The Stray Dog, part 12

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my buddy big... (images by Krazy Uncle)

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Monday 25th
A new day dawned with a new worry, but with the morning light came hope renewed. I’d settled down with new resolve to find an answer to the problem Karl presented with chasing vehicles. One thing I’m not sure of is his penchant for the chase open to all vehicles, or was it just the three motorcycle type conveyances where he could see the human operator? As much time as we spent on the front porch today waiting for a car or truck to drive by, not one did. So, I can’t answer that question yet.

I found a day-old donut and downed that, Karl had some breakfast of Doctor Lady healthy dog food. Karl doesn’t seem to be all that enthralled with that particular fare… hmm… sorry Bud… that’s what ya get for giving Doctor Lady those puppy dog eyes. Seems I needed to read the instructions on the bag, yeah high-end dog chow has instructions. I thought it was like any other dog food, tear open bag, have dog clean up kibbles that escape from tearing open the bag, pour the rest in the dog dish and stand back – enjoy happy snuffles as dog devours vittles. Not so much in this case. I’d noticed that Karl wasn’t eating quite as much as our earlier feedings with the old stuff, but the new healthier food stated that a dog will not need as much of this food than traditional dog food, okay. Still for me to get Karl to eat this food I have to sit by his bowl and hand a couple of pieces to him and he eats form my hand until he finally eats directly from the bowl. He is eating the amounts listed on the bag for a dog his size, plus the few training treats I give him. I’m not too worried about his eating, I figure he’ll get hungry enough and he’ll start eating what I have him. Just so you know the Doctor Lady told me, “No, more people food for Karl!” and who am I to argue with Karl’s girlfriend? Actually, the way the doctor described it dogs can have issues with their pancreas if they eat as much fat and sodium as humans eat – hmm… maybe I need to go on the ‘Dog Diet?’

Karl decided I needed my morning walk, so after groaning and moaning I loaded our pack with the water supplies we’d need, grabbed his leash and some treats and away we went! Our walk was through a beautiful clear, sunny and crisp morning, and it was fairly uneventful. Except when I wasn’t looking – somebody who is not me, was rolling in coyote poop and something greenish that looked like upchuck… great, just great.

It was on our way up Cardio hill that Karl snapped at a yellow butterfly just right to turn it into his unfortunate toy. He played with that poor butterfly until it almost broke. It lay between his outstretched paws and he nudged it back to life. Finally, the poor thing flew into a group of its brethren and escaped worse for the wear in a cloud of flittering yellow. Karl lost track of his toy and lost interest in his sport.

As we were walking through the final stretch to home Karl came barreling past me after another butterfly. This one would evade his best efforts, but it got me to thinking in conjunction with some of the morning’s comments from Karl’s valued readers; what if I could break the spell of Karl’s instinctual pursuit of butterflies to our mutual benefit? What if, by the sound of my voice, I could get Karl’s attention long enough and quick enough to stop him from the chase? Could I then get him to pay attention to me as he broke to give chase to vehicles? I think it’s worth a try, and I’ll start working on it on our next walkabout!

One thing I did do today was work our network of groomers and pet store employees to find Karl and I an obedience trainer. Turns out one of the best trainers lives in my country neighborhood. Close enough that she offered to give me a discount on a private lesson with Karl. We do have to wait until next week when she returns from vacation, but it sounds like a pretty good deal. She did offer me some tips on becoming the pack leader to Karl -- like always going through doorways first, always controlling Karl when I put his dog dish down, and not allowing him to ‘lunge’ at the bowl, which will probably be easy the way he’s been eating lately. These things establish dominance in a gentle but firm way, I’ll be on the lookout for other opportunities to demonstrate to Karl who’s the leader. Any ideas?
Karl’s snoring beside me is making it hard to concentrate so, we bid you farewell tonight, and stay tuned for tomorrow’s new day’s adventure!

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buddy Karl... (images by Krazy Uncle)

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To see what you’ve missed so far here are the links to the previous installments.
The Stray Dog part 1: https://steemit.com/dogs/@krazyuncle/the-stray-dog
The Stray Dog part 2: https://steemit.com/dogs/@krazyuncle/the-stray-dog-part-2
The Stray Dog part 3: https://steemit.com/dogs/@krazyuncle/stray-dog-part-3
The Stray Dog part 4: https://steemit.com/dogs/@krazyuncle/the-stray-dog-part-4
The Stray Dog part 5: https://steemit.com/dogs/@krazyuncle/the-stray-dog-part-5
The Stray Dog part 6: https://steemit.com/dog/@krazyuncle/the-stray-dog-part-6
The Stray Dog part 7: https://steemit.com/dog/@krazyuncle/the-stray-dog-part-7
The Stray Dog part 8: https://steemit.com/dog/@krazyuncle/the-stray-dog-part-8
The Stray Dog part 9 https://steemit.com/dog/@krazyuncle/the-stray-dog-part-9
The Stray Dog part 10: https://steemit.com/dog/@krazyuncle/the-stray-dog-part-10
The Stray Dog part 11: https://steemit.com/dog/@krazyuncle/stray-dog-part-11