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

Emily_Babbelhund

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
Location
Regensburg, Germany
snowbunny said:
Spanish and German vowel sounds are very different, so on the back of that research, it makes sense to me that a dog would be able to tell them apart quite easily.
Click to expand...
I don't speak to Carbon hardly at all in German. Imagine my surprise when he started drooling at a sporting goods store in NEVADA when he heard a group of older Austrian men chatting away ahead of us in the queue. I realised that they sounded (and looked) a lot like "antiques man" who gives Carbon treats every time we see him in Regensburg. Amazing!

He also still loves when I talk to him in Spanish. I get really silly and make his stuffies talk to him in Spanish while I hold them like little puppets. he gets very excited about getting Monkey "besitos". Yeah, I need to get a life, but hey, perfect lockdown activity, no? 🤪

Brogan's favourite language was Italian. He learned very early on that Italians often mean gelato cones and they liked to give him the last little bit. Or they'd just randomly have dog treats or bits of bread in their pockets. They also nearly to a one would say the same thing when they saw him (Che bello, che bello caniglione!) which made it easy to learn. 😁
 
Emily_Babbelhund

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
Location
Regensburg, Germany
Hola todos! ML took all day to put our stuff into the TARDIS, including my bed and special pillow, so that means it is our last night in our big house. Where will we go tomorrow? Quien sabe? Who knows? I do not really care as long as my TARDIS bed is comfortable and Monkey is by my side. Every now and then I raise my head and look outside, but mainly I rest my head on my pillow and dream of dinner.

I hope we go to Regensburg and see my tiny friend Fine or to Cornwall and see my brother from another mother Reuben and my good friends at @Beanwood. Ojala! I will let you know when we land!

Here are some photos from a weekend trip last month when we were still allowed to roam freely in France. The good old days, no? P1170061.jpg

P1170073.jpg
 
Candy

Candy

Biscuit Tin Guardian
Location
West Yorkshire, UK
Joy said:
@Emily_Babbelhund - you are great too, especially in the way you notice when you need to change what you're doing to help Carbon understand rather than just barrelling on.
@Selina27 When I went to puppy classes with Molly I learnt a lot from one of the other owners with a gorgeous GSD who said 'walking' (in a sing-song voice) as her 'heel' cue. She told me it was much harder to say 'walking' in a harsh way than it is 'heel'.
Click to expand...
That really resonates with me! When Joy was a pup, the trainer we went to (who I thought was pretty good) suggested 'Steady ' rather than 'Heel', so that was the word I used. However it stopped working eventually and having read several posts on 'The other place ' when we were all still there I realised that I had over used 'Steady ' and it had become meaningless to Joy ( and probably particularly unhelpful when said through gritted teeth) I eventually changed it to 'Slowly ', said in a calming and gentle tone and what a difference! And just as you mentioned, it is harder to say 'Slowly ' in anything other than a gentle tone. It has really made me think about the language I use to communicate with my GGJ.
 
Emily_Babbelhund

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
Location
Regensburg, Germany
Carbon is fast asleep after sleeping all day in the car. Don't know how he does it. So I'm taking over for an update. 😉

We left Brittany at 8:30am when it was still dark. This is the first day of lockdown loosening in France, so I wasn't sure what the motorways would be like. My original plan was to drive through Paris (not the centre but the ring road) as that's the fastest way back to Germany. However once the lockdown easing was announced, I swiftly nixed that plan. I've only driven through Paris once and it was terrifying enough that I'd only attempt is during full lockdown. That meant the next best route was up through Normandy past Mt St Michel, through Amiens and into Reims for the night.

Rennes was quite busy but otherwise a super easy drive. We had all rest stops and petrol stations to ourselves. No queues at the toll booths. Of course I hate the reason why, but I have to say, the Zombie Apocalypse sure does make for a pleasant drive. I've driven that stretch of road before and never noticed the farms, cows and generally beautiful countryside. That makes sense as usually I'm just trying dodge death at the hands of HGVs who don't see my tiny car.

Once we got into Reims, the traffic was ungodly. The Ibis is in a "centre commercial" with a mega-Carrefour, IKEA and a bunch of other shops. It looked like Christmas Eve shopping at a US mall.

Upon arrival at the Ibis, we were greeted like royalty. I didn't even need to say my name. Of course not: there are only four guests in the entire hotel, and I'm the only one booked with a dog. FOUR guests on a Saturday night. Wow.

We're now tucked in. I'm a little worried because my landlady in Germany still hasn't given me the lockbox code so that can get into The Bunker tomorrow night. She contacted me Thursday to say that I needed to give a statement that I'm working in Regensburg (no tourism stays are allowed) which I did, then she never got back to me. So fingers crossed...otherwise it may be IBIS again tomorrow!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top