Fungible Convictions

I’d like to type out Gatsby’s interior monologue, if I may.

Jesus, these guys are weird.

Wait, you’re filming this? Asshat.

For the record, Asshat had a great time. The people were really nice. Undecided if I’ll go back until next winter, because we see just as many dogs—and nearly as many Boston Terriers—just by walking around Fresh Pond.

Just emailed to my parents and in-laws…

If any of you ever disagree with me–and are later proved right–you now have this to keep in your back pocket:

Thanks to the icanhazcheezburger.com lolcat builder.

Gatsby picked up lying down pretty fast. She still won’t sit or lie down outside—that’s going to take some time, what with the distractions and equation of outside = walking + poop. Outside ≠ work.

But the fact that she learned how to do lie down…and will sometimes do it without an actual treat in my hand…makes us very happy.

(btw, look at that tongue in the first frame of this clip.)

Overall we’re thrilled. She went from knowing nothing a few days ago to know “sit” and “down”. She’s still picky about what treat we have to start with (peanut butter-flavored Zuke’s Mini Naturals), and we’re assuming obedience class this Thursday will be too overwhelming for her to repeat in front of her teacher. But still. Totally cool.

We [heart] our dog.

Lindsay and I took Gatsby to her first obedience training class on Thursday, and the three of us looked like idiots compared to the other owners and dogs. The other dogs must have gone to puppy school as well because they all knew how to sit and lie down—and their training probably went better because THEY’RE NOT SO DAMN PICKY ABOUT TREATS.

We actually had to pull the teacher aside and ask if the class would be a waste of money: if all the other dogs were more advanced, we would understand if she catered the class to them, even if that meant leaving Gatsby behind. I left in a really bad mood. I felt exactly like I did in Physics class when I sat behind a guy who went on to be a scientist at Stanford.

It didn’t help that The Gats was nervous being around so many other dogs for the first time.

But we kept up with the basics the last few days, trying to train ourselves too. Lindsay and I needed practice being consistent with our commands, terminology, and reward-delivery. For example, it should go:

1. “Gatsby.”
2. “Sit.”
3. Butt hits ground
4. “Yes!”+Treat

But too often it comes out as:

1. “Gatsby. Here. Look’it.”
2. “Si’down. Sit, girl. Sit.”
3. Butt possibly hits ground.
4. “Good! Alright! Good girl.”
5. “Andy, grab me a treat.”

Today is the first beautiful day of the season in Cambridge. So the three of us went with our friend Elizabeth to walk around Fresh Pond, which is a big, big dog-walking destination. Gatsby was great. She sniffed butts without barking. She walked without pulling. She even stuck a toe in the water.

We got home about an hour ago and gave her a bath. We dried her off. She shook water everywhere. We stepped back into the hall. And then for kicks, Lindsay said, “Gatsby, sit.”

AND SHE SAT!

Lindsay walked a few steps back and Gatsby followed.

“Gatsby, sit.”

AGAIN.

Then I did it a couple times, and for the third time I had Lindsay record this:

Margie at New England Dog Training Club: we’re aiming to knock your socks off next week!

The last couple weeks with Gatsby have been a little too eventful. Poor kid needed minor surgery to drain an abscess on her paw, and the vet (whose specially is animal dentistry) thought it would be fun (for him) to take out two loose teeth at the same time.

But today the Gats was back to her old self, sprinting down the sidewalk (despite being leashed), dancing and spinning when we walk in the door, and making great faces.

To that point, I finally got around to posting a handful of videos of Gatsby, including this one:

And this one, which, if you like peanut butter, you might not want to watch:

My dad just scanned and sent me this photo of my parents’ dog Clara from back in 1979.

LOOK FAMILIAR?

The first dozen of thousands of photos:

Lindsay would like you to know that Gatsby fell asleep and then farted. She’s perfect!

She was very nervous on the way back from New Hampshire, understandably. But she started settling in surprisingly quickly once we gave her a tour of the condo. She’s gone for two walks and pooped both times. She really loves having her belly rubbed, maybe even more than Lindsay does.

Right now she’s curled up and sleeping on the couch next to Lindsay. She seems to recognize the sound of our voices and responded once or twice to her new name. And she’s smart. We left a bone next to her food and water, and she grabbed it and took it right to her crate in the next room.

We love her, like, a whole lot.

Big huge enormous thanks to Paws and Claws, to Kim S. and Kim B., and especially ginormous thanks to Vicki for letting Gatsby (née Patty Cake) into our lives.