Chandler & the turkeys

This is an old Chandler story from August 2007; he was two at the time.
I am very thankful that his recall has improved.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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8/16/2007

Chandler has been discovering the joys of suburban life.
Late last afternoon I was out in the yard "walking" my two indoor cats,
while talking on my cell phone. I had just hung up when I see the
local wild turkey and her seven chicks walk around the corner of the
house.

My first thought was"uh oh."
Yes, Chandler had already launched himself, and he *totally* ignored my
recall yell.

Turkeys and dog disappeared around the corner of the house to a
soundtrack of much gobbling, and then some sort of poultry explosion
happened. Suddenly there were turkeys flying everyplace.

My second thought was "wow...I don't think I've ever seen a turkey fly
that far." Chandler had managed to scatter them across three or four
sizable suburban lots.

My third thought was "Bad dog!"

When I managed to get to the scene, Chandler was frantically rushing
about in the woods next to the house, looking for turkeys. There was no
way I could go catch him on that slope, and it took multiple commands to get him back
in the yard and calmed down. He rushed down in response to my recall once,
then zoomed off to search the woods again. Finally I managed to get him
to come out of the woods.

The cats were looking at Chandler in disgust like he was a maniac...
or had ruined a perfectly good chance to stalk turkeys.
I retrieved his 30 foot lead from the garage and practiced a few recalls
in the back yard.

Of course, he did those recalls just fine...the distracting turkeys were gone.

Wordless Wednesday: Just checking the suspension!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

This one is for you, Sue. :)

Chandler and I went to a holiday fair hosted by the Protectors of Animals this weekend.
While at the fair, Chandler charmed a lot of people and posed with the "Clauses".
I find this photo apropos, given that we are about halfway between Halloween and Christmas.
Mrs. Claus seems to be keeping a wary eye on the smiling demonpuppy.

All in the family

Chandler's grand-niece Kateri attended a Nosework Workshop in October. Her owner, Michelle, has given me permission to link video footage here.

This is the footage of her second run:



...and her third:



I think Kateri has that "wag while you work" thing that Chandler does. :)

#4


She's showing some good tenacity here to push the boxes over, and is also very discerning to figure out that the food is in the top box. Kateri seems to share Chandler's tendency to make a systematic search. Luckily for Michelle, she doesn't seem to share Chandler's tendency to run into the room at warp speed.

#5



I find it very interesting that Kateri carefully checks the box where the food had been in the previous run. This may be due to residual scent, but Chandler has shown a tendency to check spots simply because he remembers them.

#6



Kateri seems to be moving very enthusiastically between boxes in this last clip, although she still isn't quite the rocket that Chandler usually is. She's doing a really good job of finding the food too. I find it fascinating to see the differences in the way she and Chan work. I hope Michelle goes on with Nosework training so we can do some practicing together.

Wordless Wednesday: Rowan

Wordless Wednesday: Catnap.