This won’t be a post about clicker training with my three dogs: the one out of the three that doesn’t need it because she’s 14 years old with a grade 3 heart murmur which means that she gets a treat for watching the antics of the other two, the one that kinda, sorta, does need it but because she’s been with us for four years, she’s already grasped the benefits of reward-based training behavior and the one that is enrolled in a “manners” class out at Lollypop Farm for the next six weeks, the third dog that actually has clicker training homework to do with her humans. Which I was going to write about.
But this is not going to be a post about that.
This is going to be a post about sunbathing. In the back yard. Thought I’d start with Josephine, my 14 year old whippet. She seems to be doing quite nicely in spite of her heart murmur. She’s pretty much the perfect dog.
So quiet, you almost never know she’s around.
Impeccable manners. Walks by my side on leash walks. Every time. Because that’s what whippets do. (It’s programmed into their DNA along with their “must have’ sleek elegance.)
We don’t walk too far these days on account of her heart murmur.
One of her favorite things to do on warm, sunny days in May is to lounge in the grass, close her eyes and soak up the sun.
Which isn’t what Tessa chose to do, as her role, when she’s in the yard, is to guard it, chase it, bark at it or try to snatch if out of the air. As you can plainly see.
She had nothing to guard, chase, bark at or snatch, so she struck her “look at me” pose.
It’s not often she stands still long enough for me to take her photograph.
Sometimes, timing is everything.
The series of photos that I’m really pleased with are the ones of Gracie. (Finally.)
She’s shy when it comes to having her picture taken. Kind of aloof, truth be told.
She’s had almost two months to get used to the house, the yard, the routine; the sights and sounds of the neighborhood that she can see from part of our back yard that’s fenced but fenced in such a way that she can see down the street.
She looks like she’s sleeping. But, she will open her eyes and lift her head instantly at the slightest noise.
According to my son, Pit Bulls “sleep with one eye open.”
Suzy, our German Shepherd/Husky mixed breed dog did that too. (I think that all working breeds have this trait. At least the smart ones do. Suzy was a really smart dog. And, she was a lot of work.)
Gracie’s about as much “work” now as Suzy was back then.
Which is not a bad thing.
Dogs that make you work are dogs that are always thinking about things. And, they think about things because they are really smart.
Gracie’s quiet about her smartness. She rarely barks and because of this, you never know that she’s out in the yard. Like Josephine, Gracie is the perfect yard dog.
This is the photo I like the best out of this batch. Isn’t she just darling?
I’m sorry that I didn’t get Gracie’s entire head into the photograph. There’s always next time. But what I like a lot is that she’s clearly enjoying herself.
Such a happy baby girl. And not so shy aloof because she knows she’s (finally) home.
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