Ed goes ballistic.
There's barking and lunging and spinning and spitting. It's the highest level of his most embarrassing shit. Since we worked with Rikke on "leave it" I've been doing my very best to watch for triggers and head them off at the pass. Overall I'd say we have about a 75% success rate, maybe even a little higher. With triggers from our building (porter, dogs, one couple even when they aren't with their dog) I'd be generous if I gave us a 50% success rate. With the porter, I think because I'm better at anticipating Ed's reaction to him, we've had the most success of our encounters with anyone in the building, which is to say some but not an amount I find to be especially encouraging.
Today we passed the porter out on the street. I anticipated, the dog twitched as I gave the command, he responded, he got a treat, and the porter said something. Once the adrenaline of the moment wore off I realized what the porter said, that I've heard him say it numerous times, and how wonderful it was.
"There's my dog!" he crowed and cheerfully went on his way.
No matter how my dog reacts to him he always greets him, not me but Ed, cheerfully. I totally need to bake that dude some cookies.
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Aw, that made my morning.
ReplyDeleteExcellent work, Kizz. And what a great guy, your porter!
ReplyDeleteAwwww...
ReplyDeleteApropos of nothing, but what kind of vittles are you serving the four-legged family members? I'm sort of obsessing over kibble this month.
Dude, we don't fucking do kibble here. This is an answer you aren't going to want. I have a cat with a heart murmur and several trickle down health issues. The dog has allergies. So the cats get raw food (usually Primal, sometimes Stella & Chewy's) in a rotation of non-feathered, non-beef proteins. Usually lamb and venison and then I try for a third to prevent a build up allergy. That gets served twice a day with a pre-/pro-biotic, a supplement called Gentle Digest, and aloe water. The dog is on a similar rotation of proteins. He usually eats Natural Balance. He doesn't like their canned food so it's only an emergency ration. He eats the lamb tube food from Natural Balance and I try to find him other things that he'll take, he's super picky. This is mixed with a very small amount of dry food, also Natural Balance, in whatever non-feathered, non-beef protein I can find. Right now I think it's Sweet Potato and Venison, might be Bison. A 10lb bag will last us around 2 months, maybe more. I'd probably be feeding him raw food, too, if he'd eat it. It's expensive but since he's so small it would have worked out. He gets fed twice a day on days when I'm home with him and on days I go to the office he gets a kong filled with kibble soaked in water and sealed with peanut butter, a very small kong full of something (turkey hot dog pieces this week) and frozen, and a Scooter snack. The kongs are hidden around the living room for a search and destroy mission. He isn't ready for a meal by the time I leave for work. Emily was a Natural Balance dog all her life and during the recall scare a few years ago Natural Balance was a consistently safe brand, bless Dick Van Patten's bald head, so I've stuck with their brand for a lot of things. I believe in them.
ReplyDeleteHmmm... also, yikes. I'm lucky to have allergy-free pets, and a dog who likes kibble. She's happy with the Wellness Core stuff, so we'll probably stick with that over the Beneful and Purina Dog Chow. The best thing about kibble is that it isn't too exciting for her, so I can just feed her once a day and she'll eat when she's ready, stop when she's full, and finish the rest later.
DeleteYes, bake those cookies for your porter!!
ReplyDelete