Like Father like daughter

I always knew that Olive was named after her father, Oliver, because she resembled him when she was born. A few days ago I received a photo of Oliver from Nanne, Olive’s breeder. The resemblance is uncanny. See if you can figure out which photo is of Olive, which is of Oliver. No cheating by looking below!

 

 

 

 

 

OK, the photo on the right is Olive, the one on the left is her pop. Uncanny, isn’t it?

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We in Connecticut have been lucky so far this winter in that there has been no significant snowstorm as of yet. That allows me to play with Olive in the back and let her burn off all that puppy energy. It’s no wonder that Olive seems at home there. Looking up and down parallel to the expressway that borders the field, it resembles a meadow. The only thing missing is the sheep! Instead of sheep, Olive has made do with chasing and catching the foam rubber saucer when I toss it, fixating on squirrels, and chasing geese into the pond. When we play with the saucer she is usually obedient when I order her into the house, but she is never really ready to quit. I believe that she would stay out there chasing the saucer all day if she could.

Unfortunately that may be coming to an end for this winter soon. Snow is predicted for this weekend from Maryland to Boston. If snow accumulation is significant, we won’t be able to play out back. I have a few dog games and puzzles that we got for the Holidays that I am saving in the hope that they will keep her amused and occupied enough that boredom will not set in. I should be able to take her for walks around the complex, though I am not looking forward to trudging through knee-deep snow. Nonetheless, I do know that snow is coming whether it happens this weekend or later.

That is not to say that I would want to see a snowless winter. Being and engineer I know from my basic water resources classes back in engineering school that it is snowmelt, not rain, that keeps the water table up and wells replenished. Rain mostly runs off into streams and rivers and out to sea, where snow has time to seep into the ground as it slowly melts. So snow is necessary and healthy. Unfortunately that is sometimes hard to bear in mind in February.

 

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Only two more classes to go for the “Family Dog 2” class. Last Sunday we worked on taking our dogs around a course with no obstacles, but there were stops along the way where we were supposed to do various things with our dogs like have them sit, stay while we walked around them, then continue on. I got slightly frustrated at one point and kept repeating commands, perhaps with a bit of irritation in my voice. The instructor came to my aid, reminding me that simply repeating commands teaches the dog to ignore them. Leading the dog through the actions, whether she understands the verbal command or not, then clicking and treating when she does what we want, is the way to do it. It may take a number of tries even for a smart dog like Olive, but it works.

This morning while out with Olive we happened upon a neighbor with her labradoodle puppy. She told me that she had taken her dog to check out a dog training program in town that is not part of “Tails U Win” where Olive and I are going. She tells me that at this program the people are told to punish their dogs when the dog does not do what they want; that choke collars are used to pull and prod the dog to do whatever is desired. That made me shudder. I told her that seems to be the opposite of what we are told at “Tails U Win”, that I am very impressed with their program and seem to be having success with it. The neighbor indicated that she will likely take her dog to “Tails U Win” as well. It made me glad that I found a training program that fits in with my own philosophy. I could never hit Olive or use something like a choke collar. I want a happy dog, and believe that I have one.

Happy New Year, Olive

Olive and the Tree

Olive and I had a good Holiday season. I do believe that Olive got more presents than I did! It was our first Holiday season together. Every year I take an “official portrait” of my decorated tree; this year I included Olive in it.

Among the presents for Olive and/or border collie themed were a jigsaw puzzle that clearly show three border collies (I hope to get it assembled soon so that I can post a photo of the completed puzzle), a toy dog that resembles a border collie, a set of tennis balls, a nylon peanut butter flavored bone for Olive to chew on (she loves it), and several dog “puzzles” that mostly involve the dog figuring out how to get the food placed inside.

Olive under the table at Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was at my house. Olive was of course there for the celebration since it's her house after all. For Christmas Day Olive joined the family for dinner before I left her with my sister to drive down to Norwalk to visit my aunt and uncle.

For New Year’s Eve I ended up having Olive staying at Candlewick Kennels, where she frequently goes for day care. That meant I could not pick her up until January 2 as the office was closed on New Year’s Day. I celebrated the New Year at the Ashokan music/art/nature center, got some sleep at a hotel in Kingston, left the next morning for a vegetable omelet and coffee as is my usual habit at a diner on the way home, then spent part of the day at an antique show in Glastonbury. I ended up buying a set of crystal decanters with a silver plated rack for my dining room. Later in the afternoon I met some family members for dinner at a restaurant, and finished the day at a delightful party attended by a number of friends who are part of the local opera community. Fantastic food, even better music!

I picked up Olive the next morning as soon as Candlewick opened. She seemed no worse for the wear. We got our holiday decorations boxed and put away, and began settling in for the winter.

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At obedience class last Sunday one activity involved polite walking around a dog’s food dish intended as a distraction for the dogs. At first Olive performed magnificently. For round one the dish was empty. Olive didn’t even seem to notice it. For round two, a small amount of dry food was put in the bowl. Again Olive ignored it, paying full attention to my direction. For round three, some cooked chicken was put in the bowl. Olive smelled it, but behaved perfectly. Then came round four……….when I saw what the distraction was to be, I wanted to cry foul! BORDER COLLIES CANNOT RESIST TENNIS BALLS!!!!

Olive made a beeline toward the tennis ball. I pulled her away but she was obsessed with it. The instructors seemed amused. When they declared that activity over, Olive was not about to quit. I took the ball and hid it under a box. No use—Olive wanted that tennis ball. Finally one of the instructors took pity on me and took the tennis ball away.  After several minutes Olive finally decided that the tennis ball was gone and settled back to class business.

 Now, I don’t think that was very fair of the instructors; do you?