Thirteen Miles to Merrimon

Well, Mom says it's actually more like 16 miles, but she can't go to Merrimon without singing the song about it.

Thirteen miles to Merrimon,
Thirteen miles to the setting sun.
I could go east; I could go west.
But I won't go just like the rest.

Yesterday they went to Merrimon without me. Mom wore a dress with a TAIL; and she had sparkley HORNS on her head. They came home so late, I thought they were NEVER EVER coming home.

But today they went back and I got to go with them, and I got to visit with Lily and Popeye (mother and son PWDs), and Jack (Border Collie). I have met all these dogs before, but the only one who knows how to play is Popeye. Popeye is only a year old. His mother, Lily, is a little older than I, and Jack is the oldest. When we arrived, we were greeted by Jack, but then Lily comes roaring around the corner of the house. I must admit that even I can be a little cranky occasionally about my territory but Lily is a total you-know-what. There's a dog who needs to get in touch with her inner puppy.



Popeye and I have played before, on the beach. As we were getting into the swing of things, Lily was keeping an eye on us. She's always the one keeping everyone in line.



We got all the butt-sniffing formalities out of the way.



And then we went to visit the goats and chickens in the barn. There are five goats, but Sebastian is the only one that came into the barn to visit. He and I sniffed noses. I like the goats, but I'm not into the chickens.



Then Popeye and I played zoomie games. Let the old fogies Lily and Jack just get out of the way. We'll show them how it's done. Those 2lggds on the other hand, they are completely hopeless. Just standing around yaking. They just don't know what's worth doing!

Mark and I went to a Halloween party at my friend Tia's house in Merrimon. Mark's band, the Jumpin' Mullets, was playing the party, and so we stayed until the bitter end, which was fine with me. I dressed as a she-devil in a hot red dress with a tail and horns.

Tia has two Portuguese Water Dogs. Lily is a very large girl, weighing over 55 pounds and a little long in the body. But she was able to finish her championship in spite of her size. She had a litter of puppies, and they were all spoken for but Popeye's prospective owners changed their minds. They seemed to be worried that his white face would be hard to keep clean. Tia fell for him, and now he is her first "grandchild!"

Saturday was very wet, so Emma stayed home when Mark went out to set up sound equipment. But Sunday when we went back to pick up the equipment, the weather was fine. Lucky Emma got in a nice little playdate. She had been out there before but I don't believe she had ever before met a goat nose-to-nose.

Kathy, Emma's 2lggd mom

PWD Portie Portuguese Water Dog Border collie play playdate video

That's a pretty fancy stick ...

I've got plenty of sticks right outside the front door. Mom didn't need to cut one special. This clicker game was pretty easy ... just hold the thing, right? It made Mom happy, and it made my tummy happy ... Yum!

Emma likes to carry things, and has no problem holding stuff on her own terms. Me asking her to hold is another matter. If she brings me something, she wants to drop it at my feet immediately. So we are working on holding, as it is essential for water work

Someone on the Dog Trek group suggested teaching her to take and hold my finger. That didn't work for us. Emma has never been scolded for putting her teeth onto human skin; she grew up with bite inhibition training involving plenty of hand play. But nonetheless, she did not want to take my finger in her mouth. It seemed pointless to try to teach that, so instead I cut a wooden dowel for her to hold.

Emma takes the dowel readily when I ask her to. My touch on her muzzle may appear to be a very firm grip at times, but actually it is not a firm grip, only a light touch to give her the message that I would like her to steady.

Early releases were never punished, just used "uh uh" as an NRM; there's lots of debate about NRMs, and whether they are actually mild punishment, but I do use them some. There is one early drop where you'll hear me say "oops, uh uh." Progressively longer holds were rewarded with a C/T. The click sound I used this time is not the mechanical clicker, but rather a tongue click matching the rhythm of a clicker. Emma made the connection right away several years ago when I began using the tongue click for convenience. She understood right away that the sounds are similar and mean the same thing. It seems to cut through to her brain more reliably than a "bridge word".

I think we made some good progress here. The session was long, but she did not seem to tire of the game. By the time we stopped, she was holding, and letting me repeatedly touch and remove my hand from the dowel before release by the click. She already knows the word give, so it should be easy to add that once the hold is firm.

Kathy, Emma's 2lggd mom

PWD Portie Portuguese Water Dog work waterwork clicker training hold video