Scamp and his Sheep

He may not care much for real sheep, but let me tell you that Scamp LOVES his pink sheepie. It is his toy of choice, and he happily carries it around the house. He loves toys, and likes for his favorites to be neatly arranged in a pile on the couch. If another dog comes and takes one he will look around the house for it, and put it back to it's rightful spot. It cracks me up.

The other day I taught him to fetch, okay maybe taught is the wrong word. Three times in a row he brought me his green squeaky ball and I threw it and he brought it back. That's how a border collie learns apparently. Today we started tugging- just gentle little tugs and then I let him run away happily with the sheep.

Scamp is an interesting dog. I've really enjoyed watching him figure out stuff, and come out of his shell. Gone are the worried eyes. He is happy, playful, and fun. Although I said in my previous blog that he didn't appear to be very smart, I take that back. It's not that he is not smart, he just doesn't really know how to learn stuff. But that's coming right along. He likes the clicker now so I am going to spend some time today teaching him to learn.

He is a great in the house dog.  quiet most of the time, but will bark if someone comes to the door, or if he is really excited. He has the best happy dance ever- legs out, toes splayed, and his whole body wiggles and wags. It is very adorable. He has not pee'd in the house in almost a week!! He doesn't know to ask to go out, but he certainly knows that I was not happy about his choice of pee spots on the couch and on the door...

Jenny and I were talking the other day about him, and his parents. It's interesting that such a well bred sheep dog just didn't care enough to work. Genetics are an interesting thing, of which I know nothing about. lol.  Apparently the only thing he did inherit from his dad is Cat Watching. It's a sport around here. I am moving him to a hard crate today so that he can only watch him in one direction when I am not home. lol.

Scamp is awesome on leash- and is very excited to go places. Today we are going to go to some Pet Stores. Hopefully he will not feel the need to mark anything. I'll be taking along some yummy treats to keep his attention on me! I am thrilled with the progress he has made in such a short time. He really is mostly just normal.

Edited to add: Scamp's Pet Store Adventure

I took Scamp to two different pet stores today and he did pretty good. The first store was quiet, so he settled pretty quickly. Sudden noises were alarming for him, but he was willing to take cookies, and I even got a tail wag. The other pet store was much busier- and it took him about 15 minutes to settle enough to take a treat from me. We walked around, and he met a nice lady who gave him lots of cookies ;). By the end of the visit he was pretty relaxed, and had nice happy ears. We didn't run into any men at either pet store though, so this week we will be on the search for men. lol. And I'm going to bring him out to the agility barn too- lots of dog saavy people, and dogs, and noise. Slowly but surely Scamp's going to learn to be a city dog!