The Labraventures of Carbón, Spanish (ex-) foster dog extraordinaire

Emily_Babbelhund

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
Location
Regensburg, Germany
Lisa said:
Sept. 11 is not far off...how are you feeling about it?
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:scared:


Nah, just kidding. I'm anxious but also excited. Clearly Carbon isn't fully cooked as a service dog yet, but his trainer feels he's up to the task and he meets legal requirements for flying to/from the US, which are different than flying within Europe. There are some things we simply won't know until we get there (reaction to air pressure changes for example) but he's a very laid-back boy so I hope he will take it all in his stride. I will also have food/chews and his beloved Monkey with me to help relieve stress. The good thing about Carbon is if he does have a bad reaction to something, it's usually only the first time. When he meets up with that thing or situation again, his reaction is always, "Oh yeah, I got this."

For my side, I'm keeping everything the same as when I used to fly with Brogan so that the only variable is Carbon. I flew about 40 times with Brogan, so have my systems worked out as to how to deal with security, boarding, where I pack everything, what seats I request, etc. By keeping all that stuff on autopilot, then I can focus completely on Carbon.

Carbon is keeping me on my toes: yesterday after a very good training session he walked over to the sole rug in my apartment and let loose a waterfall of wee! He's not eliminated indoors since June 2018 (sorry @Beanwood 's vet bed). I have NO IDEA what got into him!!! So thank you, Carbon, for giving me an additional worry. Goofy boy!
 
Emily_Babbelhund

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
Location
Regensburg, Germany
I came home from our walk to find a piece of cake (wrapped) and a prescription for allopurinol (Carbon's Leish medicine) sitting on top of my mailbox. Special delivery from Nadine while I was out. Is that service, or what? :D

Today is a holiday in Bavaria (Maria Himmelfahrt) so town is very quiet except for the normal cruise ship tourist crowds. Carbon and I had a nice long walk and stopped at some new benches they've just installed in front of the cathedral. I decided to ask him to do the "Go under legs and settle" trick that he just did for the first time yesterday. He did it flawlessly then settled in to watch all the dogs and people go by just a few inches from his nose.

We also passed a group of three Rhodesian Ridgebacks right on the street who were well behaved but staring Carbon down like mad. He did a very nice LAT once but otherwise just kept his eyes on me. This dog is on fire today! :love:
 
Emily_Babbelhund

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
Location
Regensburg, Germany
Jacqui-S said:
Sounds like Carbon really responds to being "worked".
Bodes well!
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He's much happier working. He'd train for six hours a day if I had the stamina for it. It's me making his training go slow because I have a short attention span.

He's a completely different dog than Brogan, but I see that same contentedness with working. Brogan's skin never really fit him right until he started SD work. In the same way, I feel like with Carbon we are peeling the layers back that he acquired in the shelter to adapt to that way of life. Now we're seeing his original purpose and potential and it's really exciting. I just hope I can keep up with him! :D
 
Emily_Babbelhund

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
Location
Regensburg, Germany
Cath said:
Wonderful well done Carbon. What is the thing Carbon is clicking? I would love to get one @Emily_Babbelhund
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You mean the thing we're using as a target? It's a collapsable bowl. Most of the ones you get in pet stores are soft all over, this one I got at a camping store and has a hard bottom which apparently doubles as a cutting board. Makes it great for a target because he likes to hear that 'click' when his paw touches the hard plastic. :)
 
snowbunny

snowbunny

Location
Andorra and Spain
But it’s you clicking with a clicker too, right? I’ve missed watching the last few vids because I’m a bit busy so I was going to say how much better your mechanics are looking now, well done!!
The backing up is adorable. I had the same thing with Willow recently when I went from backing up to just targeting a mat. I just lured her round a couple of times and it helped her to understand. Depends whether it matters to you; I was after a snappy behaviour of targeting so I wanted her to turn to it but if that’s not important to you, it doesn’t matter that he backs up, and it’s really cute :D
 
Emily_Babbelhund

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
Location
Regensburg, Germany
snowbunny said:
But it’s you clicking with a clicker too, right? I’ve missed watching the last few vids because I’m a bit busy so I was going to say how much better your mechanics are looking now, well done!!
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Yes, it's me clicking with the clicker too. Thanks for the timing compliment. Still a work in progress! :)

snowbunny said:
but if that’s not important to you, it doesn’t matter that he backs up, and it’s really cute :D
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It completely tickled me. I don't think it's a problem, we're both just backing obsessed at the moment. It's a wonder he can walk forwards at all!
 
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