Post-Graduate

Better get busy on your thesis, Erin - Duncan's catching up! Today at school he graduated from Level 2. 

There was another ceremony just like last time, and Duncan was the first one to be called up. He heeled to the front of the room perfectly to the strains of Pomp and Circumstance, then jumped up on his favourite assistant instructor, accepted his roll of Natural Balance along with his diploma, and tried to detour to visit his friend Oliver on the way back. Oliver was the next one called, and he also heeled beautifully, jumped up on the same instructor, and stopped to bark at Duncan on the way back to his seat. 

At that point, the instructors suggested that those who had received their diplomas could leave if they wanted to. Probably a good call.

Surgery Update

Waking up after surgery

Our little patient is home and feeling quite sorry for himself.

Interpreting official veterinary terminology can be tricky. When I got the phone call (from Megan) to say that he was out of surgery, I asked how he'd been, and she told me he'd been "very good, once he was sedated." Which, of course, raises the question - what about before he was sedated?

You'd hardly believe it, but they tried to put him in a cage. Like an animal or something. Naturally, he couldn't allow that, so he moved up front under the reception desk and put himself in charge of supervising the hired help (i.e., Megan), and apparently was quite well-behaved:

The surgery went well, and I have to say that the surgical blankies they use are a lot more colourful than the ones I got for my knee surgery:

N Day

Poor little Duncan is at the vet's today getting neutered. He was so excited that it was "take your dog to work day" for Megan. And he was delighted to greet the nice man buying cat food while we did the paperwork, but clearly had no idea why said man was so sympathetic to him! Stay tuned for updates later today...

Meanwhile, here's a picture of a rather uncomfortable looking wheaten (scroll down almost to the bottom of the page). I don't know how they got her(?) into this sweater when it took two of us this morning to convince Duncan to hold still long enough to put his collar on! It's surprisingly hard to negotiate with him when he's not allowed to eat...

My Day at School

In my crate, seat-belted in, on my way to school.

On Thursday mornings, Duncan and I go to school. Since we squeaked through graduated with honours from Level 1 obedience, we're now in Level 2 - clicker training tricks. He loves class; as soon as he sees me start to pack his "school bag" he gets excited.

You might notice that Duncan is scruffier than usual in these pictures. Admittedly, he is quite capable of going from combed to scruffy in the time it takes to lift him off the grooming table. But yesterday he had an excuse - he was a Hero!

Heroes need to learn to smile for the camera!

Just after we arrived for class, someone rushed in and said our classmate Dahlia had slipped out of her leash and was running loose near the road. Our instructor called to me to bring Duncan as she left to help. Our role was to simply stand there and look available for play. It worked! Dahlia dashed over to Duncan, and they had a lovely muddy romp before her mother caught up to her with the leash and we had to go back to school.

Heroes get muddy being heroic.

First we practiced last week's homework. Duncan is quite good at spinning in a circle, although he sometimes likes to add his own personal touch:

My teacher likes the little hop I added. I'm a Wheaten. I jump!

Then we had a break while the instructor demonstrated this week's main trick: weave-walking!

My Kong rolled behind the chair.

 Then it was our turn:

You want me to do what?!? 

I guess I could try it. Since there are treats involved.

Like this?

Wow, this is fun!

 By the end of an hour, Duncan is a very tired little boy.

If I shake a paw one more time, can we go home?

Houdini

You talking about me?

There's nothing quite as nice as getting a full Wheaten Greeting when you walk in the door. The jumps, the kisses, the excitement, the whole "I've missed you! You've been gone for days!" attitude, even when it's only been 20 minutes.

Unless the wheaten in question had been securely shut up in his crate when you left, twenty minutes before.

So the other morning, Duncan trotted into his crate as usual while I drove Megan to work. He's really good about "crate time". As soon as I say the words, he goes in and sits waiting for the customary two treats. Megan saw me latch the door. But when I got home, the crate door was open and he was greeting me at the door. Even stranger, the latch on the door was still in the locked position. Fortunately, he was fine and so was the house. But I hope he hasn't really figured out how to work the latch!

Duncan's First Shower

As I've mentioned before, Duncan loves the bathtub. Yesterday morning he hopped in and licked the tap hopefully, as he does most days. You never know, right? I turned on a trickle of water, and he happily slurped away.

Then I could almost see the lightbulb go on. If I could do some mysterious thing "up there" to make the water appear, so can he. 

He's studying the problem, and will probably have it solved by next week. 

Later in the morning, right after I combed him, he headed back to the bathtub. This time, though, he hopped in and joined Megan for her shower:

Mission Accomplished

Right from the start, Duncan has had issues with the Evil Bathmat. Evan took this video of him trying to kill it only two days after he arrived, at not quite 9 weeks old:

Yesterday, he finally succeeded. The bathmat is history: