Bad Mood

Something was different about Rudy today. It was a subtle change but it hurt my feelings nonetheless. When I got home from work he seemed to be the same old Rudy Roo I know and love, but when I put him on the couch with me he jumped off! Now, Rudy has never ever done that. He has always been content to lay next to me on his spot on the couch. I figured he was just unusually restless and put him with the rest of the dogs in the back den for an hour. But when I offered him some cut up ham slices for a special treat, I was shocked to see Rudy unimpressed with swine. Hrm. He just didn't seem like his happy self at all and he acted dare I say.... spoiled! Later on in the evening, I went upstairs to my office and Rudy followed me as usual. However, he was very restless and instead of chewing on his bone or falling asleep under my desk, he paced the floors. And when my husband came in with one of the other dogs, he left me! He's never left my side before. Okay, I figured he wanted to be with canines tonight and tried not to let it hurt my feelings but when I came downstairs to the kitchen and discovered his piss on my kitchen floor not 8 feet away from the doggie door, I lost it! A few spanks on the ass and in the crate he went to think about his poor attitude and defiance. An hour later I let him out, gave him a treat and cuddled him. I just can't stay mad at him for long. He's too damn cute.

We have been working on the down position. I tell you, it's not that easy to train; "the paw" was far, far easier. I have to push down on his shoulders while saying the command "down". He doesn't seem to get it but to be fair this is only day 2 of the training. I also noticed that Rudy has regressed a bit on the "come" command. It seemed like it was a natural reaction for him to come to my voice (not necessarily because of the come command) but today... he stared at me like a cat! I will admit that I got up toward him and yanked him quickly toward me when not even a treat got the cat act out of him. Now I'm in the market for a long training lead so that I can pull him to me when he doesn't react to my command. I just have to praise like he did it on his own and have patience. Most importantly, I just can't take it personal. That's the hard part!

Perhaps he just wasn't feeling well today? I have a feeling he has been going under the shed where a colony of wild snaggly rabbits live. I sure hope not. Rabies shot next week for sure.
At any rate, I really think that one hour in the crate helped his mood. As I type this, he is asleep by my feet. And isn't everyone allowed a bad day once in awhile? Why not.

In other news, I called the Animal Companion Recovery costumer service and inquired about the expired microchip (July 00). The rep said not to worry, that it was guaranteed to last the lifetime of my dog and that the expiration date is meaningless. That's good to know since it's already embedded in my dogs neck.