Ninja and the Carwash

Saturday, July 12, 2008

I'm starting to see some changes in my pup. I've been told that 22 months is the magic number for a Mini Aussie. All the training that you pour into them seems to click at that point. We have 10 months to go until that magic number. But good things are starting to emerge from my Ninja. He follows the basic sit, lay down, stay (for a short time), and out commands. He knows to lay down away from us while we are eating. He knows where to lay when we are in the family room and he wants to be with us. All of that is great and getting better all of the time.

I've noticed lately that he is becoming less destructive. Yes, he recently chewed up a pair of my shoes, but it's just not as many things nor as often as before. Could I hope that he is growing out of the chewing phase? I never thought I'd see the day!

As the days are longer and warmer we go on more walks too, and that always helps. Thursday night my husband played a softball game at a field right next to a regional park. The kids and I took Ninja on a walk and he was in heaven. A huge lake, beautiful trees and meadows graced this park and made it a really nice evening. There was so much for a pup to see and smell, and lots of room to walk. There were plenty of other dogs around too. Ninja is really well socialized and I almost never have any trouble with him around another dog or human. Part of that comes from puppy training and playing "Pass the Puppy" where we handed all the puppies around during class to help them get used to people. The only time I watch him very carefully is around a small child. They are so unpredictable and I'd hate to see a child get hurt because they
startled the dog.

Before the walk in the park we stopped for gas and I ran my car through a drive through car wash. It never dawned on me that Ninja would be frightened by the car wash. First he barked at the soap. Then he whined at the water spray. Then he climbed into the front seat on my lap (all 38 pounds of him) and hid his face on my shoulder. Finally he ended up on the floor of the passenger's seat at my daughter's feet. He hadn't done that since he was a tiny puppy. Poor baby was shaking in fear. My daughter calmed him by petting him and feeding him a few leftover fries from dinner. Once we were through with the car wash he was back to his old self. Poor Ninja. I guess he'd rather just ride in a dirty car.