Blarney Learns "Find IT"

Fetch? Who Would Have Believed?

Blarney's love of fetching a ball is a completely unexpected delight. He's on the way to becoming the best fetcher of any dog we've ever had. He even went in the ocean after a ball. Unfortunately his mouth isn't big enough to take the ball in a single gulp so his repeated snatches just made it float farther away.
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His blanket and a squeaky ball were the keys. For many days he always delivered the ball back to his blanket where after a little squeaking and playing he'd leave it. Short throws in the living room progressed to longer runs down the hallway or speeding trips down the stairs but always back to the blanket. When the blanket no longer was important, his retrievals became full scale gallops in the yard and road. When he arrives back, he squeaks it a few times before he leaves it. Our squeak from the ball is all it takes to grab his attention and get him ready to run. He has a cute way of placing the ball on the ground and pushing it with his nose to signal he's ready for another throw. He always pauses after the pickup for a suspicious look around. His journey back is often interrupted while he abandons the ball and sniffs something interesting. Other times he gallops back as quickly as the stumpy legs can carry him. If an annoying distraction happens, like the postman or another dog barking, Blarney will let off muffled barks with the ball still in his mouth, a little like a ventriloquist who doesn't move his lips.
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The ball we began with is still his favourite kind. It squeaks easily when he chomps on it. It's noise is so disturbing we've sometimes compared it to 'giving a small child a drum'. We're working hard to train him to work with a different type of ball and other objects. For now, it's great that the ball chasing is good fun and a perfect doggy workout.
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Small but Mighty Hiker

I began taking Blarney on 5k walks through the forest and over the graveyard at about 4.5 months. At the beginning he was challenged by one particular log and couldn't climb some steep rocks but now, two weeks later, his front legs have gained strength and nothing holds him back. In the forest he likes to tag along at my feet. On open grass, he's beginning to forage ahead a little. I often wait a bit while he sniffs out interesting places. I'm sure every sniff is a delight. We see deer sometimes but he has yet to give chase. Living down so low, I'm not sure he always sees the things I do. It's the smells that excite him. Meeting another dog is always exciting. He's right there in front, trying to protect me with the big bark and flashing charge. Soon he'll know the word 'walk' and be eager to leave the house. It's obvious he's enjoying himself more each time. Wet ground doesn't bother him. I think he enjoys the towel, rub down at the end.

Mr Propeller Tail

Our trailer, Barbie, was parked at Island View Beach where the tide goes out a hundred meters or more and leaves behind ponds and rivers of placid water. Blarney was just four months old. We wondered if such a little dog would ever learn to like water. On our walks along the beach we made a point of wading the shallow areas where Blarney would need to swim to follow. He was a natural! Maybe if he could talk, he wouldn't be calling these 'swims' his favourite beach activity, but he made many crossings. Only once he found a long way around to avoid a swim. Early on, Joan dubbed him "Mr. Propeller Tail" because his tail made circles as he swam. Cute! He also barks while he swims if another dog comes into view.

Dynamic Duo: Blarney and Tazo

Walking with these two is a constant entertainment. As long as Tazo is on the leash, Blarney is by her side.

Greeting Tazo

Blarney and Tazo greet each other with moving nuzzles and soft cooing 'dog laughs'. They walk shoulder to shoulder leaning in with noses in ears and under chins. The greeting lasts several minutes, gradually winding down often to a crouch-position face off. Wild chasing usually comes next, with Tazo bowling into Blarney and rolling him over like a birling log. If there's furniture, they run around it. If there's bushes, they run through them. The game sometimes picks up momentum when an object like a chewing toy becomes involved. Tazo runs with the thing and Blarney feigns interest and gives chase. Blarney can never catch Tazo, so he has to wait until her guard is down then grab the toy and hold on. They truly wear each other out, not to mention all those watching them.

A Dog Without a Bone?

We've discussed this issue many times. Under the pressure from current thinking by who knows who, some dog owners who are younger and never lived on the farm or had dogs during the Lone Ranger's days of 'yesteryear', have been convinced that bone chewing is no longer a safe sport for a dog. Safe to say these folks haven't watched video footage of wolves consuming a kill! Crack those bones and suck that marrow!

Blarney is now part of the reconverted crowd. We're saving selected 'non-splintering' bones to toss his way as a distraction. He loves it and he is a very thorough bone chewer. It does for him what TV does for a human baby. Keeps him occupied instead of underfoot. We see his jaw muscles bulging by the hour like the bone is a steroid.