Day # 3 of Fudge's Big Adventure

This morning I really didn't want to get up. One of the pups barked around 3AM and I just yelled to go back to sleep. That was my first mistake.

When I dragged myself out of bed at 5:45, I discovered that Lola had been sick in her crate, probably from one of the natural snacks she indulged in last night in the yard. Who knows what she found to eat, certainly not anything any human would approve. I took everyone out, fed them, then had to dissemble the crate, scrub it and reassemble it.

When I tried to bring everyone back inside, Tsar decided that he enjoyed the cool temperature so much that he refused to come in. It was still dark and I wasn't going to chase him all over the yard, so he stayed out.

I was so tired that I laid down on top of the bed for just a few minutes, but fell asleep. Rob woke me in time and after giving everyone another outing and encouraging Tsar to come inside, we left for the last day of the trial.

J and her Porties weren't attending today and I missed her support, but Dr. Nicki was there.

Fudge was unusually calm today, lying quietly at my feet while the other dogs performed. He didn't show any great interest in ripping my arm off every time a female dog walked past us. Could this mean he was going to pay attention to me when our turn came? Last night I had explained to him that all I wanted was three minutes of his undivided attention, then he could go back to ignoring me. I thought he might comply.

Our turn came. He walked nicely to the starting line, then he turned into an old familiar personality. He became 'Watch Me Do My Tricks Fudge'. He paid me very little attention at first, then he saw his opportunity. He started to jump. He jumped straight up in the air and in case I had missed it, he jumped up on me, several times. The next command was 'down'. He chose to rollover on his back for that, then jump straight up in the air again for a finale.

He did the last couple of commands, but by then it was all over. We had gotten a non-qualifying score. So ended our first attempt at Rally Obedience. Will we try again? It's too soon to ask. I need time to dull the memory of all this.

Rob took me to lunch afterwards and reminded me why I chose this breed. He noted that if I had wanted a dog that paid perfect attention and followed every command, I would probably have chosen one of the herding dogs, Sheltie, Australian Shepard or Border Collie. But I chose a breed that likes to make their own decisions, and those decisions aren't always the ones we would chose for them. This is a somewhat wild and unpredictable breed and that's what I enjoy about them.



So, here we are with the weekend's loot. I have my pretty ribbons and Fudge has his toys. I still love him and he still loves me and that's that.