Tuesday, October 30, 2007

I think it must be a full moon, again!

Today, is an early to work, early to leave day for me. I was feeling kind of under the weather with allergies and thought I would just practice some agility with Ike in my in-laws' large, flat backyard and take the boy for a walk.

Prior to bringing out my equipment a huge, older bull mastiff strolled into the yard. He was completely oblivious. There is a auto renovation place a few houses down right near a footbridge that leads to a lovely park where NO DOGS ARE ALLOWED. Anyway, early mornings I have seen him in that neck of the woods. One of my big pet peeves is unleashed, loose dogs on a BUSY main street (Washington Street in Canton). I have actually called Animal Control about my father-in-law's neighbors before.

I waited until the mastiff was gone I assumed back with his owner, and brought out my equipment. Then I went and got Ike. I decided to work on get-outs with Ike since at the Act-Up trial he really thought about taking the distance obstacle (a jump) in Chances. I set up two jumps at a bit more than a 90 degree angle to each other leading into the poles. I also wanted to work on Ike's weave pole entries when he has some speed.

Ike did REALLY well with the get-outs. Thanks to Katrin I have become MUCH more patient and I let him figure out what the heck I wanted. Hooray!! Patience works. Then the mastiff came back. Ike started to get distracted and barky. I asked him for a sit and was just waiting for the mastiff to go back where it came from. I wasn't sure what to do. The dog was oblivious. I didn't want to yell "Go Home" for fear of riling Ike up when he was off lead. The mastiff continued into my in-laws' backyard and Ike went ballistic, broke his sit, and tried to attack the mastiff. It is a testament to either how nice the damn dog is or how old he is because he didn't do anything to Ike. He just kind of snarled. I went to break it up and a neighbor came to help. Stupid people. The mastiff wandered back to the garage. I didn't go over and say anything. I was only slightly upset considering what had just happened and potentially dealing with an ignoramus was not going to calm me down.

We went back to work. Not surprisingly Ike was a bit distracted. We practiced for about 40 minutes, interspersing sits and down on only a verbal command or only a hand signal. Ike was a good boy. I am VERY pleased with how he seemed to grasp the get-outs. yay!

We finished up the evening with a leisurely 40 minute walk, Ike sniffing, and me daydreaming about houses that have flat backyards.

5 comments:

Katrin said...

WOW! You're afternoon sounds as interesting as mine was! Loose, unattended dogs, terrible!!!

Katrin said...

WOW! You're afternoon sounds as interesting as mine was! Loose, unattended dogs, terrible!!!

Jules said...

Yeah, it was no fun. Last fall I saw one neighbor's dog get hit and killed on that street. A few nights later I saw another get hit and walk away. People are irresponsible!

Needless to say Ike was pooped.

Cat, Tessie, & Strata said...

That's when you call Animal Control -- I won't even bring Tessie outside to work if I see a loose dog in my backyard. All loose dogs get an immediate AC call, period. (And that's just for the ones I SEE -- God forbid they make the mistake of actually approaching my dog, then we gots problems...)

Shelly said...

MAJOR PET PEEVE. But again, what can you expect from "two legs"