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.