More Chewie and the Beginning Agility August 6, 2009
Chewie is our Marlboro Dog - I wouldn't be surprised to see him saunter into the kitchen for breakfast with a little chew in his jaw and a cowboy hat and leather vest, lean up against a wall and tap the floor with his toe jangling a spur and give me a nod to say hey. He has always lifted his leg to pee, he doesn't start anything with anyone but quickly silences any rude conversation another dog may start, he would go to the mat for us no matter what - I have no doubt...he loves the woods, the lake, the river, hunting for his ball, wind, snow but definitely prefers to stay out of the heat. Every ounce of his body his muscle and when I shave him in the summer you can see all the muscles. The power in his run is really pretty breathtaking. While he is not as graceful or fast as Gromit - he is amazing in his strength and focus.
He is also our sweet baby boy - I can hardly believe anyone thinks he is a big dog. He has always been my sweet puppy. As a puppy he was cute cute cute! I love Gromit but nothing about Gromit was ever expected - he was always a surprise. Chewie, is steady and calm. You know where his feet are and he prefers to be grounded. He is laid back and not phased by life, children, other dogs.. he is a creature of comfort.... the most snugly dog to which I have ever shared a house. He makes it impossible to get out of bed in the morning, scootching in closer, resting his head on my feet, sighing heavily and taking deep breaths while Kristin hits the snooze button for me...he loves his mornings in bed.
He came to us via a Doodle train. All these people helped drive him from Tennessee to Milwaukee where we picked him up. He has some good energy and brought it to our house. He embraced Gromit right away. We have a picture of the two of them playing tug with a ball in an open field on our way home from Milwaukee. They sleep together, head to head over an air conditioning vent in Kristin' office, they played together in our back yard - racing around the hydrangeas and Mr Bowling Ball Arborvitaes. They shared the couch, Gromit spooning the Chew Bug, all in all they grew up together.
He is also our personal OSHA inspector. He checks all things for safety. He noses and pokes everything that is out of place - a new bean bag chair in the living room gets a couple of dents with the old snoz, just to make sure it is okay - the telephone on the coffee table and not in its charger needs a couple of pushes just in case we hadn't noticed and my goodness there are shoes on the stair- how unexpected, he has to take a lot of care to approach and move around them.
Much to my surprise he spent the better part of two years tolerating my agility training with Gromit. I cannot imagine how this work horse cowboy dog could tolerate the games I played with Gromit. Until one day when Chewie decided he too wanted to give it a try. My little earnest Chewie wanted to try his hand at a jump. So I pitched his ball over a jump and he pitched that muscle bound barrel of a chest right over that jump after the ball. He visited a friend of a friends who breeds Scottish Deer hounds and learned how to go through a tunnel. He was so proud of his new found skill that he danced for me and raced to chat with Gromit about it Hmm, I was going to need to work with him. This was going to be an interesting dog to train - he is very concerned about anything new, he knows exactly where his feet are at all times. The first time I pulled out a ladder and put it on the ground for him to walk through - we spent a good 10 mintes poking it and seeing what rattled - you just never really know what game you are going to be playing when you play agility with your dog - LOL! Evenutally, with a lot of ham and a lot of coaxng I got him to walk through the middle of the ladder. This week, after 8 months of classes, he is going through chute tunnels, regular tunnels, walking on dog walks, jumping on tables, going up and down the a-frame, and doing weave poles(with barriers). If I never compete with him I could care less He is such an earnest working dog. He is patient and tries hard and does not get worked up about anything I might like a little more affect from him sometimes, but he is so proud of spending time with me - it is so very sweet and such a gift.
He is also our sweet baby boy - I can hardly believe anyone thinks he is a big dog. He has always been my sweet puppy. As a puppy he was cute cute cute! I love Gromit but nothing about Gromit was ever expected - he was always a surprise. Chewie, is steady and calm. You know where his feet are and he prefers to be grounded. He is laid back and not phased by life, children, other dogs.. he is a creature of comfort.... the most snugly dog to which I have ever shared a house. He makes it impossible to get out of bed in the morning, scootching in closer, resting his head on my feet, sighing heavily and taking deep breaths while Kristin hits the snooze button for me...he loves his mornings in bed.
He came to us via a Doodle train. All these people helped drive him from Tennessee to Milwaukee where we picked him up. He has some good energy and brought it to our house. He embraced Gromit right away. We have a picture of the two of them playing tug with a ball in an open field on our way home from Milwaukee. They sleep together, head to head over an air conditioning vent in Kristin' office, they played together in our back yard - racing around the hydrangeas and Mr Bowling Ball Arborvitaes. They shared the couch, Gromit spooning the Chew Bug, all in all they grew up together.
He is also our personal OSHA inspector. He checks all things for safety. He noses and pokes everything that is out of place - a new bean bag chair in the living room gets a couple of dents with the old snoz, just to make sure it is okay - the telephone on the coffee table and not in its charger needs a couple of pushes just in case we hadn't noticed and my goodness there are shoes on the stair- how unexpected, he has to take a lot of care to approach and move around them.
Much to my surprise he spent the better part of two years tolerating my agility training with Gromit. I cannot imagine how this work horse cowboy dog could tolerate the games I played with Gromit. Until one day when Chewie decided he too wanted to give it a try. My little earnest Chewie wanted to try his hand at a jump. So I pitched his ball over a jump and he pitched that muscle bound barrel of a chest right over that jump after the ball. He visited a friend of a friends who breeds Scottish Deer hounds and learned how to go through a tunnel. He was so proud of his new found skill that he danced for me and raced to chat with Gromit about it Hmm, I was going to need to work with him. This was going to be an interesting dog to train - he is very concerned about anything new, he knows exactly where his feet are at all times. The first time I pulled out a ladder and put it on the ground for him to walk through - we spent a good 10 mintes poking it and seeing what rattled - you just never really know what game you are going to be playing when you play agility with your dog - LOL! Evenutally, with a lot of ham and a lot of coaxng I got him to walk through the middle of the ladder. This week, after 8 months of classes, he is going through chute tunnels, regular tunnels, walking on dog walks, jumping on tables, going up and down the a-frame, and doing weave poles(with barriers). If I never compete with him I could care less He is such an earnest working dog. He is patient and tries hard and does not get worked up about anything I might like a little more affect from him sometimes, but he is so proud of spending time with me - it is so very sweet and such a gift.
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