Today's Cloud

I've got... nothing to say. No clouds today. Wow...

Hang on! The reason there's no cloud isn't because everything is great and there isn't even the smallest problem though, right? No. So in other words, the reason I've got nothing negative to report is I've been lazy. Today I've only been doing fun and easy stuff, avoiding even trying to work on any of our issues. It's not hard not to fail if you won't even try...

Heh, found a cloud after all, didn't I?

Today's Sunshine

Dobie was here today... That actually went very well! Monster did get a little intense in his play invites, but he didn't keep escalating. Dobie snapped after him a couple of times, but nothing major and Monster sort of just shrugged it off and moved away to go lie down somewhere else. Very low stress for a Dobie day.

It was actually nice for me too!

Then Monster and I took a trip to the forest. If I'm being honest, I'm kind of miserable here... I've lived here for years, and I've got no real complaints (except for the ticks! There are no ticks where I'm from, and I hate the little demons!), but I just can't get used to the landscape. It's all open. And flat. Yeah, I realize those are completely unreasonable complaints, but it really gets on my nerves! Home for me means forests, hills and streams. I thought I'd learn to feel at home here too, but it doesn't seem to be happening... So today we went on a little outing, and drove for an hour to get to a forest. It's a national park, so it's got trails and signs and bins and the like, but at least it's also got trees. Monster and I spent four hours there, and while I still sneak a glare or two at those strange looking trees, or frown a little at the strange bird calls, it really is a great feeling. I think Monster really likes it too, even though he actually grew up here so I guess he can't actually miss it.

That's... Exciting.

I also took the opportunity to swing by a large dog equipment store to pick up a few things. Among those a couple of durable frisbees, one rubber and one textile. I've bought some cheep frisbees for Monster before, and he has seemed to like them but none have lasted more than one or two tosses before they're in pieces. These last. And he really loooooooooves frisbees! Great new favorite reward!

Today's Cloud

When we got back home after our training session tonight, Monster went nuts. He chased a squeaky toy around the house, started digging between the sofa cushions, and stole things off tables to chew to pieces. This is actually a fairly normal behavior for him when we've been out doing something, but the last week or so he hasn't been acting like this.

What? You want me to just lie here?!

I get spoiled quickly, don't I?

Today's Sunshine

Met Teach again today to work more on BAT. As usual (no no, I'm not cocky at all) Monster did great, and we got quite close to the staged dog. Perhaps 20-30 feet or so? Plus, this time the dog was moving around! I'm so happy, it really feels like genuine progress,

I like it too!

Of course, now that I'm writing this I'm getting a strong feeling of impending doom... Surely this is too good to be true. But setbacks are normal, and if - scratch that, when - they come I'm not going to let them get me down. And I'm certainly not going to bog myself down with future problems when things actually going great. So, woohoo etc...

(Bonus, Tin Can is being a trooper and still hanging in there!)

Today's Cloud

My car, affectionately known as Tin Can, is sick... Today as I was picking The Kid up from school, I noticed white smoke rising from under the hood, and it smelled like burning oil. Gingerly lifting the hood (I'm a wuss, I always expect engines to explode), I saw that somehow the oil lid had come loose and oil had spurted up all over the engine... thingy.

Speaking to my sister, either I just hadn't tightened the lid carefully when I last filled up the oil or there's a blocked valve... thingy, causing high pressure and forcing the lid open. (Or possibly both? Or something else?) So, I should fill up the oil, tighten the lid carefully, and drive home and see how it went. Well, I'm home, I checked the lid and it's still tightly closed. But now I don't know if that means everything is all right? Monster and I have to go meet Teach tomorrow, how's that going to work if Tin Can won't cooperate? My sister said to drive, and if the car breaks down she'll come pick me up... That's not very reassuring.

Poor Tin Can. I wonder what's really wrong. Whatever it is, I bet it involves some kind of... thingy.

Today's Sunshine

The Kid was here today, Monster's most favorite toy! For the first time ever, Monster was calm throughout. He tried to play, sure. He followed The Kid around, sure. He repeatedly tried to sit on The Kid's lap, sure. He mournfully drooled beside The Kid's seat when he was eating, sure.

What do you expect, I'm starving!

But he was calm. When The Kid didn't want to play, Monster laid down and went to sleep. When The Kid sat down to do his homework, Monster crawled under the table and went to sleep. When The Kid pushed Monster (who outweighs him by at least 30 pounds) off when he was too heavy, Monster snuggled up next to him and went to sleep. When The Kid wouldn't share his cheese sandwich, Monster... Well, all right, he actually edged closer and closer, put his drooly head down on the table, and nudged The Kid's arm. But then he went to sleep.

Very nice.

Science Fiction Weather Report

You know in a sci-fi movie, how planets can have two suns? No? You're not nerds? Well, I am so you'll have to take my word for it then. Today kind of had two sources of wonderful sunshine!

Nice and warm!

But. You know how maybe those two suns can have some weird radiation that's going to make you scaly or lose your memory? That might also be a part of today's weather report...

This morning on our walk, Monster and I spotted a group of other dogs who had stopped with their humans for a talk at the bottom of a hill. Monster and I immediately started BATting against them. Our first turn was about 200 yards away, but after perhaps six or seven attempts we were less than a hundred feet off. As I decided we were making our last pass, so I wouldn't push it too far, the group unfortunately split up and one of the dogs started walking towards us. Monster had just looked away, but we didn't have time to start walking away before the dog came towards us. I had to drag Monster away, and we had to end it on a bad note...

So, great that we got so close - to a whole bunch of strange dogs and people - but awful that I pushed it so far Monster eventually failed.

Then, this evening, Monster and I met with another person who also has a (gorgeous, gorgeous) dog with some reactivity issues, and we did a session together. It was very difficult for Monster, it was a new environment, and we had to get to the spot by following the other dog. But he did do great once we started working though. At closest I think he was perhaps 15 feet from the other dog... There were a few failures, where he went towards the dog instead of away when he was praised, but overall it was really great. And I was so grateful to the other person when she said she thought we should call it a day. I had noticed Monster was starting to get a tiny bit tired, but I didn't want to cut their training time after just 15-20 minutes, so it was great they wanted to stop by then too. Except, once I got to the car and checked a clock I realized we'd been at it for ninety minutes! I'm such an idiot, pushing Monster that hard...

I'm kinda sleepy, Mom...

So. Great things. Bad things. Scales etc... What's the sunshine, what's the cloud, who knows. Mix well and serve cold.

I may need some sleep too, I think...