Peteyfoozer’s Journey (because journaling’s not enough)

[peteyfoozer]

Happy New Year you guys!
Snow on the ground. Luckily I got most if the kitchen clean after making homemade pizzas last night cuz I can hardly move this morning. My back and I are not on friendly terms. Was hoping for a better beginning to the year but its winter so not unexpected. Looking forward to May and new pup. I want an ES of my own, since Fen threw me under the bus. Something to look forward to and keep Fen company while we are in town with Boone

 

[SageHill]

A new puppy - poor Boone - he will be so confused and think he did something terribly wrong.

 

[peteyfoozer]

A new puppy - poor Boone - he will be so confused and think he did something terribly wrong.

He did! He behaved like a typical livestock guardian and continued napping when I asked him to do something for me because my back hurt too much to get it myself

 

[SageHill]

He did! He behaved like a typical livestock guardian and continued napping when I asked him to do something for me because my back hurt too much to get it myself

Well, ya' gotta remember he is still a puppy. LGD on top of it. Looks like a training opportunity.
Ya' know I've never had an LGD, so there's that, and I've never specifically trained a service dog and there's that.
I would think that there is or could be a special "emergency" type command that sets things in motion. Kind of like an emergency "stay" or "come" (think speeding car on road sort of emergency for a regular dog).
You have done SO MUCH FANTASTIC WORK with him - and it shows the time and effort of your training as well as his capability.
Then there is the "read between the lines" part of me thinking - does he feel/think/whatever you want to call it, that you need to move? Kind of like a seizure alert dog (though opposite), or a dog that drags a hiker off a path to avoid a snake. My mind is always thinking these things. Of course there is the blatant ignoring of a command - but I don't see that in his nature. Fen perhaps, but not Boone.

 

[Baymule]

Since LGDs are independent thinkers, Boone is thinking he needs his nap!

 

[peteyfoozer]

Since LGDs are independent thinkers, Boone is thinking he needs his nap!

That is precisely what is happening. When a cookie sounds appealing, he will *usually* comply, but he has never considered tasking for me to be his job. It is the nature of the breeds (ALL LGD’s). If it’s not their idea, they normally just don’t. Obedience is NOT their thang. They normally lack both food and toy drive and have abnormally high defense drive. It’s why they have never been really suitable as anything but Livestock Guarding. Their motivations and perceptions, especially regarding their own status is radically different from other breeds.
Example 1: a stranger tosses dog a steak. Dog eats steak, looks kindly on stranger.
Example 2: Stranger throws LGD a steak. LGD gets pissed off he tossed something into the pasture He is responsible for, eats stranger.
Boone has been an exception to the rule, as even LEARNING to do these things is a huge deviation from how these guys behave, but it only goes so far
The ignoring me behavior really is typical of these Livestock Guardian Breeds. I can either wait until the spirit moves him, do it myself, or ask someone else.
If it’s protecting, he’s on it. Tasking…not so much.

 

[peteyfoozer]

Boone did super awesome in town yesterday. He usually does, with everything except going out to eat (which we didn’t do as the only cafe in the podunk town of Burns, OR was closed) but his demeanor in grocery store was stellar. (Tire store, ranch store, auto store…)
I had to use restroom (hey, it’s a 2 hr trip to get there! ) As always, I was carrying on a running conversation with him, not realizing there was a lady in the next stall. As I stopped to wash hands, he pulled a peeping Boone, sticking his snoot under her door. She giggled, I apologized for him and she said “I thought you were a crazy person talking to yourself “
I said, “Naw, talking to my dog “…
Nuthin’ crazy about that…

 

[peteyfoozer]

Gah! Took another bad fall today. I HATE concrete floors!!