Hi, it’s me, Leia!
Wow…has it been two months already? I promised - pandemic or no pandemic - that I would return once I had more to report on than simply busting under-bed dust bunnies (Spoiler alert: the dust bunnies are winning despite my valiant dust bunny alert efforts – hey, upright, did you check under your bed this morning? It’s bad. Real bad. What have you been doing with your time??? But I digress.)
I’m still not 100% sure what a pandemic is, and I’m told we’re all experiencing it differently. But I think we can agree that pandemics are bad.
Why are they bad? Well, for me, they apparently mean no more formal dog training classes. No dog shows. Even our national (OESCA) and regional (OESCSEW) specialties were cancelled. Rarely seeing my friends. Highlight of days being stomping fledgling seedlings in garden beds and escorting upright when she mows.
I mean - desperate times calling for desperate measures and all - it turns out you can practice your heeling with a moving mower. And also herd it faithfully up and down the yard in a calm and measured way. But I confess it’s getting a little old. And I really, really do NOT recommend it as a stand in for agility equipment. Upright’s screaming in this scenario is off-putting, to say the least.
Always Practice Safe mowing
So, with mowing getting a little old, thankfully a couple of bright spots emerged. For one, my bestie, Una, was in the neighborhood one day last week and we got to go for a walk together and then play in the yard while our uprights practiced their social distancing.
Life is better with a fuzzy friend
SPRING. IT’S A GOOD THING.
Now, there are two things you need to know about social distancing: 1. OES do not social distance. We never have, and we never will, so put that thought right out of your mind, OK? And, 2. Uprights are not very good at it either.
Let me see if I can help you out.
If you have trouble figuring out what six foot is, grab a six-foot leash, attach one of us to it and - voila! – we can demonstrate for you. Please note: if you put our leash on, be prepared to follow up and actually take us somewhere on it.
Please Practice Responsible Dog Ownership
Responsible Dog Ownership in the Age of Pandemics - An Illustration
Also, I would like to illustrate proper mask-wearing. Uprights put them over their entire lower face, from the bridge of their nose to under their chin. How can you tell whether they are smiling or scowling at your delightful antics? Very inefficient – do not recommend.
Correct Mask Wearage
You’re Welcome
The other bright spot was a return to training. I don’t know if it was the AKC experimenting with virtual rally novice or virtual trick dog titling that tipped the scale, but we’re finally taking training seriously again, and I am loving it. Here I am with my aunt Luna, working on our brace agility contact training.
Aunt Luna is actually training for obedience and rally, or at a minimum not killing any more pepper seedlings (long story, horrific pepper massacre, upright is still recovering). But she has some of the agility basics and likes to show off.
It turns out her basics are really basic, and she tends to interpret things her own way. The current theory is that she missed her real calling – circus dog. This is me, pretending I don’t know her.
I confess, it’s getting harder and harder every day to social distance from her. But hang in there! And please drop me a line if you have any fun ideas you’d like to share related to keeping ourselves gainfully employed in these “interesting” times.
Love, Leia