Barely able to contain yourself, you started to dig at the corner of your crate. I knew right away that we had only two options to make this work. Put all the toys back in the closet and shut the door, or give you a toy inside your kennel and see what would happen. I opened your kennel door and tossed in am odd shaped yellow toy. It was called a Cuz toy, and it was big and bulb-like on each of it's two sides. This toy made a terribly loud squeak for it's size, and usually all the dogs loved it. As it turns out, you loved it as well.
It took you a while to figure out what exactly to do with it, though. First you picked it up by the skinny bulb and tried to just chew on it. But when you bit down it even a little, it made an incidental 'squeak' sound. Immediately you dropped and starred at it. I stood on the oppostite side of the living room and watched as you turned your head and perked up your ears. You picked it up again and began to chew; A few more squeaks came out. Within a few minutes, you were beginning to make multiple squeaks and starting to shake it. You stepped on it with your feet and even flung it around inside your kennel. This was great! You were having a grand ol' time keeping yourself content, and were essentially playing side by with the other dogs; but from a living room away.
In the afternoon we went for one of our daily walks down to the vacant property at the end of the road. This time I brought a special toy to play with. This was the first time I had tried to play with any toy with you, and I had no idea what to expect. Keeping the zippy leash on you, I tossed the bumper several feet away. You ran over and pounced on the top of your prize. You reminded me of a polar bear raising up to pounce on the ice in search of food from the water below. You liked this game.
Once you picked up the bumper, you began running to me; and then continued on right past me. Subsequently, each time you returned I would reel you in until I could hold you by the collar. I reminded you each time you returned with a simple "here", then gave you a good shoulder and ear rub as a reward. You were starting to get the idea a bit, but this would definitely be an ongoing lesson to learn. Having to pry the bumper from your mouth was going to be part two of today's lessons.
At first, you simply didn't want to give it up. You chased it. You retrieved it. In your mind it rightfully belonged to you. I was sorry to have to be the one to break the news to you, but the law of our pack convey that all toys belong to one person, and that person is me - or any other two legged, upright walking, individual that has opposable thumbs and can utter the words "drop it". This was a hard concept for you to grasp.
At first, we began with the death-grip and run issue. As soon as I would reach toward you, you would jump back and lock down on the toy. This was definitely not acceptable behavior from a Labrador. Not to mention that I was not about to spend my days chasing you across the yard in attempt to retrieve MY toy. So I would grab the toy in one hand, and hold you close to me while firmly holding the leash. I only said one word, "Drop" and waited. While exerting a constant pressure on the toy, I did not tug, pull, or twist. I simply waited. It seemed like an eternity before you finally began to loosen your grip. I bet it was 15 seconds. That was 14 1/2 seconds too long. My goal was to cut that down significantly today by just teaching you that letting go meant that we get to play again.
Each time you released the toy I would toss it straight away without so much as a pause. Within minutes your death-grip had given way to something of a for you to release. Pretty soon, after you would let go of the bumper, I would hold it high above your head as ask you to sit. Another difficult thing to do. You wanted to play so badly. You were a bit stubborn about not wanting to keep your butt on the ground for more than a split second. But I knew that I was even more stubborn than you, and I waited until you sat properly. I tried counting to five before tossing the bumper again. It took several tries before you would actually wait that long. But finally you settled down, and were doing so well that I was able to take a nice picture of your happy smile. "That, my friend is going to find you a home", I thought.
You were so cute! Your ears were alert, and your eyes looked remarkably patient. The expressiveness of your eyebrows appeared matter of fact. Your face looked fuller and your jowls (oh look, you have jowls) were pink and moist. You mouth hung comfortably open and your wet, pink tongue was hanging playfully out over your bottom teeth. The feathers on your chest were now starting to become more visible from the brushings of your coat, and your coloring was beginning to look more uniform. Yes siree, you were looking mighty handsome!
When Elizabeth arrived home from school you rattled your kennel as you wiggled and whined with excitement. Admitedly, you had quickly become her favorite. She practically brushed past the other dogs just to give you some attention. She sat in front of your kennel and fed you kibbles of food and you kissed and nibbled on her fingers when she poked them through the door. She filled up your water dish and took you out for a walk. You had already been out recently to relieve yourself, but this was your special time with Elizabeth. She would like you to stay here forever. I know that when the day comes to say goodbye, she is going to have a hard time letting you go.
In the evening I had to leave the house early to attend our DockDogs Wedneday Night Workout. Teams were practicing learning how to jump of a dock and into a swimming pool for distance. I hoped that one day you could know such fun. For the first time ever I went to a practice without a single dog in tow. Until your bill of health was clear, and the other dogs continued to be symptom free, I did not want to take the smallest chance of infecting another dog with kennel cough. Although, admittedly you are doing quite well, you must stay in quarantine for 4 more long days. I borrowed a few labs of varying color and age to jump off the dock from a couple of my friends to make the time more enjoyable. The time sped by quickly as I chatted with my dock jumping friends, assited many new teams get their first jumps off the dock, and helped some more experienced teams gain more speed, height, and distance. As always, I had a good time.
As I worked on my computer late in the evening, I glanced over to see you sleeping in your kennel. You made deep squeaky noises in your sleep, and sometimes even grunted and groaned. You sleep with your tongue out! As you slept, I thought about the sad news we had heard of the passing of a rather special Black Labrador named Tucker. He was an integral part of the earliest days of the sport of dock jumping. Tucker was a true pioneer, a professional spokes-dog, top notch competitor in his time, and did what many of the DockDogs, canine sporting greats, do best...They make their handlers look good.
It made my heart heavy when I read the news. I first met Tom and his dog Tucker during our first DockDogs event nearly six years earlier. He was in his prime then, and traveled around the country to events and demonstrations with Tom. They were a good team all the way through the end of Tucker's full and adventurous life. There have been many quotes made about the reason dog's lives are so much shorter than ours. Some say it is because they learn to love so much faster, or that they have learned all there is to know about life's lessons. Whatever the reason, it's difficult to fathom how quickly a young pup grows into adulthood. Ever so quickly adulthood then gives way to a more distinguished coat of gray hair. But I believe the most difficult part is watching as our pup's body fails, while the strength of his spirit lives strong . God's speed Tucker.
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