Steve reports that Pongo was out of sorts for a while after I left on Saturday. To hopefully wear Pongo out, he worked Pongo with a good long game of frisbee, quite a few rounds of nose work, and finally POOL TIME! Pongo loves his pool, especially with the hose running for him to dunk down and grab.
This is my test post as I am posting from the iPad. I’m off to Bozeman tomorrow to help move Steve’s Mom and brother to Seattle. My plan is to take only the iPad and not my laptop. I don’t know how much I’ll have to post as the main character of the blog is staying behind with Papa. But who knows…I may have a guest blogger every now and then filling all of us in, me included, on Pongo’s antics, which there have been plenty of lately (picture Pongo standing on the kitchen table making himself known to the dog next door. Yes, I wanted to wring his little neck right then and there but I refrained).
This picture was taken up at Byers Lake on a what was to be kayaking day trip but ended up a frolic by Troublesome Creek because the lake was still frozen.
Our “No Rock Left Behind” campaign has commenced. We spent all last week moving rock from the river rock walkway. At least 4 landscaping contractors have come out to give us an estimate on putting pavers in. I don’t think he can eat 16″x16″ pavers but knowing Pongo, he could surprise us!
It felt very strange and, I have to admit, a little disappointing that we weren’t going to our Nose Work class last night. Last Wednesday was our final class for Intro to Nose Work and what a wild ride it was! Pongo ended his nose work class on a great note. I think we’ve found something he really loves to do, and it is so much fun watching him work. We start Nose Work Level 2 on May 25th and can’t wait to go! Until then, we’ll be practicing, practicing, practicing.
to a viewing device near you…
I thought I would never be blogging about this again. I was certain I would never again have to use the “Pet Emergency” or “Rocks” categories as I blogged. But today, I was proven wrong.
We spent 1 1/2 hours waiting at Pet Emergency this morning, with an even longer wait ahead of us because it seemed to be Doggie-Ingest-Foreign-Objects-Day (there were at least 3 other dogs in front of us who needed X-rays). I called over to Diamond Animal Hospital to see how busy they were and they were able to get us in right away. The x-rays confirmed it–Pongo slurped down another bleeping rock!
Thankfully, it was still in his stomach. The vet fed him, induced vomiting and up it came with no problem.
Pongo has been doing so well lately–we’ve had no rock incidences since December. As far as we know, he’s faithfully been wearing the basket muzzle of shame at doggie daycare, so I suspect he got this rock from our yard. Our number one priority is to clear the yard of enticements.
We also need to continue working diligently on Pongo’s “leave its” and “keep the damn rocks on the ground!”
Someone not feeling too hot after returning home from our fabulous Mother’s Day outing.
This video was posted by a friend on Facebook. I almost peed my pants watching it! Enjoy!
Pongo started his new class today: Street Smarts. It’s a 4 week class that meets in different locations around town each time. I am super excited about this class because it takes Pongo out of his comfort zone of the training facility at Alaska Dog Sports. While the guise of this class is to give Pongo more practice out in the real world, it really is for me. I am the one who needs the practice of managing Pongo’s leash reactivity out in the real world.
For our first class, we met at Delaney Park Strip. Most of the 6 dog class was already there when we arrived, so I was expecting some reaction from Pongo as we unloaded from the car and approached the group. He was pretty hyped up and barked a couple of times but he was able to calm down quickly and get focused. I think once he realized that we were there to work, there was no need for being obnoxious on leash.
We practiced meet and greets with other dogs and their handlers, sit-stays, down-stays, recalls on long lines, and walking up and down the sidewalks around Delaney Park Strip. At one point, Liz our instructor had us pull off the sidewalk and put our dogs in a down-stay while a group of 3 unknown dogs walked by. I was so proud of Pongo who was alert to the strange dogs but gave absolutely no reaction–not a single bark! He did have a hard time staying in his down-stay but I’ll take that over the barking, lunging fiend we sometimes get.
Besides eating copious amounts of goose poop which was the biggest distraction for Pongo today, he rocked his first Street Smarts class. Next week, we venture to Petco and shopping carts at Michael’s.
While cleaning out the storage closet today, I came across Pongo’s Fantastic Mr. Fox “Ash” Halloween costume that he wore to Dog Tired Doggie Daycare’s Howl-O-Ween Party. As soon as I pulled it out, Pongo bolted from the room. I have no idea why his Royal Cuteness would flee from Mama holding his Halloween costume?!?
And while we were thoroughly amused to see Pongo sporting his “Ash” costume once again, Pongo clearly was not.
The Pongo Experience 