Stormy Weather

(Ft. McDowell, AZ) We had an unexpected breakthrough last night. All five dogs can now peacefully co-exist in the RV without any doors or blockades separating them. That sure makes things so much easier on all of us! Of course we still have to manage them carefully as there are some hurt feelings among the bunch and they can get testy easily if there is too much commotion. But hopefully that will fade as well in time. I'm very proud of our bunch for being as acceptable as they are to a new dog in the mix.

For 2iggie's part, she is trying ever so hard to fit in. And she's a huge copycat! I think about 80-90% of what she has learned since she has been here, she learned by watching the other dogs. Our biggest problem is that she is so completely attached to Mike. Today Mike took a couple dogs out for a walk and left 2iggie back with me in the bedroom. The second she heard the RV door shut she started howling, crying and jumping around. There was nothing I could do that would calm her down. This kept up until she heard Mike return home. Then she was quiet and calm as could be. We've never had a dog like this before...even with all our fosters...so we're not sure how to help her change this unwanted behavior.

We can't do much outside today as it is hailing so hard. The hail is just a little smaller than the size of ping pong balls. That's big for hail. And inside the RV that is very loud! Mike and 2iggie had to run fast to get inside when that started as neither of them thought that felt nice at all. 2iggie really didn't seem to care too much. As long as she is with her daddy she is the happiest little dog you've ever seen.

After the hail and rainstorm passed by in a few hours, we decided to take Boogie out for his tracking lesson. What a little trouper that guy is. The wind was blowing steady at 35-40 mph and it was in the low 40's. Of course the wind chill was much colder than that.

Boogie absolutely loves tracking. He lies at the start and shivers to beat the band. Then when I tell him to "Go Track" he races off. I am not ready for running! Today was painful as he was too fast for me. He did great on this first two tracks but the third one was very difficult. The wind seemed to have shifted between the time we laid the track and the time he was to start....3 minutes. The poor guy was trying so hard but he kept losing the track. I could tell because he would stop and look back at me and cry. Poor guy. So I helped him a bit and we celebrated big time at the end. But this was just too much wind for a new little tracker.

On our way home we stopped at the little off-leash area so Boogie and 2iggie could play. And play they did. We just can't believe how fast 2iggie can run. And jump! Oh my goodness she jumped over a five foot long puddle like it was the size of a dime. If Mike can ever harness her attention she will be an awesome agility dog. I think she has the potential to be a good distance dog....like she'll forget she's playing with Mike and she'll run off to the next county! Guess they better work on a recall.

Debbie

3/9/10