank you Monty, for all!
Despite the difficulties, I got my real reward in the car, with a puppy who was contentedly leaning against my shoulder, and putting her head into the hollow of my shoulder as we drove home. Times like that make it easy to forgive and forget the behaviour problems of the day. She did act out just a little bit when we got home, apparently over my taking several trips to unload the car. After that, she settled down and was good.
This morning, she has been very good. I did just get a “look” from her just know when I went to this entry from AWTM and played the video. It got a cold, very cold as in zero degrees at 0900 hours, day off to a laughing start. May your day be as good.
LW
