Hey Yogi, how is growing up? Sniff any good dogs lately? James wants to know how you are doing with your training. If you get some time, please drop me a note. Rambo.
Dear Rambo,
I have worked with several trainers in WA state with great success. The alpha trainer is Jim Grasely, who works for the Parks and Rec in Sumne.. He is our pack's go to guy and has taught me to do things with Stephen and Kathy that I’ve never ever seen done in any Petco class, such as coordinating the behavior of 30 dogs to manage their humans in one classroom.
Jim is a Renaissance man trainer who covers a wide range of training up through the CGC testing, which I will do with Stephen and Kathy upon our return to Washington in June. I started nose training before we left for Kauai. Stephen or Kathy put food in toys with a secret door and your grandson, Yogi, aced all of the introductory exercises. I don’t know that he has a dog training website, but here’s his Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/jim.grasley
Jim has a bevy of large dogs in his classes: Brutus, a 130lb Rottweiler, Emma, the 100 lb sister, several Mastiffs, a Great Dane, and several Rhodesian Ridgebacks. We always work on the three D’s: distance, duration and distraction, (Stephen gets distracted a lot). I seem to be smitten with female Mastiffs. Kathy likes to say, "Mastiffs are Yogi’s Kryptonite", bol, (that means barking out loud in Internet slang).
The joy of being in a semi-retired pack is we have the luxury of training Stephen and Kathy as part and parcel of our daily lives.
I don't think I will be as large as anyone might have expected, but I feel good about my body image. I still have adolescent energy surges, so they work on calming me down again. Every once in a while I go too far and have to endure social isolation.
I am keeping a blog of my training, socialization, exposure to new experiences and environments, such as being on the island of Kauai. Someone told me that journaling is a good discipline.
I have interacted with roughly 300 dogs in training and play situations and more humans, that is more than I can count on all four paws. I love catching balls, have incredible reflexes, and the humans at the Wailua Homesteads dog park where we go daily say I have uncanny eye to snout coordination. What's uncanny, where did that word come from? We’ve been with about 50 other dogs in retrieving situations and I'm consistently in about the top 1, 2 or 3. I got the gift of good speed just like you grandpa. I can’t top a whippet, but by the fifth or sixth ball, they are out of gas and I out run them on endurance. I am lean and fit. Sometimes people, even vets, say I am too lean. Bless them, bless them, bless them, do you hear that Stephen and Kathy. I'm a starving weiler.
I can interact with the big boys at the dog park, but mostly runs to catch balls. Ever since I came to my forever home, I am been around dogs that are bigger than me. I am only starting to be the big dog; I kind of like it. Sometimes other dogs try to boss me around. Stephen, who used to practice martial arts is trying to teach me how to not back down, while not getting in a fight, it is called Dogido and I am getting it. I have earned my green collar at this point. I enclosed a picture of Mahina, Cruiser and I rumble tumbling.
I only have a few tussle mates, one is an eight month old upstart who’s fearless, and we play like puppies. I have taught Stephen and Kathy to use the give it and get it command with ball play. We save drop it! as a safety command to protect him from ingesting something dangerous like a Poinsettia. Stephen and Kathy are not as smart as I am, but they have been on the earth considerably longer, do you realize Stephen is over 400 years old?
I have a huge food drive. I honestly believe I could eat a 40lb bag of kibbles in a single sitting. Stephen has added lean meat to my diet as we’ve been told I need to develop more muscle. This week the best priced meat at Safeway was New York Strip; not bad. I play Find it for for my NuVet supplement, and Bone and Joint supplement. I like Find it, Kathy still makes the places obvious. They hide fish oil in my daily hard boiled egg.
Well, I gotta go. We have dinner parties every Friday night. I help Stephen in the kitchen with things like cleaning up when he drops something on the floor and dishwashing. You take care. Y.
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