I know I have written a good many posts concerning my dog, Cooper, and the misadventures surrounding said dog. He is a willful soul, that dog, and stubborn and beautiful and full of evil tricks. One of the most difficult aspects of his training has been his recall. For a long time, the little bastard would just not come when called. One time I spend about an hour trying to get him on a trail at the mountain. He would get almost within reach and then bolt. I started crying, at one point, and he got so curious that I was able to grab the fucker and march him back to his kennel. We've had instances where he'd be out in the back yard, just not coming, and VBM would even be this close to beating the whelp. We have tried treats. We have tried training him on a line. We have tried shock collars. We have tried shock collars that can be turned up on high and made to exact a continuous current into the mutt's ruff, all to no avail. Without going so far as to claim total success, I think I have finally got some footing on the recall ground with this dog.
It is a technique which is part Cesar Millan, part My Dad. I like to think of it as Yelling With Strong Intention. The dog will now come to me when I get all the energy I can muster right into my lungs and larynx and scream: GET OVER HERE NOW! At the same time, I am telepathically showing him this place I have imagined for him, called Dead Dog Farm. And Lo, here comes the dog. Hello, dog. You are so pretty. You are so good. VBM says I am the Dog Shouter. But whatever. It works, don't it?
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The VBM and I have both bought season ski passes and also booked our second annual trip to Whistler. I am worried about all this skiing because I am still basically in pizza and french fry mode and part of me wants very much to ski with the manful VBM and the other part of me much prefers hanging out by the fire in my apres-ski shearling boots and the ski pants that make my butt seem smaller drinking spanishes. My friends, I am Stan Darsh and I need a montage. God help me.
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I made a pot of chili today. The kind of chili you ate as a kid, the kind that may have come from a can? I made that, from scratch. Yum!
3 comments:
That is such a great tag line: I need a montage.
I love it!
Ah not coming when you are called. What finally works for Bear in the worst case in to call "Lucy". He loves that cat so much, he does an about face and forgets what it was he was runny away as such a fast speed for!
Hmmm. A smart strategy. I lack a Lucy, however. Ideas?
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