Dog School

Dudley's first day of school was a huge success. Dudley is a cautious dog - okay, Dudley is kind of a chickenshit dog. He is a smart, worrying, thinking dog - okay, he's a bit neurotic. He's not timid in a negative way - he'd never bite out of fear, for instance - but he does not rush into new situations with much enthusiasm. He'll hang back, watch, check things out slowly. That's one of the reasons I wanted to enroll him in school, rather than training him entirely at home - he needed the distractions, the strange dogs, the strangers, the car ride, the whole experience of getting out there as a Big Boy. He didn't need school, he needed the school experience. And no, Amie, he wasn't teaching - they don't have a seminar on "Digging holes in Grandma's backyard and then looking really cute and wiggly when busted, so she won't yell too much...." but if they have one, he's a guest lecturer.

He did not enjoy the car ride to school much at all. It's a fairly long drive and Girl held and reassured him, but Dudley is a bit of a control freak and since we didn't let him drive, he had to sit there worrying intensely about Grandma's driving ability. We made it safely and on time.

Then there were the strange dogs - big dogs, little dogs, barky dogs and growly dogs - the class is small, only 12 dogs, but to Dudley, that was a lot of strange dogs. He made friends with a Basenji and a happy young brindle Pit Bull, though actually socializing is not allowed in school - the dogs are there to learn.

Dudley was so cute, he sat in front of Girl's feet, intently watching everything that happened. One dog dozed off, bored. Another - a black Lab - growled at the pit bull every time they made eye contact. A small fluffy dog whined constantly. But Dudley Observed. He sat, posture perfect, and Paid Attention. And he learned three new behaviors right away - to respond to his name even if it is whispered, and a perfect Sit followed by a Stand. Dudley learned Sit months ago, of course, but it was far from perfect - we use food rewards and before today, it was like there was a string between his mouth and his ass - as soon as he opened his mouth for the treat, his butt left the ground. The instructor taught us how to avoid that, and now his springy buttcheeks stay firmly planted in a sit until he receives his reward. Stand was easy - the Boston Buttspring came in handy for that one.

But Down was hilarious - Dudley will not do a Down for love nor hotdogs.
The instructor got one of her assistants to try to work him into one using the "under the leg" move - kneel on one knee, with the other foot planted in front of you to make a tunnel for the dog. Hold the treat on the far side of the tunnel - when the dog's chest hits the ground, he's "Down" and gets his prize. Dudley would have nothing to do with putting his body under some strange woman's leg. He tried to reach the treat with his paws, he tried to outsmart her and go around her leg to the other side. He finally sat right in front of the raised leg, determined to out wait her. She tried it with a chair - same result. He wasn't crawling under some strange folding chair for some stranger, no way. He would reach as far as he could without actually putting his body under the chair - it was priceless. So we'll have to work with him on Down - I don't think it'll be an issue when he's in familiar surroundings. But Dudley is a cautious and smart dog, and he had to be coaxed to take a treat from a stranger, more than that was just asking too much of him.

This is the same dog the vet told us to neuter so he wouldn't become "aggressive." Not that she saw signs of aggression, this is just the Terror Alert of neutering. Yeah, right. He could use a testosterone transplant from Murphy, who WAS neutered and is still way more macho than Dudley. Dudley can keep the family jewels until Girl checks out his potential as Studley Dudley.

So that was Dudley's first day at school - a rousing success and great fun was had by all.

Then I cut off all my hair.

Yeah, I went to get a trim, and our new trusted stylist was running late, and I flipped through hair magazines, and found a style I liked, and she started cutting and we both agreed it just wasn't working on my hair, so she kept cutting, improvising, and now my hair is short and layered again. I wasn't sure about it at first, but now I'm very happy with it - especially after the gym. This is a cut that looks cute when sweaty. I'm sold.

I went to the gym and did 45 minutes on the elliptical trainer. Go ME! I've never done more than 20 before, and that felt like sweaty, boring torture - but I chalk it up to the sexy machines in the new gym - the elliptical trainer has its own small TV screen and CABLE! I watched 3/4 of an episode of CSI and put in a good 45 minutes of serious exercise. I got tired, I would have quit after 20 minutes, but dammit, I was watching the show and wanted to see the end, so I pushed on and felt so much better a few minutes later. Love it. NO excuse for skipping the gym now. None. My knee feels so good, too - not a twinge of pain.

Laundry is laundering, Girl is working, Dudley is sleeping again - doggie school knocked him on his butt, he's been tired all day. Being a student is hard work.

Working on linen feather and fan shawl. Just because. But then it's time to get serious about knitting up the stash, because Garbo is gasping her last in the living room, and the TV stand from Target is on its way. I fell in love with this stand in the store, it fits my room perfectly, but it is just crying out for a flat screen TV. And when Camille started the death scene, I figured Just Screw It - the stars are aligned, the HDTV is available, and it's going to improve TV watching enormously. But, damn, it's way past time to knit the stash, because something has to give here.