Sigh

By Fred
We had a good dog meeting last night, with two interesting speakers and welcome news from trainer Jen that we can now use treats along with the Come command. Coach could learn to speak Chinese if treats are involved. For a kibble, he would probably ride a scooter on two legs while juggling tennis balls.

But last night Coach was not a good boy, and I was not surprised. We've seen this occasionally in restaurants lately, him acting very much like a spoiled and bored teenager. He sighs over and over. He chews on anything he can reach. And he does not mind being corrected.

Of course, he never really does this at home. Never. Like his half brother, Jam, Coach knows too much.

Part of this is due to hormones. I could list a dozen more excuses and none of them would find fault with me or Cheryl because we couldn't possibly be doing anything wrong, could we? No, it's just not possible...

Anyway, we are happy because Coach and Willow are getting to be such friends lately. They play and play and play--and that's another excuse for his behavior.

Yesterday they played together for hours, and I was sure that he would be tired (and good) during the meeting. But no, he was just bored because he missed Willow.

I know the feeling. Cheryl is out of town for a few days and already I miss her. (Audible sigh)

The Great Dane

By Fred

Human friends and dog friends at a
restaurant before the dog party.

Yesterday our friends invited us to a dog party in St. Pete. And because they were taking their dog, Jackson, a big and wonderful yellow lab, we decided to take Coach and Willow. Of course, Willow, our 11-year-old chocolate lab, rarely gets to go anywhere in the car, much less to a formal dog party downtown, so she was very exited.

After a meal, we walked over to the enclosed square for the dog party. Just like at most human parties, this dog party had a character who was soaking up more than his share of attention--in this case, a giant Harlequin Great Dane. Otherwise, it was a pretty normal collection of breeds and owners, all there to raise money for some good cause, I'm sure.

The Harlequin Great Dane

For Willow, this was sensory overload. So many people and dogs, all acting very poshly, with a minimum of barking and butt-sniffing and leash-tugging. The high point of Willow's evening came when the Great Dane (the prince) wandered over to give her forehead a sniff. I've never seen such a look on her face: such a mixture of heart-struck love and terror. She literally trembled as she dared to look up into his dark eyes.

A very fussy photo of Willow
as the Great Dane reaches down to kiss her

For Coach, this was something new. He was out of uniform, a civilian. And while he already has more social skills than most of those other dogs, he was accompanied by a very protective mom (Cheryl) who kept him on the fringes.

We always are careful when it comes to our guide dog puppies and dog socialization, whether on the sidewalk or at PetSmart or at a big dog party downtown. We want Coach to be accustomed to being around other dogs, but we also need to be protective of him. After all, he is a special dog (if not a prince). So Cheryl watched over him like a nun escorting a young girl down a dark alleyway. Needless to say, Coach didn't get to meet the Great Dane.

And Willow. From now on whenever we leave the house with Coach and she has to stay home alone, she will think about the party she is missing and the Great Dane who is waiting for her there.

Great Expectations, Final Chapter

Final Chapter

Years passed, and Willow suffered through more puppies, though with a mindset always pointed to the future and to a greater purpose, always preparing them for the tough life ahead while remembering one central point: like children, all puppies deserve to be happy.

On more than one occasion she wondered about her old friend Jam and how he was doing as a guide dog. She allowed herself to swell up with pride, knowing that his success was her success, even if no one else would ever know.

Then one day, while resting in her favorite spot, a warm set of stones near the fish ponds, eyes closed and dreaming of things past, she felt a slight tickle on her nose. There was her old friend Jam, ready to tour the yard as though he had never left.

Great Expectations, Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Nothing was more familiar, more welcome, than that rush of adrenaline, and nothing was better than sharing the moment with your best friend, sniffing in that common scent, twitching and bracing to jump up together and run when the time was right to best surprise the squirrel and provide for him the most terrifying moment of his existence.

But Willow realized, in just that instant, that this game could not continue as before, not if she hoped to ever prepare Jam for his future of great expectations. With a sigh she turned away and slumped to the ground, feeling the full weight and dispair of her decision and leaving Jam perplexed as to what to do next.

Great Expectations, Chapter 4

Chapter 4

On the notion of Sit, Jam had mixed feelings, not about its meaning but about its intent, because it never resolved to a better condition or mastery of the moment. No, it seemed to have no purpose at all except to earn praise and move things along to a desired result--to go outside or to get some food or to engage in any other activity not performed better by sitting beforehand, or after, as far as he could figure.

Still, he knew the word from his puppyhood and responded to it reflexively. Willow knew a few other such words, and she went through each of them twice or three times, with Jam responding as he should, until at the end the two dogs sat and stared at each other in silence, not sure what to do next.

Then a distraction appeared. Squirrel?

---

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Great Expectations, Chapter 3

Chapter 3

In no time Jam had become Jam again, the notions of his future life already evaporated from his mind. But Willow could not put aside the frog's words because somehow he had known part of the truth. He had known what happens every summer; that her companions always leave home to pursue greater expectations while she does not.

So when Jam returned to her with a playful nudge, Willow resolved to tell him the truth, at least to the meager extent that she knew it--she had only seen Bingo once since he left two years ago (and he had not been forthcoming about his new situation) and she had not seen Berkeley at all (and did not regret the fact). Could it be that the frog actually spoke the truth, as fantastical as it seemed? If so, even if true only in a small portion, she knew what must be done.

"You'll be going to school soon, a very demanding school," Willow said, though Jam's attention had already shifted to activity in the koi pond. She then told Jam what she imagined about his future, interpreting what the late frog had said (if such things are really possible), about how Jam would have more responsibility than seems wise to give to any dog, particularly to one with such a capricious nature.

She devised a plan to help prepare him for the future. "In short," she said to him with a sigh, "you must become a common dog before you can be an uncommon one."

On hearing the details, Jam rose up and agreed to take seriously Willow's new plan, where she would play the future headmaster and Jam the attentive pupil.

"Were do we begin?" he asked.

Willow considered this for a moment, realizing that she had no idea about where to begin, or to end for that matter.

"Sit!" she said decisively.

---

Chapter 1
Chapter 2

Great Expectations, Chapter 2

By Charles Dickens
Chapter 2

And so the frog continued, now speaking directly to Jam with a certain impatience, as if he considered Jam a fool for the look of breathless curiosity and surprise on his face. "It is considered that you must be better educated, in accordance with your altered position, and that you will be alive to the importance and necessity of at once entering on that advantage."

As the details emerged about the nature of his future life, his training and his expectations, Jam was increasingly lost in the mazes of his future fortunes, now fully removed from the adventure that he and Willow had pursued just a few seconds earlier.

Willow, on the other hand, fell into a kind of stupor and attempted to close her ears, attempted to wind back the clock just a few minutes and continue on to the pond with her friend Jam as if this frog had not appeared and his terrible words not spoken.

The frog continued to speak until Willow had reached her limit; she lunged forward in a flash, her white teeth severing the toad in mid-sentence and leaving his dismembered legs twitching on the stone patio floor.

Only seconds after it was over, Jam could scarcely remember the event--what the frog had said, how the frog had been eaten, or even if there had been a frog at all.

Great Expectations, Chapter 1

By Charles Dickens
Chapter 1
Willow and Jam took a perfectly ordinary tour of the pond, and as usual with all the wonder and amazement of seeing it for the first time, when they came upon something truly new and unusual: a talking frog that did not seem at all afraid or tempted to retreat.

Startled by such a brave and small animal, the two dogs sat back in amazement, and their wonder only grew when the frog began to speak.

"Hear now, pay attention, you two," said the frog throwing out his tongue impulsively and bringing it quickly back.

"Bear in mind, will you?" the frog said to Willow, as if forgiving her something and then pointing his webby thumb at Jam, "that my business is with him."

"I am instructed to communicate to him," the frog continued, "that he will soon be removed from his present sphere of life and from this place, and be brought up as a gentleman,--in a word, as a young fellow of great expectations."

Jam and Willow gasped, and looked at one another...

Swimming at Stephanie's

On Sunday we were invited to swim at Stephanie's house.


Willow is huge on swimming. I think that next to a frisbee, which we can't play when the puppy is around, pools are her favorite thing. Willow was in and out and swimming so much we made her sit on the step and cool down. Here she is with Stephanie taking a cool down break.

Jam was not so sure about the swimming, so we had to hold him and walk him into the pool. He didn't want to walk in by himself. Here Fred is holding him as he watches Willow swim by. Watching Willow was key (and being told to "man up!" by Stephanie 8-) as he became piqued and decided to give it the old Jammy try.




Fred starts to initiate the swim off. Jam seems willing.


And he's off! He swims to Stephanie, he swims to Nancy, he swims back to Fred and then he catches sight of the steps and says, "You people are nuts and I am out of here!"

He swims to the steps and gets out.

Willow jumped back in and started swimming. Jam shook his head and walked away. The mulched needed chewing. Perhaps he should go see to that...

Queen for One Last Day

We do have our own dog. Her name is Willow. She is a chocolate lab.



She is very lovely with a calm demeanor that took her 8 years to acquire. She is now 10 years old. She plays frisbee and in general is a happy dog. When HRH Berkeley went IFT though, I think that might have been the happiest day of Willow's life.

She and HRH weren't BFFs and Willow tended to let HRH be the leader of the pack, which was what HRH wanted. We decided that we needed to have boys only from now on. Hence, Joseph A. Merluzzi (JAM).

I think that Willow will be a little sad that she is not the only dog in the house. She has had a month of being queen of the realm. But she will be the only female dog in the house and she will be the oldest. She and Bingo got along great. I'm hoping JAM is a mellow fellow and she likes him.

Here's to Willow! Queen of our hearts.

The Queen Has Spoken

We have two dogs. Here they are together.

Willow is our 10 year old chocolate lab. She's a very submissive, sweet old girl. You all know by now that Her Royal Highness (HRH) Berkeley is NOT a submissive girl.

This weekend was the 25th Annual Walkathon and it was held in Bradenton. At the dinner, Bobby and Merideth and their dog Jeannie gave HRH a gift of this amazing toy that Jeannie had been playing with when she was at Berkeley. It's called the The Everlasting Treat Ball.


It's a bit like getting one of the Willy Wonka golden tickets: it's a toy of magical qualities.

Sure enough, when we opened it that evening HRH took immediate possession and was over the moon with joy at the scent and the amazing everlasting quality of its fabulousness. She set about licking it down and would not let Willow get near it.

Soon though, it was time for bed. Time for the Queen to go in her crate. That meant giving up her everlasting treat ball.

She went in grudgingly and eyed the treat ball and me with a cold, fish eye. Then she turned about and lay down. A sigh escaped her.

"Willow. Here." I walked over to Willow who was on the other side of bed and set the treat ball on the floor. Willow looked up at me in apparent shock. She looked at the treat ball and back at me. I nodded. She licked it. Then she really started to go to town. I walked back to my side, by HRH and got into bed.

Willow continued to lick happily at the treat ball. Several minutes went by.

Then, a high pitched, ear-splitting bark pierced the bedroom. Just one. But one was enough. Willow dropped the everlasting treat ball and moved away from it.

There was complete silence.

HRH went to sleep.

The Queen had spoken.

President of the Bad Girls Club

There is a Bad Girls Club for real. I haven't watched it. I think it is set in Miami and involves hotties behaving badly. Usually they have a diva moment and strike a pose and scream at each other. This I gather just from the couple of commercials I have seen on late night TV.

Yesterday, Her Royal Highness (HRH) was president of the Bad Girls Club (for puppies). It was a club of two: HRH and Willow (Willow being vice-president for going in the trash after the cookie exchange tissue paper). HRH was president all day long at school. It went sort of like this:

"Hey! Look at me! I'm beautiful!" During study hall in the library.

"I don't want to sit on the cold tile!" Flounces around. "Get me a blanket to sit on!"

[Note: on Bad Girls Club day, all statements have an exclamation point at the end.]

"It's too quiet in the library! Let's party!" Barked while the library is full of kids studying for finals.

"I will not lower my voice!" Bark, head toss, and booty shake.

[Sigh. How many hours until this day is over?]

It Only Took 6 Months

Finally, after waiting 6 months for Willow and Her Royal Highness (HRH) Berkeley to figure out how to get along, I caught them playing nicely the other day. Actually having a good time playing with a toy together. Like a pair of normal dogs and not the usually bickering dorks they generally are!

Here's their moment of zen:

A Contest of Wills

For weeks Willow and Bingo have been playing with a big red rubber bone, and they both are tired of it.

So when Bingo found an old Kong toy under the couch this afternoon, one that had been lost for several weeks, he was thrilled, and he ran through the house like he had won the lottery. Bingo did his best to tease Willow with the Kong, and she fell for the bait, chasing him around the house like a jealous kid.

Then she picked up the big red bone, confident that the young and impulsive Bingo would fall for the trick and chase after her.

Instead, the two dogs faced off, nose to nose a few inches apart, each with a toy and engaged now in a test of wills, a game of chicken that went on for at least 5 minutes.

The loser would drop her toy first and look away ashamed. The winner would sit down on his blanket and enjoy his victory.

Cheesecake Factory!

Bingo had a HUGE day today. We went to school for a meeting. He was very good, slept through most of the meeting, which in his case was a good thing. 8-) We didn't have any accidents on campus, although he did get a little nuts in Sarah's office. After that Christy and I left with him for his first major public excursion: Cheesecake Factory. We parked in the underground parking and took the elevator up. It was his first elevator ride and he was not impressed. Then we got to the upper level and walked to Cheesecake. I had a fully stocked bag filled with cleaning supplies in case of accidents. We walked right into the lobby where Bingo charmed the hostesses. He was a bit put off by the noise and started to walk a bit slowly, but the tail was still wagging. I could also hear the cries of several kids, "Look a puppy!" but all seemed to be progressing smoothly until we started to walk through the bar out to the patio. That's when Bingo hit the floor with the crumbs. Bingo went from slow walk to standstill with quivering nose and tongue out. But I did a quick correction and he hopped to it and we got out to the patio and got set up.

This is Bingo and Christy at the end of the meal. It was a hot day and he was ready to go home. He did a great job. He slept mainly under my side of the table, but wandered over to Christy's side on occasion. He never barked or was bothersome. He was perfectly mannered and beautifully behaved. All at 11 weeks old! Such a sweetie.

Here he is with Willow. They are getting along better and better with each passing day. Here she is actually letting him touch her for a prolonged period.

The morning and lunch outings really took it out of him though. He was pretty much wasted the rest of the day. He'll be a sleepy baby tonight. Yea! On another note, I received that photo from my friend I was waiting for on the Spanish moss incident. There is one house on our block that has some oak trees that have oodles of Spanish moss and whenever we walk by, Bingo grabs for the mass of moss as if it is a pile of spaghetti he can eat. And at every pile of moss, we have to stop and say "drop it" and then open his mouth and get him to drop it, because of course, what puppy wants to spit out a perfectly good mouthful of Spanish moss? What are you crazy?