Blaze is convinced he is being followed. He occasionally catches a glimpse of the perpetrator following him and spins around quickly to catch him. Sometimes he succeeds, but other times his tail gets away from him before he can grab it. It’s quite entertaining to watch. One time he arched his head over his back, grabbed a hold of his tail. and did a complete backwards roll. It was hilarious. Over the last three days, we have been working on him following us on the leash. I am trying the technique of walking forward until he tenses and pulls back; not looking at him, I stand there with the leash taut until he moves forward, praise him and repeat. Yesterday, it took me ten minutes to get to the mailbox at the end of the driveway. Today, he did much better. Each of the kids took a turn walking him around the yard and back and forth in front of the house. On one of my practice walks with him, we came around the corner of the house to discover the black cat sitting in our path. Her eyes became slits, her back arched, and she hissed at him. Blaze moved a little closer to me. I informed her that this was my house and she best move aside. She backed slightly up into the bushes and we walked past. Apparently, the cat isn’t the only one who thinks she lives at my house. When I informed my neighbor that I had gotten a puppy, she said, “Now you have a cat and a dog.” I told her no, the cats weren’t mine. She replied, “But they are always in your yard and mine.” I am unsure how many of my neighbors believe I own the black cats. If it’s a lot, I imagine I am not too well liked. Maybe I’ll have to wrap the whole house in tinfoil.
We have been playing with Blaze using different balls, ropes, and bones. Today, he decided to invent a few games of his own. The first game was called Fight the Wisteria. The previous owner of the house grew a wisteria as a stand alone tree. Because it is a vine, the branches trail to the ground. Blaze kept grabbing a hold of the end of the vine with his teeth, backing himself up, and tugging with all his might. The wisteria, of course, won. As those who have ever attempted to get rid of it know, wisteria is not easily beaten. His attempt to pull down the wisteria reminded me of one of the numerous things Czar destroyed years ago. When we were in Germany, we lived in an old farmhouse with an enclosed courtyard. The back wall of the farmhouse was covered with ivy. The base of the vines were as thick as a person’s arm; it was quite old. One day, Czar decided that he would redecorate. He pulled all the ivy down and dug out the roots. Dale and I came home and just stared in shock. Blaze’s second game was called Don’t Let the Stick Escape. I had planted some flower seeds in one of the beds and had marked the rows with two sticks connected by twine. (My Mom’s favorite row marker.) Blaze decided those sticks were a great find. The kids would hold one stick and the length of twine and second stick would follow. Blaze had great fun trying to prevent the trailing stick’s escape. Blaze’s third game was called Keep the Towel. In the morning, his feet were muddy and I ran up to get a towel so Josiah could dry them off. I remembered I had used a small towel on my pillow because my hair was wet when I went to sleep, so I grabbed that one. Josiah used it to dry off Blaze’s feet, then Blaze grabbed the towel from him and would not give it back, so Josiah let Blaze take it into the crate with him for a nap. He curled up next to the towel and went to sleep with quite a bit less crying. I was sitting there thinking how funny it was that he wanted the towel, when I remembered a bit of advice that I had read about providing the dog with something that has your scent on it to comfort the dog. I hadn’t done it, because I didn’t really believe that it would work. So, Blaze did it for himself.
This morning we brought home our new puppy. We left home at 1015 for what should have been a 35 minute drive. It took me twice as long. Apparently, everyone from the Northeast is headed down to the beach in North and South Carolina and Florida for Memorial Day Weekend and they all have to drive through Stafford to get there. Once we arrived at the Breeder, we were greeted by the 3 remaining male puppies. The first two jumped on me and bit my fingers and the 3rd one came up and nuzzled my hand. Gabe then conducted his temperament testing. He had a small notebook and pencil, a set of keys, a ball, and some treats. For each task, he graded each dog with an A, C, or F. The first dog did pretty well. The second dog did not do well. The third dog would have aced the test but failed to come when called. Later, Abby conducted a retest for him to prove that he could perform the task. The third dog had a sweet and gentle personality and spent his time snuggled on Abby’s lap. When the other two puppies went back to their mom, he sat with the kids. When Gabe rolled the ball for him, he ran after it and pounced on it. We were all sold. The next decision concerned his name. We had narrowed the name choices down to 2, just like when Dale and I had named the kids. Dale wanted Blaze and I wanted Nugget. As with the breed of dog, I was outvoted by everyone. Even the Breeder took their side. So, Blaze it is. I must say this trip to the breeder went a bit better than when we picked up Sasha years ago. While we were inside signing the papers. Sasha’s aunt was digging an escape route under the fence. When we went back outside, all the adult huskies were gone. We then spent several hours driving around the countryside looking for them. You would think that would have been warning enough for us, but no. We paid our money, took her home and spent the next 8 years driving around the countryside looking for her and Czar. Blaze spent today playing in the yard, popping bubbles with his nose, tugging on his rope, and chasing the ball. The kids soon realized how much of their summer is going to be spent outside telling Blaze to “Do your business.” Blaze is currently in his crate asleep in the family room with Gabe sleeping on an air mattress next to, not in the crate.
