Freeway has Qs. Some of them are good Qs as in qualifying scores, and some of them are fun Qs as in quirks. Everyone has quirks. They are the things that make us special and memorable. For Tanith, for example, in addition to her exuberant energy there was her taste for pickles. Then there was Oso, he liked to bite into and squash cans of cat food to lick the contents as the oozed out. I haven't written a special article for Tsuki yet, but he feels a compulsion to grab a toy on his way outside. And if a toy isn't handy sometimes he will consider a sock or a stray plastic bottle.
Which brings us to one of Freeway's quirks which is "Bake-a-dog" No no no this isn't about cooking a dog. Sometimes when I'm sitting at the computer working he will start dancing around like he has to go outside right now! So I open the door and he races outside, runs to the bottom of the stairs, and promptly lies down in the sun. And then he will stay there until his short black coat is quite hot to the touch. Eventually he wanders back into the house and goes to sleep at my feet until the next time he feels like another dose of bake-a-dog. Besides just being a fun quirk I find it interesting that he does this because he is less heat tolerant than Tsuki. Whether it is herding or agility or whatever he gets more easily overheated and shuts down sooner than Tsuki does.
Freeway is one versatile dog. In addition to his therapy visits he does agility and herding. His older "brother" Tsuki earned a "Specialist Extraordinaire" title offered by Canine Performance Events (CPE) in agility. It takes 2500 points, which was about 115 Qs. For his part Freeway is just beginning the Q process. He has 2 Qs in CPE agility, we hope to add a few more next month.
Freeway has one more Q - a quip. He is a believer in "There is no success without the risk of failure." I guess almost Qs don't count, but that is as close as we have gotten in sheep herding. Goose herding is where Freeway's talent lies. Geese behave differently that sheep (go figure!) and whatever it is meets with Freeway's approval. He knows exactly how to get a reluctant goose out of a corner, or walk a stray quietly back to join the flock.
And when it comes to hospital visits Freeway is can add the Q of quiet. For such a bouncy tail wagging dog he sure manages to rein it in for visits. He has gained much patience with the slow pace and often clumsy petting. He's a good boy and I sure am glad he came to live with me.
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Copyright © 2007, Diane Blackman Created: August 27, 2007 Updated November 12, 2007
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