Sandbanks

We spent a few days camping at Sandbanks Provincial Park this week, and Duncan enjoyed himself very much:

Keeping an eye on the spot where dinner would land
if it just happened to fall off the stove...

Duncan always enjoys a hike, so we took a sunset stroll along the Lakeview Trail. There were some fascinating scents on the breeze:

We spent a lot of time driving around the County, considering it as a possible retirement destination. Duncan loves riding in the car, so he had a great time. We stopped at Picton's fabulous leash-free dog park, and even rode the Glenora ferry over to Adolphustown and back, just so he could say he's done it:

Duncan's favourite thing about camping is chasing sticks on the dog beach. We go early in the morning, so we can let him run off-leash when nobody else is there. Here's a video of him in action, followed by a few photos so you can study his techniques in detail:

First he spots his prey. (That part didn't go so well in the video!)

He approaches with great stealth, so the stick won't see him coming.

He even tries flying, like the birds he's been watching.

A dive to grab it - hey, anything ducks and loons can do, Duncan can do too.

And he brings his treasure safely ashore!

Happy Birthday

A very happy third birthday to Duncan, as well as his sister Edie and their seven other siblings!

In three years, our little boy has gone from an adorable handful of puppy:

to a very handsome, if slightly quirky, young man:

Morning Workout

Every so often, Duncan feels a burning need to run what are affectionately known as "mad circles". Indoor mad circles are tricky; they often require ricocheting off furniture in order to change direction, for example. Outdoor mad circles are much easier. Here is part of yesterday's workout:

Training without the Trainer

Duncan and I both enjoy clicker training. From my perspective, we're following a carefully designed program (Sue Ailsby's Training Levels) that breaks the desired outcomes into tiny steps so he can succeed easily and by using only positive methods. (Plus it's fun to see his furry little brain working out exactly what I'm "paying" him for!)

From his perspective, it's much simpler: CLICK = TREAT. What's not to love?

So, he wondered, what does he need me for, anyway? All he needs to do is make the clicker go CLICK, and then enjoy the TREAT. What could possibly go wrong?

Oops! It seems that clickers are trickier than they look, when you don't have a thumb to push the button.

Fortunately, this week we will reach the point in our program where we start turning the "Leave It" command (at which he does very well) into a default behaviour.

Huge Breakthrough!

Sometimes little things can be huge.

Duncan has always been super sensitive about people touching his legs or feet. It's not surprising, really; the poor little guy broke his leg when he was 10 weeks old - right in the middle of the infamous "puppy fear period". Who wouldn't worry about his legs when an innocent bout of tail-chasing can break them?

At first, you took your life (or at least your arm) in your hands if you even reached toward his leg. But with lots of practice and tons of treats, we gradually got to the point where normal things like untangling leashes and grooming were no problem. But twigs or burrs caught on his leg? He freezes. And stresses. He does let us help, but it's clearly difficult for him to let us touch the problem leg, and it requires a very good treat, paid in advance.

Duncan's wire, on the right, with a paperclip

This morning, we were cutting through the schoolyard on our walk, as usual, when Duncan froze. And panted. And looked worried. I couldn't see anything wrong, so I asked him what the problem was. He looked up at me, then looked down at his front leg. I ran my hand over it, and found a little piece of very fine wire caught in his coat - it must have been pricking him. I pulled it off, praised him and we moved on to watch the man lugging old cabinets out of the school. But what a huge step for him; for the first time he actually asked for help, rather than just allowing it!

There's a bumper crop of burrs near the park bridge this year, so it will be interesting to see if he'll start asking for help with them too.