I find myself forgetting that Lily is still a youngster. She has a mature look about her and when I take her for practice visits at the nursing home on Sunday mornings, she never fails to amaze me with her ability to interact with patients. In addition, she performed far better in her Intermediate Manners class than I had expected – given the distraction of other dogs and the distraction exercises our trainer introduced.
With all of this, I do forget that English Setters are still puppyish at the age of two, as are Labs, and many other breeds. She needs to play and play a lot. And, she loves to be busy, like most puppies.
Yesterday it was bitterly cold outside and none of the dogs wanted to stay out for more then 10 minutes. This translates into a lack of exercise. I had run out of my arsenal of frozen marrow bones. It’s always a salvation to pull 3 of them out of the freezer. Keeps the dogs gnawing for hours (and polishes their teeth at the same time). And, I had a lot of work to get done – meaning the dogs were getting neglected. James (11) and Annie (4 1/2) are okay with this – at their age, but not our youngster Lily. She busied herself first with ripping the fake fur off my down gloves I had left out by mistake. I think she thought they were a toy – or looked like a small furry animal! That over with, an hour later, she was chewing on the corner of the dog bed I had just placed by the fire for James to lie on. Chewed the zipper pull and an inch of the zipper teeth…
Suddenly it dawned on me that we needed to shift into winter mode (those wonderful warm days seem to be over. It is January! The dogs simply won’t want to stay outside, as they usually do, running up into the woods chasing squirrels and chipmunks, and pointing at birds. I need to provide the “mental” exercises that can eat up their energy, just as physical exercise does. Games like fetch-bring it back-drop it and hide-and-seek work well. Sometimes I set up a small Rally course and take them one-at-a-time through the stations. Doing this helps us practice their obedience commands – and they love the attention.
Wintertime brings on a different daily life here. I’m not a fan of cold weather and being inside. I tend to deny its coming as long as I can… Well, time has come – like it or not – and poor Lily needs me to get with it and make a shift! And – I raided the marrow bones at the butcher. We’re set for at least a month!
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