Puppy walking

An adventure in looking after a puppy until it is old enough to be properly trained as a guide dog for the blind.

Friday, January 27, 2006

The other night, Rockwell was sitting between the couch and the coffee table, as is his wont. After a while, he put his paw up on my knee, probably to get my attention. I took his paw and shook it like a hand in greeting and then put it back on the floor. He lifted it up again but this time, I high-fived him as the paw was coming up. And I said “high five!” in a “yay we’re having fun” kind of voice. We sat there for a moment, the pads of our fingers touching, and then his paw slipped off my hand. Again, he lifted his paw up and I high-fived him, saying “high five!”. I swear, I could actually see the thought bubble grow out of the top of his head. We did this several more times and I could SEE him thinking. I imagined the thought bubble, like a cartoon above his head. As we worked on the trick however, that thought bubble stayed empty. It was the funniest thing but for all that he was think-think-thinking (as Pooh did) about what was going on, he didn’t make the connection.

I was just playing “fetch” in the upstairs hallway (the one with carpet) and started to ask him to sit before I would throw the little Kong. I remembered about the “high five” exercise and raised my hand into position as he was sitting there in front of me. I swear, I saw the thought bubble form again! But he still didn’t get it and didn’t raise his paw up in greeting. But I have a feeling that one day, something will go “click” - I may even hear the sound - and he will know how to high five me after that.
a portrait on the stairs

6 Comments:

At 4:20 p.m., January 27, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Maybe you should hold his paw under running water and spell out the letters W-A-T-E-R. It worked for Helen Keller, maybe it will work for Rockwell!

 
At 8:57 p.m., January 27, 2006, Blogger 8675309 said...

I know the empty thought-bubble look, for sure! My roommate said just the other night that sometimes, when you're talking to Lomax and making eye contact with him, his little furrowed brow and cocked head make it look like he's trying desperately to understand English.

 
At 11:29 a.m., January 28, 2006, Blogger M-Fax said...

high fives are fun

bosco actually will alternate left and right paws......its pretty funny

 
At 3:05 p.m., January 28, 2006, Blogger JuliaR said...

Norah, good one. As I recall, the dog didn’t learn anything there either.

Jenny, they are SO adorable when they do that.

MFax, my beloved Uma used to alternate paws too.

 
At 1:48 p.m., January 29, 2006, Blogger Furkids in Hong Kong™ said...

We would have loved to have seen him in thought - must have been so adorable!

He's learning new stuff all the time - wtg!

 
At 7:57 a.m., January 30, 2006, Blogger JuliaR said...

Furkids, he really IS adorable sometimes. So cute.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home