You do a great job with Meitou, I am always impressed with your dedication and perspective and sense of humor. Together you are making a way for him to be his best self, whatever that is. Keep up the good work and let us know how muzzle practice goes. I think- like reactive dog stuff, muzzle use is hushed up and everyone feels like its for 'bad dogs' (whatever that means)- and I think we can all learn from you guys and de-stigmatize muzzles a bit, or at least talk about them.
@cezieg Oh, yes. It is indeed a real fort. It's a fun place to walk around, but inside the fort is people-only (and costs money). Sometimes they do some pretty cool events. My favorite so far was last year (the first time I think I've actually gone) when they had a free event at night where people were dressed up from the early days of the fort. It was pretty hilarious for the British to randomly arrest people for being American, while the actors portraying Americans didn't arrest anybody that I'm aware of.
For an old fort where pups are allowed to explore with you I'd recommend Fort Stevens out by Astoria. There is also the old remains of a shipwreck on a beach nearby. I took Meitou there last year.
@zandrame I've thought about that, but I'm not sure how much vet-practicing she does anymore. I believe she does a lot of work with dogs who have issues with vets and dog who are pretty human reactive, from what I understand. It is something I could ask about, though.
And for the laser pointer, it isn't something that he's really played with before (luckily the BC was never interested. She would have been a pain with them). After those first videos we decided that we should hide treats or randomly drop them and lead him to the treats. We have had some success with that, if he is interested in the treat. Anyway, it is only something that he gets to play with for a few minutes at a time. It sure tires him out, though.
@Crispy You're my hero! I think I owe you cake or something. The only part that looks a little off is the grass between his front paws, but I still think it looks awesome.
@WrylyBrindle Thank you! I have to ignore my preconceived notions about muzzles sometimes, too. Sometimes they crop back up. And with muzzle training, I really thought Meitou was going to be a terror based on his reactions to muzzles at the vet. But...he's been surprisingly open. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised. We are taking it slow and I try to remember to do things correctly. So hopefully things work out. The main goal is for him to get used to wearing it for vet purposes (he'll likely still be sedated for vet visits, a muzzle would actually make that easier). And if things work out super well we may use it on walks/hikes. It might keep people from pestering him since he is sensitive about being touched by strangers.
--
Anyway, I do have a few photos and some video of muzzle training and trick training, but...feeling too lazy to upload them so I'll do that this weekend.
Some muzzle training videos. My technique is not perfect on this. I was worrying too much about trying to keep Meitou's head in the frame, and even then I barely succeeded.
And some random training. He wasn't really feeling into it so we didn't do much this session. It is interesting videoing training sessions because in watching them...I realized I kind of suck at always catching/rewarding the behavior I want when he does it.
And just because I have to...
---------------------------------
And here are the results of Meitou's color genetics test and CEA test:
-CEA test-
n/CEA (CEA carrier)
-Color test-
AY locus: AY/AY (Dog has two copies of the gene responsible for fawn/sable coat color.) at locus: n/n (Dog does not carry the tan points/tricolor gene.) a locus: n/n (Dog does not carry the gene responsible for recessive black coat color.) B locus: B/b (Dog carries a copy of the allele responsible for brown color, and can potentially pass on that allele to future offspring.) D locus: D/D (Dog is negative for the dilution gene.) E locus: e/e (The dog is yellow-based, and will always pass on a copy of the yellow allele to any offspring.) EM locus: n/n (Dog does not carry allele for melanistic mask.) K locus: n/n (Dog does not have the dominant black gene, and the color pattern is determined by the Agouti gene.) S locus: N/N (Negative: Dog is negative for the spotting or parti-color gene.)
looks like its going really well- he doesn't seem shy of the muzzle- shoves his head right in there! I noticed how the food is kindof not "in" the muzzle like a cup, but "through" the muzzles- like a puzzle toy. (The Puzzle Muzzle!)
Yeah, he does shove his head in rather willingly. He was like that from the get-go, even when we had our meeting with Scott and Dr. Valli. But I'm glad he has taken to it well so far. And yes, I have his treats in my hand instead of the muzzle. It's easier because it is chicken and wouldn't really stay in the muzzle. Plus that way I can eventually start pulling my hand/the treats away for brief periods to start getting him used to having the muzzle on without immediate reward.
So I thought this was kind of cute... over the weekend we noticed our cat had a bump on his side. After it got drained out (puss, ew) he seemed pretty normal. But I noticed something cute. Meitou keeps trying to groom the cat's wounded side (or I guess it could be gross and he likes puss smell or something, but I prefer to think he's just licking his hurt buddy). Granted, we stop Meitou from doing it when we notice since we figure it isn't good for the cat.
And tonight Meitou came in from lounging on the deck and immediately went and poked his nose into all of the cat's favorite sleeping spots. He was looking for his kitty.
So Meitou was pretty cute in his reactivity class today. Most of the dogs this session are new to him. There is a female mixed breed (well, I am assuming, I haven't asked, but she's beautiful) and a female shiba. And Meitou was super into them today, in a positive way.
We were in pairs going through a meet-and-greet exercise with a chain link fence. Meitou started out with the adorable female shiba as his partner. He was kind of being a goober because he didn't want to do the exercise right, so we modified it so he would be comfortable and still do the greet. And he was so well behaved (made me happy and also freaked me out a little, haha). After a few run throughs of the exercise Meitou started daintily pawing at the fence or at the (wet) dirt and occasionally making pitiful whimpers. He would take his treats and would smells noses (or a rear end if presented) without issue.
And then he was paired up with the other female and did the same thing.
Everyone thought it was pretty cute (lol, apparently Meitou is all about the girls. Go figure, right?). The trainers commented afterward, "You did a good job Meitou, you were such a gentleman." Ha, probably because he had a fence between him and the ladies.
Anyway, it was nice to see him interested in other dogs in a positive way.
- Earlier in the day we also had a private session where we worked more on his muzzle training, started some handling issues (starting with feet), and started shaping him to learn how to scratch his own nails on a board with non-slip material on it. Meitou caught on pretty fast and Scott asked if Meitou had done this before. Not really, unless you count me trying to get him to paw bathroom doors to freak people out. And in my defense I only did that twice. Last year.
- I should have something fun to post about tomorrow if I don't put the activity I have planned for Meitou off. I meant to do it today but time got away from me.
Daww Meitou loves his cat buddy. That's pretty good to hear actually, as having a cat + Hokka household was something I wasn't sure I could tell people "Yeah a Hokka growing up with a cat is A-OK".
Good job too on the reactivity class! What have been his reactions in the past when it came to the fence greet?
lol @ teaching him to paw bathroom doors to freak people out. Sounds like a fun prank for both of you Is the wall scratching to keep his nails short, or another fun command?
@cezieg Ha, yeah. Meitou loves his cat. Sullivan seems to tolerate the attention pretty well. Sometimes he instigates their play and he will finally defend himself if Meitou is getting too rambunctious. It definitely took some work (and still does). Meitou has been gentle with his mouth, but his affection is very...hmn....energetic? We still have to separate them when Meitou starts getting too worked up and the cat starts getting overwhelmed. It helps when you have a big, confident cat.
Meitou has done pretty well meeting other cats in the supply store with his favorite black lab (there are store cats there, too) and Meitou has been pretty well behaved.
In general when he sees cats out on walks he wants to chase them. So who knows how that would turn out.
As for his fence greets, he has usually done well in class. I think this last time was one of his best, though. At home he is a fence fighter, though. I'm working on a smaller fence to block off the spots where he tends to fight.
The scratching on doors to freak people out was just for fun. But the scratching his nails on the board is to help keep his front nails trimmed and minimize any stress he might feel at his feet being handled. Although the last time I had his nails trimmed (in January) was when he was knocked out at the vet. But the self-trimming seemed like a good behavior for Meitou.
Okay, so that fun thing took forever to upload on Flickr so I'm posting it a day after, but! It happened.
Behold the geekiness that is what I did:
I signed Meitou up for Pottermore just to see what House he would get sorted into. Because why not?
First he had to get a wand. Most of the questions I answered with help from family members because the answers were things like eye color and height, general physical traits. There were some personality ones we picked for him, too.
Here is the one wand question he got to answer:
After the wand came the good part. Getting sorted! I was kind of curious what House Meitou would get because for the funsies my entire family has done this.
So, Monday we met up with @Crispy and Fionna at Cape Disappointment out at the coast!
We found creepy bits of an old fort! Some of us had fun exploring it. Someone else (my sister) thought it was creepy.
What could be inside this creepy door? Let's find out!
This was creepy to find in a dark hallway. Kind of makes me wish I'd had Meitou scratch at the wall.
And after exploring a bit we noticed this sign...
We found this little cove. There was a bit of a trail down but it looked steep enough in one part that I didn't want to try going down. Because Meitou believes downhill means "go fast" and I didn't want to fall down.
More exploring of the creepy fort.
The pose!
Can you tell they got bored of me trying to take photos?
They actually got in a little nose sniffing right before this. I wasn't fast enough to catch it, though.
And Turkish Shepherd puppies!
Meitou watched puppies.
And these crappy pictures are in the dark because we got a flat tire on the way home.
I had everything I needed....except a jack. But luckily I had family that came to the rescue with a jack and things worked out fine. In all honesty it added to the adventure. We had warmth, water, food, spare tire, a working phone, plenty of gas, etc so my sister and I just kind of had a party in the car.
Anyway, I had a lot of fun! Two moments where I thought Meitou was super cute:
1). After we were done hiking around Cape Disappointment and Fionna was back in the Jeep Meitou looked up and could see her face in the window. He started to whine a bit and kind of pawed at @Crispy 's Jeep.
2). Once we headed home Meitou kept looking back like "where is Fionna" until the Jeep was out of sight.
I was really pleased how well Meitou did. He started copying Fionna. The couple times we ran across other people Fionna would bark. Meitou started out quite but picked up pretty quick on the barking once Fionna started.
So, I got up disgustingly early on Saturday morning (a little after 4:30am) to check if I would be able to see the lunar eclipse. Alas, it was too eerily cloudy and foggy. So I just hung out with Meitou until my tiredness overtook my senses and I returned to bed. But I did take two blurry night photos to commemorate the attempt.
Later Saturday Meitou went to class. And he was good, but also still so into the ladies. It's weird. I mean, it is normal, but it is also weird. He's never been this interested in the female dogs in his class before. One of them is a Golden Retriever that's been in the Open Air classes since Meitou started. He's always liked her (and wants to pull her fluffy tail, erk), but he is even more interested in her. The other two females in class are a cute red Shiba (she wasn't in class Saturday) and what I assume is a mix (but she is super beautiful). Ever since the class where they got to smell each other through a fence Meitou's been all about trying to smell them. And ever since going hiking with @Crispy and Fionna he's been even more into the girls. And also randomly way more humpy. lol
Anyway, after class was over I stuck around and wandered back through some of the places we walked through in class. It was downtown Portland and SUPER busy because the weather was actually nice and there was a huge Easter event going on in one of the parks we walked through. So as Meitou and I re-explored I took some pictures. Meitou thought it was dumb that I kept making him stop and wait for photo-ops, hahaha. He was tired.
This bench is made from the same wood as some of the boardwalks in the area. Meitou used to be terrified by those boardwalks (and other similar places) but sometime last year he randomly grew out of it. Crazy boy.
There were a ton of dogs out. And there was one individual out with three Bouviers. Two were just lying down and stayed while the owner worked them one at a time at obedience maneuvers. Those dogs could heal like magic, let me tell you.
There was a small dog park at one end of the park. During class we stopped nearby to let our dogs watch other dogs run. Meitou wasn't really interested until a Border Collie (mix?) went in. That was super interesting to Meitou. I went back to that spot after class to give Metou more chances to practice (this is when the BC went in).
You can't tell in this picture, but Meitou actually has one of his dark colored hairs near his left eye.
The BC was heading to the dog park...
This is the expression of a dog who is tired of pictures and just wants to sleep after an hour of class and over a half an hour of walking after class (I didn't actually pay attention to how long we were out...might have been closer to an hour).
Derp. Why must there be more picture taking?! Why?
And then instead of letting him go home....we went to Pampered Paw because they were hosting a doggie Easter Egg hunt. We were lucky and there were no other dogs in the store, aside from the two store dogs (one of which is the Lab Meitou loves). I bought some food and treats, then was given a basket for Meitou to try and find eggs.
Guess who didn't want to find eggs (which were everywhere)?
Meitou.
He was tired.
This tired.
Eventually I got him to get up and move. Mostly I had to pick up an egg up and show it to him. Or sometimes point to it and he would sniff it. He got to "find" ten eggs and keep whatever treats were inside.
I tried to get a photo of him with his Easter basket. But apparently it was evil. Whenever I put it next to him he would give it a funny look and slowly back away.
Fionna has actually been super humpy lately, too. I thought she might be going into heat early. So, you know, Meitou, if you're looking for a girl, I think Fionna wants your number. (JK! NOT MY PRINCESS.)
Meitou looks good! I was thinking about you guys today when we went to Sauvie Island with TK or a hike. Happy easter!
So, you know, Meitou, if you're looking for a girl, I think Fionna wants your number. (JK! NOT MY PRINCESS.)
Meitou only wishes. My first thought was "Meitou's too young to be a father!" LOL That's funny that they've been exhibiting the same behaviors. I wonder if it is a coincidence? But pretty funny.
Did you enjoy Sauvie Island? I haven't been there in years and I've never taken Meitou there. I was hoping to take him somewhere fun in the afternoon and then thunderstorms rolled in. Right over the house. There was a giant booming explosion peal of thunder almost right over my house. Thankfully Amy is nearly deaf (otherwise she'd be hiding) and Meitou didn't seem too disturbed by it. He ran to the window to look outside and made a weird sneezing sound. So we had to wait until later so we didn't go anywhere super cool today.
We saw that thunder and lightning right as we left!
Sauvie Island was awesome. I liked it a lot. There were quite a few people there, but it wasn't crowded or anything. My coworker recommended it because she has a reactive dog and said that there was NO ONE ever there during the week when she went. We went to the North beach on the island and it was really nice. VERY muddy, but the dogs loved it.
@whobitme I really enjoyed your hiking photos! They were very well taken and that certainly adds to Meitou's already handsome looks!
Really makes me feels like I'm going on an adventure with both you guys exploring every nook and cranny or fallen log! Nothing beats being out in the wilderness with mother nature and your trusty canine companion!
@Wolfbrother Thanks for the compliments. I'm a mediocre photographer trying to juggle a dog in one hand and a camera in the other, so I'm glad some have turned out well enough that you felt like you were along for the adventures.
I agree, there is something wonderful about being out in nature with a dog.
So here are a few pics of Meitou during class a few weeks ago. I did not take these. On this particular day a photographer tagged along to take pictures of our dogs and I didn't catch her name.
Meitou looks so handsome posed on this log! I really didn't think he would cooperate, but he did!
I DID feel free to creep on FB and like all of the pictures.
You do a great job with Meitou! I'm happy I met him. We need to meet up again sometime! Maybe sometime on Sauvie during the week. My coworker has a reactive dog and said there's no one there during the week so she goes to walk her dog on the beach and the woods there. Her only caution was that people hunt out there, so we should all wear safety colors.
Meitou is looking super snazzy in his orange vest! He has such nice pearly whites too! Do you brush at all or he's been keeping naturally shiny? It looks like you two have been having quite a lot of fun How are the classes going?
@cezieg No, I haven't ever brushed his teeth. Back in January when he went to the vet they did do a teeth cleaning while he was K.O.'ed but even then his teeth weren't super bad. We do have a lot of fun. He really loves his classes. Well, except getting in the car, but he likes being in classes. He loves our trainer and seems to be growing accustomed to the secretary that comes along to help. And ever since he turned two...he's all about the lady dogs in class. This session there are only three dogs. Meitou, a new female, and a female Golden that's been in the Open Air classes at least since I started with Meitou. Meitou and the Golden seem to have a kind of "friendship" going (at least without getting too close). This past class we were all walking in a line along the trail and the Golden fell behind at one point and...Meitou looked back to see where she was, saw that she was pretty far back...and then slow down until she caught back up. Then he was happy again and occasionally would check to see if she was still there. He's always tired after class, so he naps for a while afterward.
@Crispy Yeah, it would be cool if they could play. Meitou really wants a play buddy that isn't an angry old dog who won't play.
I think he looks pretty good in orange. Now he's all prepared for summer night walks and any hikes I feel like putting it on him for. Or he will be as soon as he realizes it isn't trying to slowly eat him.
Comments
Handsome white Meitou!
http://www.nps.gov/fova/index.htm
http://fortvan.org/ or http://fortvan.org/attractions.html
For an old fort where pups are allowed to explore with you I'd recommend Fort Stevens out by Astoria. There is also the old remains of a shipwreck on a beach nearby. I took Meitou there last year.
http://www.oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=parkPage.dsp_parkPage&parkId=129
@zandrame I've thought about that, but I'm not sure how much vet-practicing she does anymore. I believe she does a lot of work with dogs who have issues with vets and dog who are pretty human reactive, from what I understand. It is something I could ask about, though.
And for the laser pointer, it isn't something that he's really played with before (luckily the BC was never interested. She would have been a pain with them). After those first videos we decided that we should hide treats or randomly drop them and lead him to the treats. We have had some success with that, if he is interested in the treat. Anyway, it is only something that he gets to play with for a few minutes at a time. It sure tires him out, though.
@Crispy You're my hero! I think I owe you cake or something. The only part that looks a little off is the grass between his front paws, but I still think it looks awesome.
@WrylyBrindle Thank you! I have to ignore my preconceived notions about muzzles sometimes, too. Sometimes they crop back up. And with muzzle training, I really thought Meitou was going to be a terror based on his reactions to muzzles at the vet. But...he's been surprisingly open. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised. We are taking it slow and I try to remember to do things correctly. So hopefully things work out. The main goal is for him to get used to wearing it for vet purposes (he'll likely still be sedated for vet visits, a muzzle would actually make that easier). And if things work out super well we may use it on walks/hikes. It might keep people from pestering him since he is sensitive about being touched by strangers.
--
Anyway, I do have a few photos and some video of muzzle training and trick training, but...feeling too lazy to upload them so I'll do that this weekend.
From training time: Sullivan photobomb mode
Some muzzle training videos. My technique is not perfect on this. I was worrying too much about trying to keep Meitou's head in the frame, and even then I barely succeeded.
And some random training. He wasn't really feeling into it so we didn't do much this session. It is interesting videoing training sessions because in watching them...I realized I kind of suck at always catching/rewarding the behavior I want when he does it.
And just because I have to...
---------------------------------
And here are the results of Meitou's color genetics test and CEA test:
-CEA test-
n/CEA (CEA carrier)
-Color test-
AY locus: AY/AY (Dog has two copies of the gene responsible for fawn/sable coat color.)
at locus: n/n (Dog does not carry the tan points/tricolor gene.)
a locus: n/n (Dog does not carry the gene responsible for recessive black coat color.)
B locus: B/b (Dog carries a copy of the allele responsible for brown color, and can potentially pass on that allele to future offspring.)
D locus: D/D (Dog is negative for the dilution gene.)
E locus: e/e (The dog is yellow-based, and will always pass on a copy of the yellow allele to any offspring.)
EM locus: n/n (Dog does not carry allele for melanistic mask.)
K locus: n/n (Dog does not have the dominant black gene, and the color pattern is determined by the Agouti gene.)
S locus: N/N (Negative: Dog is negative for the spotting or parti-color gene.)
haha "Puzzle Muzzle."
And tonight Meitou came in from lounging on the deck and immediately went and poked his nose into all of the cat's favorite sleeping spots. He was looking for his kitty.
We were in pairs going through a meet-and-greet exercise with a chain link fence. Meitou started out with the adorable female shiba as his partner. He was kind of being a goober because he didn't want to do the exercise right, so we modified it so he would be comfortable and still do the greet. And he was so well behaved (made me happy and also freaked me out a little, haha). After a few run throughs of the exercise Meitou started daintily pawing at the fence or at the (wet) dirt and occasionally making pitiful whimpers. He would take his treats and would smells noses (or a rear end if presented) without issue.
And then he was paired up with the other female and did the same thing.
Everyone thought it was pretty cute (lol, apparently Meitou is all about the girls. Go figure, right?). The trainers commented afterward, "You did a good job Meitou, you were such a gentleman." Ha, probably because he had a fence between him and the ladies.
Anyway, it was nice to see him interested in other dogs in a positive way.
-
Earlier in the day we also had a private session where we worked more on his muzzle training, started some handling issues (starting with feet), and started shaping him to learn how to scratch his own nails on a board with non-slip material on it. Meitou caught on pretty fast and Scott asked if Meitou had done this before. Not really, unless you count me trying to get him to paw bathroom doors to freak people out. And in my defense I only did that twice. Last year.
-
I should have something fun to post about tomorrow if I don't put the activity I have planned for Meitou off. I meant to do it today but time got away from me.
Good job too on the reactivity class! What have been his reactions in the past when it came to the fence greet?
lol @ teaching him to paw bathroom doors to freak people out. Sounds like a fun prank for both of you
Meitou has done pretty well meeting other cats in the supply store with his favorite black lab (there are store cats there, too) and Meitou has been pretty well behaved.
In general when he sees cats out on walks he wants to chase them. So who knows how that would turn out.
As for his fence greets, he has usually done well in class. I think this last time was one of his best, though. At home he is a fence fighter, though. I'm working on a smaller fence to block off the spots where he tends to fight.
The scratching on doors to freak people out was just for fun. But the scratching his nails on the board is to help keep his front nails trimmed and minimize any stress he might feel at his feet being handled. Although the last time I had his nails trimmed (in January) was when he was knocked out at the vet. But the self-trimming seemed like a good behavior for Meitou.
Behold the geekiness that is what I did:
I signed Meitou up for Pottermore just to see what House he would get sorted into. Because why not?
First he had to get a wand. Most of the questions I answered with help from family members because the answers were things like eye color and height, general physical traits. There were some personality ones we picked for him, too.
Here is the one wand question he got to answer:
After the wand came the good part. Getting sorted! I was kind of curious what House Meitou would get because for the funsies my entire family has done this.
The current rankings before Meitou:
Gryffindor: 3 (I'm here!)
Hufflepuff: 2
Ravenclaw: 1
Slytherin: 2
And so here are the choppy, poor-quality video clips that make up Meitou's selection process.
So the final tally is
Gryffindor: 3
Hufflepuff: 2
Ravenclaw: 1
Slytherin: 3
Was this weird? I don't think it was weird. I thought it was pretty fun.
We found creepy bits of an old fort! Some of us had fun exploring it. Someone else (my sister) thought it was creepy.
What could be inside this creepy door? Let's find out!
This was creepy to find in a dark hallway. Kind of makes me wish I'd had Meitou scratch at the wall.
And after exploring a bit we noticed this sign...
We found this little cove. There was a bit of a trail down but it looked steep enough in one part that I didn't want to try going down. Because Meitou believes downhill means "go fast" and I didn't want to fall down.
More exploring of the creepy fort.
The pose!
Can you tell they got bored of me trying to take photos?
They actually got in a little nose sniffing right before this. I wasn't fast enough to catch it, though.
And Turkish Shepherd puppies!
Meitou watched puppies.
And these crappy pictures are in the dark because we got a flat tire on the way home.
I had everything I needed....except a jack. But luckily I had family that came to the rescue with a jack and things worked out fine. In all honesty it added to the adventure. We had warmth, water, food, spare tire, a working phone, plenty of gas, etc so my sister and I just kind of had a party in the car.
Anyway, I had a lot of fun! Two moments where I thought Meitou was super cute:
1). After we were done hiking around Cape Disappointment and Fionna was back in the Jeep Meitou looked up and could see her face in the window. He started to whine a bit and kind of pawed at @Crispy 's Jeep.
2). Once we headed home Meitou kept looking back like "where is Fionna" until the Jeep was out of sight.
I was really pleased how well Meitou did.
I think Fionna quite liked him - as much as Fionna likes boys.
These are some nice pictures of the day! Thanks for meeting up! I hope we can do it again sometime-- maybe without the flat tire.
I'd love to meet up again sometime. I had a lot of fun, even with the flat tire. But yeah, I would prefer not to have one of those again.
Here is a new photo of Maruto (Meitou' brother) and his lovely daughter Hatsuhime :x
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk171/icyitadaki/hatsunew_zpszxrgbafe.jpg
So, I got up disgustingly early on Saturday morning (a little after 4:30am) to check if I would be able to see the lunar eclipse. Alas, it was too eerily cloudy and foggy. So I just hung out with Meitou until my tiredness overtook my senses and I returned to bed. But I did take two blurry night photos to commemorate the attempt.
Later Saturday Meitou went to class. And he was good, but also still so into the ladies. It's weird. I mean, it is normal, but it is also weird. He's never been this interested in the female dogs in his class before. One of them is a Golden Retriever that's been in the Open Air classes since Meitou started. He's always liked her (and wants to pull her fluffy tail, erk), but he is even more interested in her. The other two females in class are a cute red Shiba (she wasn't in class Saturday) and what I assume is a mix (but she is super beautiful). Ever since the class where they got to smell each other through a fence Meitou's been all about trying to smell them. And ever since going hiking with @Crispy and Fionna he's been even more into the girls. And also randomly way more humpy. lol
Anyway, after class was over I stuck around and wandered back through some of the places we walked through in class. It was downtown Portland and SUPER busy because the weather was actually nice and there was a huge Easter event going on in one of the parks we walked through. So as Meitou and I re-explored I took some pictures. Meitou thought it was dumb that I kept making him stop and wait for photo-ops, hahaha. He was tired.
This bench is made from the same wood as some of the boardwalks in the area. Meitou used to be terrified by those boardwalks (and other similar places) but sometime last year he randomly grew out of it. Crazy boy.
There were a ton of dogs out. And there was one individual out with three Bouviers. Two were just lying down and stayed while the owner worked them one at a time at obedience maneuvers. Those dogs could heal like magic, let me tell you.
There was a small dog park at one end of the park. During class we stopped nearby to let our dogs watch other dogs run. Meitou wasn't really interested until a Border Collie (mix?) went in. That was super interesting to Meitou. I went back to that spot after class to give Metou more chances to practice (this is when the BC went in).
You can't tell in this picture, but Meitou actually has one of his dark colored hairs near his left eye.
The BC was heading to the dog park...
This is the expression of a dog who is tired of pictures and just wants to sleep after an hour of class and over a half an hour of walking after class (I didn't actually pay attention to how long we were out...might have been closer to an hour).
Derp. Why must there be more picture taking?! Why?
And then instead of letting him go home....we went to Pampered Paw because they were hosting a doggie Easter Egg hunt. We were lucky and there were no other dogs in the store, aside from the two store dogs (one of which is the Lab Meitou loves). I bought some food and treats, then was given a basket for Meitou to try and find eggs.
Guess who didn't want to find eggs (which were everywhere)?
Meitou.
He was tired.
This tired.
Eventually I got him to get up and move. Mostly I had to pick up an egg up and show it to him. Or sometimes point to it and he would sniff it. He got to "find" ten eggs and keep whatever treats were inside.
I tried to get a photo of him with his Easter basket. But apparently it was evil. Whenever I put it next to him he would give it a funny look and slowly back away.
Tender Wuss, meet Devil Basket. Devil Basket, meet Tender Wuss.
Ignore it and it shall vanish, right?
No? Drat.
And kisses!
Fionna has actually been super humpy lately, too. I thought she might be going into heat early. So, you know, Meitou, if you're looking for a girl, I think Fionna wants your number. (JK! NOT MY PRINCESS.)
Meitou looks good! I was thinking about you guys today when we went to Sauvie Island with TK or a hike.
Did you enjoy Sauvie Island? I haven't been there in years and I've never taken Meitou there. I was hoping to take him somewhere fun in the afternoon and then thunderstorms rolled in. Right over the house.
Sauvie Island was awesome. I liked it a lot. There were quite a few people there, but it wasn't crowded or anything. My coworker recommended it because she has a reactive dog and said that there was NO ONE ever there during the week when she went. We went to the North beach on the island and it was really nice. VERY muddy, but the dogs loved it.
Really makes me feels like I'm going on an adventure with both you guys exploring every nook and cranny or fallen log! Nothing beats being out in the wilderness with mother nature and your trusty canine companion!
I agree, there is something wonderful about being out in nature with a dog.
So here are a few pics of Meitou during class a few weeks ago. I did not take these. On this particular day a photographer tagged along to take pictures of our dogs and I didn't catch her name.
Meitou looks so handsome posed on this log! I really didn't think he would cooperate, but he did!
These are up on our trainer's Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/SynergyBehavior
Feel free to go and like all the pics. :P
You do a great job with Meitou! I'm happy I met him. We need to meet up again sometime! Maybe sometime on Sauvie during the week. My coworker has a reactive dog and said there's no one there during the week so she goes to walk her dog on the beach and the woods there. Her only caution was that people hunt out there, so we should all wear safety colors.
YOU KNOW. If you want.
I think we definitely need to meet up again! So yeah, I would want.
Yeah, I know.
It's happening anyway.
To start us off I took some more pictures after our class on 4/11 (which was interesting :P ).
Meitou somehow got mud all over his bum...
Meitou decided he was hungry. Yum. Greens.
The buzzing was intriguing...
Interesting door for...a shed? I don't know.
We found a school's garden.
Meitou tried to head straight of the door in the background that had a warning sign about 'stay away, high voltage.'
Meitou sleeping after class
And then a few pictures from today (4/12).
Meitou letting my brother-in-law stick his finger's into Meitou's mouth.
And letting a finger get stuck in his ear.
Getting a massage.
Meitou was being cute and giving my brother-in-law kisses, but of course he stopped once I got the camera out.
I bought Meitou a safety vest and today he practiced wearing it. He...thought it was super weird, lol. He wasn't sure he could move.
Also, he was really tired from class.
It looks like you two have been having quite a lot of fun
edit: wooo 1000th post! haha
I wish Fionna and Meitou could have play time. MAYBE SOME DAY-- lookin' good, Meitou!
@Crispy Yeah, it would be cool if they could play. Meitou really wants a play buddy that isn't an angry old dog who won't play.
I think he looks pretty good in orange.