Katie and I went to the park yesterday afternoon. There was a new sign there that said we weren’t allowed to train bird dogs for several months during bird nesting season.
Good thing we were warned about that, because you know Katie is such a bird dog! But we did have several incidents along our walk that involved birds. Right at the beginning of our walk I noticed two families of Canadian geese near the pond. One family’s babies already had the markings of adult birds, the other family’s little ones were still fuzzy balls of fluff. I decided we’d take a route that totally avoided them as Sheltie + parent geese do not make a good mix.
We headed into the mowed paths of a big hilly field. Katie enjoyed sniffing along the edges, at the flowers and traces of other dogs, who knows. Suddenly she went stiff, then lunged and up out of the tall grass right next to us flew a fat brown partridge (or something like that). Katie leaped straight up in the air and I screamed. Guess we weren’t meant to be bird hunters! Good thing Katie was on a leash.
We moved on down the path, and Katie went into her bird dog alert mode again. 
Holding tight to her leash I let her explore a little, and there was a turtle! Way less frightening (at least to us) than the bird. I eased Katie away so as not to disturb it and we moved on. 
Just a bit further along the way we began to be dive-bombed by tree swallows, as we were passing their nesting boxes. I kept ducking and urging Katie to “come on” as they swooped low over my head, making clucking noises just inches away from my hat. We rushed through that section of the path!
Eventually we arrived at a resting spot, and Katie had a bit to drink. I’ve been working on getting her not to be afraid to drink out of this contraption that allows me to carry water on my belt as well as serves as a bowl for her. She decided yesterday that she was thirsty enough not to worry about the funny shape.
We also got to see a bluebird couple. They were sitting on the fence that surrounds the softball field. A game was in progress but that didn’t seem to bother them. The male and female were swooping down into the outfield to catch bugs. There was another bird hanging out on the fence, a little brownish bird that I thought was a sparrow or house finch. On our way back to the car the blue birds were back on the fence, as was the little brown bird. Turns out the little bird was a baby bluebird. As Mom and Dad got bugs they’d fly up to the fence and feed the youngster! How cool! We watched for a bit and then wandered past.
And then, on our drive home we saw a wild turkey along the road near the house! Katie didn’t notice it, but it was the last bird in our bird filled experience of walking in the park. Maybe I should get Katie a set of binoculars so she can watch the birds more closely.
Katie and I have been working on “shake” this week. She learned it in about 2 seconds as long as treats were involved. But no treat? No shake! I don’t have video but if I did, you’d see that she just grudingly offers her paw when I ask for shake, even with the treat. She knows what I want, but she doesn’t want to give in and play the game. She’s way too smart for me!
Katie and I spent some time weeding this morning. Well to be truthful I weeded and Katie napped on the warm black asphalt of the driveway. She’s the only Sheltie I’ve ever met that likes to be really warm. After awhile I got too warm myself and we retreated to the rocker on the shady deck. She’s being very good, intently watching the birds at the feeder, but not (yet) lunging off the deck to attack. I keep telling her what a good girl she is, but I’m sure as soon as the resident chipmunk arrives all bets will be off.
We also did a little heeling around our cones in the driveway. That turkey sure was motivating, as she was very attentive. But it wasn’t as fun as going to agility class and getting to run and jump and visit with other dogs. Oh well. Maybe we’ll be able to go again someday!
Katie and I survived a full night of camping out in the back yard last night. It was soothing to listen to the rain as it fell off and on throughout the night, and we had an early morning wakeup call from a couple of robins about 5:30. For the most part Katie and I had a nice snooze and we’ll do it again soon I think. I’ve packed up the tent so that Daddy can mow the grass.
Last night Katie and I had the opportunity to do a little agility again. It’s been a very long time since we have tried this, and I was worried that she wouldn’t remember anything. I was wrong. She remembered that she hates the dogwalk and the A-frame, refusing to begin them, and only tentatively maneuvering them when she was placed on top of each. We didn’t even attempt the teeter. She still likes to do the tunnel and she loves to run and jump. She even did weaves pretty good with me guiding her through them. Most of her weave problems were caused by me not being able to handle the hand with the leash (and her) and the hand with the cheese through all the poles. The chute was OK, but someone was holding up the end so I think she thought it was just another tunnel.
Change Is Hard 