Fido at 5 months

Hi Kaye,

Fido is 5 months old now and I reckon you'll be needing an update. Things
are changing rapidly as he hurtles clumsily towards adulthood. Physically he
is very gangly, all legs and nose, and he is keen, and into everything.

The range he'll go away from me on a bush walk is increasing disturbingly. I
don't always know where he is when we go for a walk in the bush as I would
have two weeks ago. He is coming beautifully 90% of he time or more. I can
see his interest in rabbits and smells will become challenging if I let it.
Much more vigilance is required to keep the connection reliable.

Luckily we have lots of things we really like to do together. He is getting
pretty good on the target stick so I am constantly asking him to run along
fallen logs. From this I can easily direct him along obstacle courses. From
the rocks of the vegetable garden to a ramp leading to the wheelbarrow, onto
a garden table across a plank etc etc. Our latest is challenging, including
wobbly things where he really has to focus not to fall off. He did fall off
a wobbly mesh bridge yesterday. I just congratulated him on a fine attempt
and he was happy to try again and was successful. We had a little audience
and he seemed to get a great deal from their enthusiasm. His new hair cut is
getting a bit of attention. Our gangly adolescent skewbald scrub poodle with
his white flag broken tail is sporting a very trendy Mohawk.

With the target stick I am starting to introduce height. I've put a white
tip on it, largely to remind me and have started to get him to lie down and
crawl when the tip is on the ground and to jump up when I lift it above his
head.

I'd love to get his voice working. He is a bit more vocal but I haven't come
any closer to getting it on command. In fact, for reasons I can't fathom
Pepper won't howl to my harmonica at the moment either. She has often driven
me crazy when I've been trying to practice, so I though she might give him
the idea. Vocalising looks like it will remain a work in progress for quite
some time.

Most of my so called 'training sessions' are initiated spontaneously by me
going about my daily jobs or by him sitting in front of me seeking to
engage. Opportunities arise spontaneously and organically through the
workings of the day for instance, every time I feed the ducks I direct him
in and out of the gate and make sure he behaves appropriately. Every thing
has a purpose and I believe his cooperation shows an understanding of that.

It is no more a training session than it would be if he was a three year old
boy. In fact, life with Fido is more about how we engage with each other in
relationship as it is with family members and friends. We help each other
find way of behaving that works well for both of us. Of course my
aspirations for Fido are that he will become a performance dog with my
horses. This is highly specialised. Even so, horses are a part of his every
day life and it is my expectation a show will develop from the normal
interactions of these unlikely playmates.

The more time I spend with Fido the more opportunity he has to show me what
he values. Encouraging his desires so he wants to interact is still a major
training priority, balanced with my need to have his attention when ever I
want it. If I am 'training' then I am giving him every opportunity to have
his input. Why wouldn't I, he is a playful, creative, inventive, highly
motivated little presence with an enviable capacity for fun.

I'll talk to you soon,

Cheers,

Richard