Bing Blog #19
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"The New Place" --
June 3, 2006 I am really embarrassed by the length of time that has passed since I wrote my last blog. It's been over 2 months, and so much has happened since then that it would be difficult to go through it all. So I'll start by saying that we have finally found a place which (I hope) will allow us to the all the training we've ever wanted to do, right on the premises. Included in that purchase was a one-acre pond for Bing's first birthday. Bing LOVES to swim. He swims every morning, and he looks just like an otter. He has continued to adore his tennis ball, which he retrieves from any distance we can throw it. He's made some lovely accomplishments of which I'm proud during this time, too. Whereas at one time he was terrified of the scale at the vets office, he has acquired the habit, just like his sisters, of standing rock-still on the scale (he weighs in at 44.5 lb.). He seems to have decided that the scale is fun (no doubt it was all the repetition with the treats that did it!) |
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Acacia and Bing posing by their new pond |
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One of the advantages for us in having this new property is that we no longer feel compelled to drive the dogs to parks for walks twice a day; now it's only once per day. This has resulted in something of a relief for Bing, as he's generally much quieter in the car. He can still become very vocal, but is more likely to stuff his own mouth with a chewie so he doesn't bark when I close the hatch than he used to. One of the more exciting new tricks he's learned is “head”. This is where a person holds out a cupped hand, palm up, near his head and says, “head”. He puts his chin quickly and solidly into the hand, and waits for the click. He will do this for nearly anyone, although in new locations he can be overwhelmed and distracted. We've even progressed to several seconds of holding and included gentle rubbing, as well. This is a new aspect of the trick, and one which sometimes proves to be too much; he might show some whale eye or move away in an anxious way which tells me it's time to do something else. But the lovely part of this is that he WANTS to interact with people, but finds the whole hand/arm thing so scary, and this allows him to have a happy medium. I'm sure that this trend will continue. |
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Montana's favorite pose (see previous blog) |
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| I'm sure I'll remember many more things to share, but moving has gotten the better of me and I must find my bed… more soon! Ali |
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Bing is doing two of his favorite things: swimming and retrieving balls. |
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| About the new property. The pond is about 1-1/2 acres, spring fed and 15' deep. It's stocked with koi, carp, blue gills, calico bass, largemouth and smallmouth bass and perch. The lower level of the barn is the current training space for Great Companions. The upper level of the barn is 50'x50' and hopefully will be the new training studio. The house was built sometime before 1805 and, most importantly for dogs, now has almost one acre completely fenced. The total property size is 6-1/2 acres. It's located just 1.1 miles from the big church in Neff's PA. Map and directions. | ||||||||||||||||||
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Bing and Acacia warming up for their morning walk. |
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