That's the usual tongue-in-cheek comment that follows when you tell the Swiss you're not Swiss.
A year ago, I couldn't get within 500 feet of a pasture of grazing horses or cows without an explosion of histrionics from Loki. Yesterday, I called them back to me when I saw a horseback rider approach during one of our off-leash walks. He sat patiently with Juno while a horseback rider walked past us only 3 feet away. As he waited for them to pass, he ate a multitude of chicken treats as if he were chain smoking them nervously. But no barks, no yips and no histrionics. Counter-conditioning rocks. Each time, he needs fewer treats. Someday he won't need any.
Most of our walks through the farms and woods are off-leash and both dogs are making me proud each day. Today we passed our usual pasture of donkeys but this time, they were at the fence line within his reach and as usual, he and Juno were off-leash. He was interested and really wanted to investigate, but I managed to call him off each time he expressed interest.
Busy towns used to frighten him. Now Morges and Lausanne are his and Juno's favorite walking places. They happily go to town with no embarrassing crackeriness. Who can blame them? They get to share our sandwiches and ice creams each time.
Now if I could just get him to ignore the fence-fighting dog we pass by daily. Each time the dog charges the fence, Loki's inner-cujo errupts.
What can I say? He's not Swiss. Nobody's perfect.
*giggle* If he's not perfect, well, then I'd have to say my girls are from Australia or someplace else vastly inferior to Suisse-land. 😉 I'm still trying to get my girls to walk around other people without going bananas. (I've mentioned that Fi has Doggie ADD, right? *grin*)
Of course, with all this Good Citizen training, Abby is has decided that EVERYONE must be carrying treats on their personages at all times. Our buddy Larry (who is like family) came over yesterday to dispose of a mouse (why yes, I AM a princess, thankyouverymuch.... I told him when he set the traps that I'd have to call him to remove the corpses, because I Just.Cannot.Do.It. And the husband won't touch traps. But will whine about his FiberOne bars being devoured by the mouse - or ex-mouse, as it may be - in the pantry...), and Abby sat next to Larry, all polite-like, sweeping the floor with her tail, expecting him to give her something. Needless to say, Larry doesn't carry treats on him at all times. Being the enabler that I am, I finally gave him some to give to Abby - and yes, that ensured that she followed him around throughout his Mouse Eradication Adventures.
Oh, I posted a note on FB about Ephesus. I need pictures. Lots of pictures. And I'd REALLY like a guide book. I'll pay you in Danskos or something. 🙂
-Dr. Liz
Jack is a perfect gentleman every time we walk. I say perfect because I know perfectly well that he's gonna go crazy when he sees someone he knows! 🙂
Awww Loki's growing up. All it took was some fresh Swiss air. 🙂
Yea, Loki! And mom, of course. Practice makes perfect; just being Swiss does not 🙂 At least one Swiss bank [USB?] recently paid a multi-million dollar fine to the U.S. to avoid prosecution for colluding with American clients to hide assets from the IRS to evade taxes. As they (1) got caught (2) breaking the law, they are doubly not perfect in our opinion.
Jed & Abby
Hi All, sounds like you dogs are pretty obedient to me and mum. I'm just learning but we have cows next door and I just met them the other day. They don't scare me. Actually they all ignored me so I decided to do the same. Bye for now. No worries, and love, Stella
I walk a Herd, so if fence fighting is your biggest challenge, I can ship a crew to you for entertainment.
To tell the truth I don't blame him. I hate dogs that rush the fence like they are going to try to kill you. It mostly makes me sad for them actually, but it's a real pain in the rear too. I'm glad they've both settled in and learned to like their new home. Counter conditioning is a very handy tool. 🙂