Zucca – Tchipsy Kirschental | Long-Dangerous Tails

2012-0421

Batman, Baseball, and the Pup Parade

15 Comments[Author: JK Category: Canis Woofus Family, Gavin - Alta-Tollhaus Gavin, Zucca - Tchipsy Kirschental ]

Today, my friends and I went to Nationals Stadium for Pups in the Park, a day where you can bring your dog to watch the game in a special section, and march in a “Pup Parade” before opening pitch. If you have the chance to do this, I highly recommend it. Not only is it super fun, it’s a fantastic socialization opportunity.

Batman did awesome. This was his first time at the stadium, or at any large event venue, and we were surrounded by hundreds of people, all kinds of dogs, loud noises and smells. He took it all in stride. Being surrounded by cheering fans and barking dogs? Bring it.

I was especially thankful today to have a dog with such sound temperament. This was a challenging and stimulating environment for any dog, let alone a 7-month-old hormone-ridden puppy. Batman really stepped-up to the plate (har har) today, and acted like it was just another fun adventure, no big deal.

He made friends with the people sitting around us, including this adorable boy sitting in front of us, who would sneak him pets from behind his chair. Batman was like, “Cool! More pets!” and sat calmly throughout the game. I was so proud of him.

Also, we marched in our first parade!

Marching around the baseball diamond of the Washington Nationals

Getting petted by the kid sitting in front of us.

Batman, singing the National Anthem. Well, not really. But he could be.

Oh yeah, the Nats beat the Marlins 3-2 in 10 innings! Go, Nats!

2012-0315

Brian’s Pix

2 Comments[Author: Julie Category: Cadence - Alta-Tollhaus Cadence, Gavin - Alta-Tollhaus Gavin, Schutzhund, Training, Zucca - Tchipsy Kirschental ]

I didn’t make it to schutzhund training this Sunday since I was at the UKC shows and weight pull. Brian took these pictures, but none of his own dog since “he needed to pay attention.”
Charlene’s Veri ( V-litter Rocco x Cadence)

Scott and Jackie’s Max (U-litter Gavin x Zucca)

2012-0308

Batman Graduates Puppy Class, I Learn Things

9 Comments[Author: JK Category: Canis Woofus Family, Gavin - Alta-Tollhaus Gavin, Training, Zucca - Tchipsy Kirschental ]

Batman graduated from puppy class on Tuesday! Here he is, showing off his certificate of achievement:

Our class had 8 puppies enrolled — for our final meeting, we played games and competed for prizes to see which puppy performed the commands best.

Batman and I were not having the greatest night, and we didn’t win anything. We also finished dead last in the timed command course, which consisted of 6 different stations. To be fair, 2 stations were “puppy push-ups” (sit, down, sit), which I don’t teach because I don’t like sloppy downs (Batty is only reinforced for downs from a stand). He also got distracted by a terrier during the recall, which is usually child’s play for him.

I’m naturally a competitive person, but I put that on the shelf with my dog. Whenever I felt the slightest bit frustrated, I reminded myself, “I’m not taking this class to impress a bunch of strangers, I’m here to bond with my awesome dog.” That improved my attitude immediately, and reminded me how silly we humans can be. It’s a good thing to remember.

Batman excelled at the very last event, where we showed off tricks. I didn’t do a trick, exactly, I just showed the class how we played with his yellow ball on a rope, and did a nice fuss (formal heel) with him. Everyone was impressed. Also, I think we freaked out some of the pet owners with the amount of drive Batman showed in his tug — Syd (aka Alta-Tollhaus Prada) would have been proud!

Last night, we went to our first intermediate obedience CGC class, which is a much more advanced class with older dogs, at a new facility. He did awesome! He was such a star. Everyone oohed and ahhed over him (my favorite was when one of the trainers came over to work with us and exclaimed, “Oh my gosh! Those ears! They’re even bigger up-close!” LOL.)

The trainers said that they were testing how advanced the dogs in the class were, beginning with how well they could pay attention in a distracting environment. She pointed out the three dogs in the class that showed they were paying attention to their owners (betcha know where this is going): the trainer’s demo dog, a super vigilant Aussie next to us, and Batman, who was in a down on his mat, gazing up at me with his best “Can I have my treat now?” face for most of the class.

They asked how old he was, and I said 6 months (he will be next week), and there were audible gasps around the room. “He’s just a BABY!” the trainer said. I laughed and said, yes, he is a baby — a 60 lb baby, but a baby nonetheless.

They then tested which dogs could do a sit and a down using hand signals only, and then using verbals only. I wasn’t sure if Batty would do it because I usually mess up and do a double cue, and we were in a distracting new place. Well, I should really have more faith in my dog because he did all four commands perfectly on the first try!

The trainer complimented me on how good he was, and said he was very intelligent to be at this level at 6-months-old. Batman looked at us, like, “Whaaa? I just want that chicken liver!”

Thank you, Julie (and “grandma” Lorie!), for blessing me with such a sound puppy! And thank you, Carole and the Camp Kayla crew for teaching him such nice manners so early. We are working hard to build on all of your work!

2012-0306

Imagine My Surprise…

18 Comments[Author: JK Category: Canis Woofus Family, Gavin - Alta-Tollhaus Gavin, Zucca - Tchipsy Kirschental ]

Imagine my surprise to find Batty greeting me when I came home from work today! He somehow managed to slip out of the Batcave (I probably didn’t latch it all the way), and decided to spend the afternoon lounging on the family room rug, while eating the TiVo remote. Batman always had it in for that remote. I knew its days were numbered.

"What took ya so long? I was hungry!"

TiVo remote after Hurricane Batman

My philosophy with Batman is, “Nothing is his fault,” and this doesn’t change that. I was so surprised, I couldn’t be mad about it. Plus, he was just too cute and nonchalant when I walked in, like, “Oh, it’s you. What took you so long? This remote is delicious!”

Also, I was happy that nothing else was destroyed, he wasn’t up on the furniture (he is not allowed), and he hadn’t urinated indoors — he was calmly chilling out, enjoying his latest chew toy. The TiVo remote actually got off pretty easy when compared to the shopping bag Batman set his sights on last weekend while I was in the shower.