Wrong side of bed
Pebbles got out of the wrong side of bed yesterday. I don’t mean exactly as it’s usually used in England. She wasn’t grumpy. I don’t think I could ever imagine Pebbles being grumpy, she has a very sunny disposition. However she certainly didn’t get out of bed with her work head on. Some days that wouldn’t be a problem, but yesterday was her training class day. There were some new dogs in her class. Fortunately they all got on very well, but by the time Pebbles had seen them, they all thought a play date would be more fun than working in their trainer – except Dexter the Spaniel. His owner is much better at training her dogs than Mum is and Dexter works hard.
Twenty Minutes
If Mum is lucky, Pebbles has an attention span of twenty minutes. Mum thought as the weeks went by that would increase. It hasn’t. For the first twenty minutes as long as Pebbles isn’t asked to do a recall, or walk on a loose lead, she can give the impression of having taken in some of what she’s been taught. After that, all bets are off and she pretty much does her own thing. Occasionally, by luck that might overlap with what Mum wanted, but otherwise it’s a nightmare.
Sitting still
Although Pebbles is starting to grasp what is required in a stay, the general rule for Pebbles is that she cannot sit still. She can’t even sit still when Mum sits down with her in a comfy chair to have a cuddle. In those situations Pebbles climbs over Mum, wriggles, bounces on her, nibbles her face, steals her glasses – or all of those things at once. Mum generally comes out traumatised and not having had the relaxing cuddle she’d hoped for. It’s not that Pebbles doesn’t like being cuddled – she loves it as much as I do. She’s just not very good at staying still during the cuddle. You could join the dots on Mum’s bruises and cuts.
Love and woofs
Wilma
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