Howdy.

I know Miss Daisy keeps a diary.  I peek at it when she isn't in her crate.  But diaries are so -OLD SCHOOL-, and this is the computer age.  Now we BLOG!  So I have a DOG-BLOG

Last Sunday was a special day for Daisy.  Mom took us for a ride somewhere far away.  And we went into a big room with a soft rubber floor just perfect for romping.  I think we were there before when we were very little pups.  Anyway - I wanted to play, I wanted to run and jump and be a puppy.  There were lots of other dogs there to play with.  But dad wouldn't let me play.  I got so bored.  IT WAS NOT FUN.  I was not a happy puppy.  Daisy got to play and play.  But not me.  I was a little angry with dad.

...ME - bored to death waiting for someone to play with.  SIGH

In my short 13-week life I have learned that Daisy belongs to mom, and I belong to dad.  And I am so lucky.  Mom treats every dog equally.  Dad sneaks me little treats and special attention.  I love my dad, and I think he loves me too.  But sometimes he gets very sad.  Then he hugs me tight.  It has something to do with that nice old dog Parker.  I think maybe Parker was dad's dog before me, because sometimes dad calls me Parker by accident, and then his eyes get wet.  I was just getting to know Parker when he went away.  He was a nice dog.

Me and the Parker Dog.  He said his leg hurt too much to play.  He was a nice dog.  I miss him.

Last night mom and dad took me - just me - NOT Daisy - back to that far-away big soft room.  And I thought - oh good - I get to play now.  Dad was carrying something new.  It was a big green bag that smelled like that Parker dog.  And it had lots of stuff in it.  Treats and toys and leashes and brushes and some funny metal things.  Dad said it was special, it is called a TRAINING BAG.  And any time I see it I can get ready for training.  Whatever that means.  Anyway.

There was one grumpy Chihuahua there, and something called a CAT.  I need to investigate that CAT thing some more.  I wagged my tail and sniffed at it, and the CAT thing hit me in the nose THREE TIMES - so fast I never saw it coming.  How RUDE!  Nobody to play with.  So dad walked me around some and I went outside to pee.  When I came back there was another dog there, a little one with no legs.  It was called a CORGI or something.  But I still wasn't allowed to play.  Then more dogs came in.  There were lots of German Shepherd dogs.  Do they really herd Germans?  There were some other dogs too.  Most of them were not well behaved.  I am so lucky that my dad taught me manners when I was just a young pup.  There was another big white dog there too.  And it was MEAN.  It had 3 humans along, and they were all afraid of that dog.  So I stayed away from it too.

And then my whole world changed.  I am still not sure what happened.  And I am still not sure how I like it.  Or not. 

Dad opened the training bag and pulled out one of those funny metal things.  He held it around my neck a few times and pulled parts off it till he said it was JUST RIGHT.  Right for what?  So he put it on me and took my nice green collar off.  Then we started walking again.  I started to pull ahead like always - then YELP!  That new collar BIT ME.  It was just like mom's teeth telling me to knock it off.  It scared me, so I stopped.  But dad kept walking.  YELP - it bit me again.  Dad was calling me to catch up - so I ran to his side.  As long as I walked alongside dad I was OK.  But if I ran ahead or lagged behind that mom-collar bit me again.  But dad would touch me and speak to me when I was doing what he wanted me to do. 

Then we sat for a WHOLE HOUR.  The Alpha-human talked about this DOG TRAINING stuff.  The other humans listened and asked questions.  Everyone had some problems to complain about their dogs, all except my dad.  He didn't say a word.  So I must be a pretty good pup.  I wanted to wander and visit, but every time I got too far that mom-collar thing would bite me and I would run back to dad's leg.  Now - note this new change.  Dad only wants me on his left side.  Well - OK - no matter to me, I just want to be close.  But I was getting bored.  I thought I could maybe just kinda crawl over to another dog real slow and stealthy.  But that mom-collar caught me every time.  I could sit by dad, or I could lay on the floor by dad.  Every attempt to visit with the other dogs caused the mom-collar to bit me.

Next - the Alpha-human said we would learn something called HEEL and ABOUT-TURN.  I didn't understand it right away.  First dad called me.  Then the mom-collar bit me.  Pretty soon I got the idea that I needed to stay pretty close to dad's left leg.  I also had to keep an eye on dad.  Sometimes he would turn pretty quickly and I had to keep up or the mom-collar would bite me again.  So I turned it into a game.  I was just starting to have fun.  My tail was wagging and I was keeping up pretty good when the Alpha-Human changed the game. 

Now we had to lay on the floor quietly for fifteen whole minutes.  That is really really hard for a puppy to do.  I tried hard.  At first I wanted to get up.  But I could feel the mom-collar tighten up getting ready to bite me.  SIGH.... So I laid myself down on the soft rubber floor.  Dad got down with me and he stroked me and talked quietly to me.  It really was kind of nice.  One of the other dogs fell asleep.  I rolled on my back, and dad rubbed my belly.  It felt really good.

When that was over, dad took the mom-collar off me and put my nice green one on again.  Then dad reached way down in his training bag and pulled out a nice little squeaky-toy.  It is a small tennis ball with a fuzzy tail  It smelled like the Parker Dog, and I like that.  So I played with it while mom and dad picked up some things and got ready to go. Dad was telling someone a joke about me.  Where does River sleep?  he asked.  In the RIVER BED of course!  Yeah - I didn't get it either.


Me and dad - after that training stuff was over.

On the way home when they thought I was asleep, I heard mom and dad talking about the training.  Dad said he was proud of me cause I done good.  I don't know what I done good on - because I don't know what this training stuff is all about yet.  But mom said the Parker Dog loved it.  If I get to do it with dad every time, then I guess I will try it some more.  I love my dad.  Who knows... It might even be fun!

Well - time for my puppy-nap.