May 28, 2003
11:00 p.m.
Lots of crate time today, with my errands in the morning and a baseball game in the evening (The Blue Jays lost, of course).
When I got home from the game, Dusty and I went for an evening walk because it was so pretty out (warmish, stars, a waft of lilac on the breeze). I think Dusty enjoyed the novelty of walking in the dark.
The lights in the park were still on, so we headed over there to play for awhile. We played Dusty's favourite game, "I'm gonna getcha."
Here's how it works: I crouch down and say "I'm gonna getcha!!!" and Dusty finds the nearest stick on the ground and picks it up. Then she runs like crazy in circles while I follow her, sometimes running, but also walking or even standing as she runs and dances just out of reach. The best part about the game is that the human doesn't need to be running at all times, but the dog gets lots of exercise.
We had an interesting 'leave-it moment' this morning. Dusty was chasing a bird and caught one. Don't ask me how - it was on the ground and she ran up and grabbed it.
There she was, with this bird wriggling around in her jaws. She was so excited! (I'm talking about Dusty, not the bird, though I imagine the bird was pretty darned excited too...). I walked up to Dusty and said "Hi, what do you have there?" followed by a 'drop-it.'
And, to my relief, she did drop it. The bird staggered away and I encouraged it to escape behind the fence of the children's area so it could recover its dignity in relative peace.
I gave Dusty lots of treats. Sometimes, training pays off in ways you never imagined. I really like birds and I'm glad this one 'got away.'