Monday, people-mom and I got to walk in our neighborhood again after being away all weekend. It was fun! The dead skunk from last Thursday was still there! Nobody cleaned it up like they did a few weeks before when there was a dead cat in the same place! I'm still learning about roadkill. I don't get to see it much. I saw a squashed frog at the park on Wednesday...Mom wasn't paying attention so I didn't get a good enough sniff...
Anyway, there were buzzards eating the dead skunk by this time! I haven't seen those up close before, either! Sure I see them fly overhead. Mom is always amazed- apparently my eyesight is not supposed to be that good and she thinks it must be better than the quotes she's read for what an "average dog's eyesight" range is. She thinks this because whenever they fly overhead, I look up at the sky and follow them with my head and eyes until they're gone. She thinks' it's cute when I do that. She also likes it when I look up into the trees during our walks. Sometimes I see or hear squirrels up there and just insist up on finding them.
Of course, Mom tried to make a "lesson" out of the buzzard adventure. She wanted me to be able to walk past them calmly. I guess her intentions are twofold. I tend to trip her up and make her afraid she's going to fall over in front of an oncoming vehicle when I get excited and start prancing around trying to approach, sniff and chase other living critters I've never seen before. So, she wants me to learn good, quiet behavior that is focused on her, rather than prey-driven and she wants to avoid getting tripped.
I think I did pretty well. She does, too.
Wednesday we went to the park. I saw a little boy (*gasp!* the devil incarnate!). I think I'm getting better. Mom has realized that, yes, there actually was a time when I was good with kids (even little boys). She had completely forgotten. I think it's going to give her a positive image to focus on now. This particular little boy came running up behind us, yelling about how pretty I was and how much he liked me. Of course he got too close and I barked but I quickly sat down and became quiet and happy when Mom told me to. We didn't get any further than that. The boy didn't like my barking, but he talked to Mom a bit and then went away.
Mom needs to remember to start bringing treats to the park with her, and start greeting everybody, asking their names and talking to them. She tries to ignore everybody so that I will ignore them and they will ignore me. And she worries about parents seeing their kids talking to strangers. It makes her really uncomfortable when exuberant, unfamilliar children just approach us and start talking. She worries about those kids. Why aren't their parents watching them? Why aren't their parents making them behave better? What might happen to them since nobody is looking out for them?
And she doesn't want to get lectured by an angry parent if I scare their kid.
Last week, we went to the park and a few girls approached me. Mom was so touched that they asked "Can I pet your dog?" like the commercials I linked in an earlier post teach kids to. I guess Mom was encouraged by that, and the fact that these were girls and not boys, and that they were older girls, instead of toddlers, which I'm especially unsure of... I did really good! But Mom has discussed it with her doggy website friends and determined that my progress also came with a setback- apparently that happens sometimes. We didn't know that. I sniffed one girl while Mom was talking to her. I like being able to sniff unsuspecting people from behind. That was enough for me. I was plenty satisfied with getting to know her that much. I thought she was really good and nice- Mom did, too. Then I moved to Mom's other side and while another girl was asking her my name, a third girl scared me. Mom really isn't sure whether she took one step too close, or reached out to me or looked at me...or what. Apparently the girl did something I didn't approve of. I only barked twice and I backed away while I was doing it but I guess the girls saw my big teeth flashing in the sun, and saliva flew out of my mouth (pardon me!) and they ran away screaming. Mom apologized to them and thanked them for their time. I could tell she was really disenheartened by it.
We don't know how I'm ever going to like kids if we don't have any for me to practice on. I haven't really ever had the chance to learn, so Mom isn't comfortable taking me around her friends' kids. My auntie is too protective of her baby so I can't play with her. It isn't wise to start soliciting strange children at the park.
We'll come up with something, I guess... I can tell it makes Mom sad. I'm good at Petsmart, though. Mom gets distracted looking at toys for me, and when she turns back around there's most often a little boy or girl standing next to us, petting me, and neither of us really notice. Mom still can't figure out how that happens withouth me eating anybody alive. Not that I would...that's just what it sounds like is happening when I get scared.
We think we might need to partner with the police department and the school district and develop some kind of "stranger danger/ how to meet a strange dog the right way" program. Mom would like that, I think. It would give her something to do and people to meet and give me some socialization. I wonder if I'd need to pass a CGC (canine good citizenship) test first...?
I saw my first snake yesterday! I walked right over it (Mom says it was a "baby" or at least a young one). Mom made me stop. She wanted to look at it to see if it was a bad one or not. She said she wanted to stomp on it's head and kill it if it was. Then she couldn't tell whether it was a bad kind or not...she let me sit by it, though, and watch it. I learned a new word. She kept telling me "snake" and pointing at it. I got to sniff it. It just sat there. It wasn't coiled, but it was kind of squiggled up and reared back, not striking, though. It didn't have a rattle, but it was banded and coppery-colored. Mom said it's head wasn't big enough for her to ascertain whether it's head was the "right" shape or not. I know she wanted to stomp on it and kill it, but we decided it wasn't a threat and it wasn't doing anything wrong at the moment. I was excited! I barked at it alot! It didn't really care. It was facing away from me.
I think Mom still feels like she should have killed it, just in case. All the way home, I made her stop so that I could investigate sticks and twigs and determine if they were snakes or not.
This morning, on our walk, I found the spot where the snake had been. I got excited and sniffed the pavement all over. It was gone, though. But I still knew my new word!
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