Last night, Marc and I took Bandit to the playground after work. I try to do this at least a couple times a week, to get him used to the presence and noises of kids. We've been able to get fairly close to the playground with him being pretty relaxed. The only times so far where he's gotten agitated is when a child is running right at him, and even now it seems his agitation is easier to quell than it used to be. We've also spent some time watching kids playing soccer, and he actually gets excited about it, I think because people are running around and there's a ball being kicked around. If only everyone could carry a ball around!
After that, it was more work with the fan. He's improving. I used his tennis ball to get him to retrieve it around the vicinity of the fan. One time it rolled to where it was right under the fan. I tried to encourage him, and he really wanted it, but it was a bit much for him. He crawled up on it one way, then gave up and ran around the couch and tried approaching it from another direction before giving up again. He must have tried like 4 or 5 approaches on the fan, before he finally just lay down and looked at it from afar. So I went and moved the ball out a bit, and he c-r-a-w-l-e-d on his belly and got it at last.
Every day is like therapy for this dog!
Oh, he also has a problem with pica. I think he might be starting to grow out of this.
Insult?
Marc and I carpooled into work this morning, and we were driving in the carpool lane on 680. A few minutes later, right when the traffic started, a big SUV moves into the carpool lane. The person starts driving slower than the regular traffic. Usually this means that the person is either A) an idiot or B) a carpool cheater who is leaving themselves the opportunity to dart back in should a cop show up. Either way, it really defeats to purpose.
So Marc gets back into regular traffic and passes the SUV. I look over, and it's a lady who doesn't have a passenger. Maybe she had a baby in the back seat or something. Whatever, it doesn't make it less annoying. So Marc gets back in the carpool lane in front of the lady (the fact that we're able to pass should say something).
Annoyed, Marc decides to give the lady the finger as we pull in front. However, he raises his hand a tad too high and ends up turning on one of the overhead lights with his middle finger. Then he spends the next few minutes fumbling around trying to find the button to turn off the light.
Smooth, eh?
Socks used to HATE it when people were playing with balls or frisbees and he wasn't included. Sometimes, at work, he would catch sight through the office hallway windows into the other room, where someone might be leaning back in their chair, thinking, and tossing a baseball out of habit. He would FREAK OUT and bark his head off. Which gets annoying.
The fan story was hilarious... I could totally see it!
Socks had some issues with chewing/eating not-to-be-chewed-or-eaten things until he was close to a year old, and then he quit and learned how to just steal real food.
Loved the Marc story, too -- it made me feel a little better when I tried to kick the dog toy of a dog we were dogsitting when I found out he ate a prized possession... except instead of the soft squeaky toy I was expecting, I ended up kicking a large, hard, dog bone. Ouch!