Goose Update #3

 

 

Goose, our would-be shop dog, is an Australian Cattle Dog, which is supposed to be a very intelligent breed. I’ve heard it go as high as a fifth grader, which is food for thought, because my actual sixth grader is not able to remember what his homework is when he comes home from school, much less convince a cattle to move anywhere.

 

Is part of this supposed intelligence not being food-motivated? I don’t think so, and yet I had a chocolate lab who was extremely food motivated and smart in his own way but let’s be honest mostly kind of dumb in the most endearing and lovable way possible. All these brilliant tricks I had for Super the lab do not work for Goose. I filled up a Kong with wet puppy food and froze it, and Goose gave it a lick and then gave up, which was a waste of food but more terrible for me not a tool I could use to keep him busy for 20 minutes. I tried fresh wet food, wet food just on the edges, wet food on the edges with kibble stuck in, just kibble so he could bounce it around and chase it. His licking is most intense and persistent when it’s into your nostrils and ears.

 

In any case, Goose training is ongoing.

 

Everyone has different ideas of what a good dog is, and I have no idea what I’m doing. When he jumps up on people, and I try to be firm about not interacting with him until he’s got four paws on the ground, most people immediately respond with “oh, it’s okay! I don’t mind!” while continuing to rub his ears and coo at him, which is maybe the most reinforcing interaction possible.

 

It is a lot of ups and downs, let me tell you. More than with my children, which I know is a bold statement, I feel a lot of pressure to “get things right” with this dog. With children you get more chances, a longer time, a slow build up to love them while they’re still just blobs. With a puppy, right off the bat they’re doing things like jumping up on people and attacking your ankles and barking in the crate. Things change so quickly from one week to the next in terms of what they can do, what they want to do, what they’re willing to do. All of a sudden they can surf tables and leap onto beds.

 

We do what we can with what we have.