Fungible Convictions

Our friends Greg and Laila have a very sweet, very hyper Airdale named (Jeff) Buckley, who we checked in on early this evening while the two of them were out of town. We took the Gats with us.

I took a bunch of terrible photos, but out of those came this one, a ridiculously great action shot with a cheap digital camera.

We have great love for Buckley too:

Though no dog can look as dainty as our Gats when her paws are crossed:

It’s spring break at MIT, so my bosses suggested this would be a good time to take a few days off. I’m making the most of this “staycation” so far—getting up with Lindsay at our regular time, and after driving her to work, heading back to Simon’s Coffeehouse for a couple hours of reading (finally) The Good Soldier Švejk.

Yesterday, following Simon’s, I headed downtown for lunch with my friend/fmr Houghton Mifflin coworker Walter at an old favorite haunt, Flash’s. After getting all the necessary dirt on my old industry, I then went to catch up with friends at Emerson College. All-in-all, a great time—except for when my old writing center boss at Emerson, who happens to be my Orthodox godfather, asked in front of strangers “How ya feeling? In remission?” First, he and others need to understand that with Hodgkin’s, you actually get to use the word “cured,” which I am. Second, why ask that in front of the Emerson undergrad you’re in the middle of counseling? Meh, anyway…

Today I followed up reading at Simon’s by taking Gatsby to Fresh Pond. Lately she had been a little aggressive with other dogs, and we’re not sure why. I think it has to do with the confines of sidewalks, because at obedience class and in houses/apartments, she’s fine. And Fresh Pond today was no different. She sniffed butts or ignored dogs altogether—not an ounce of aggression or nerves to be found. She also walked 99% with a loose leash, while in our neighborhood—especially on Mass. Ave.—it’s 50/50 that she’ll start pulling ahead, particularly when other dogs are approaching.

Happy to say that the walk around Fresh Pond left her exhausted, which is good prep for obedience class tonight: she’ll be focused on treats and not excited enough to care about the other dogs.

And lord, has there ever been a dog with whom it’s so easy to illustrate exhaustion?

Tomorrow, day three of days off, Lindsay is taking a well-deserved day off too. We’re planning on lunch at a small, amazing Polish restaurant in South Boston—I took Lindsay there years ago after her GRE and we never forgot how great it was. And after that we’ll head over to check out the Boston Art Deco Show at the Cyclorama.

I’d like to type out Gatsby’s interior monologue, if I may.

Jesus, these guys are weird.

Wait, you’re filming this? Asshat.

For the record, Asshat had a great time. The people were really nice. Undecided if I’ll go back until next winter, because we see just as many dogs—and nearly as many Boston Terriers—just by walking around Fresh Pond.

Just emailed to my parents and in-laws…

If any of you ever disagree with me–and are later proved right–you now have this to keep in your back pocket:

Thanks to the icanhazcheezburger.com lolcat builder.

Gatsby picked up lying down pretty fast. She still won’t sit or lie down outside—that’s going to take some time, what with the distractions and equation of outside = walking + poop. Outside ≠ work.

But the fact that she learned how to do lie down…and will sometimes do it without an actual treat in my hand…makes us very happy.

(btw, look at that tongue in the first frame of this clip.)

Overall we’re thrilled. She went from knowing nothing a few days ago to know “sit” and “down”. She’s still picky about what treat we have to start with (peanut butter-flavored Zuke’s Mini Naturals), and we’re assuming obedience class this Thursday will be too overwhelming for her to repeat in front of her teacher. But still. Totally cool.

We [heart] our dog.

Lindsay and I took Gatsby to her first obedience training class on Thursday, and the three of us looked like idiots compared to the other owners and dogs. The other dogs must have gone to puppy school as well because they all knew how to sit and lie down—and their training probably went better because THEY’RE NOT SO DAMN PICKY ABOUT TREATS.

We actually had to pull the teacher aside and ask if the class would be a waste of money: if all the other dogs were more advanced, we would understand if she catered the class to them, even if that meant leaving Gatsby behind. I left in a really bad mood. I felt exactly like I did in Physics class when I sat behind a guy who went on to be a scientist at Stanford.

It didn’t help that The Gats was nervous being around so many other dogs for the first time.

But we kept up with the basics the last few days, trying to train ourselves too. Lindsay and I needed practice being consistent with our commands, terminology, and reward-delivery. For example, it should go:

1. “Gatsby.”
2. “Sit.”
3. Butt hits ground
4. “Yes!”+Treat

But too often it comes out as:

1. “Gatsby. Here. Look’it.”
2. “Si’down. Sit, girl. Sit.”
3. Butt possibly hits ground.
4. “Good! Alright! Good girl.”
5. “Andy, grab me a treat.”

Today is the first beautiful day of the season in Cambridge. So the three of us went with our friend Elizabeth to walk around Fresh Pond, which is a big, big dog-walking destination. Gatsby was great. She sniffed butts without barking. She walked without pulling. She even stuck a toe in the water.

We got home about an hour ago and gave her a bath. We dried her off. She shook water everywhere. We stepped back into the hall. And then for kicks, Lindsay said, “Gatsby, sit.”

AND SHE SAT!

Lindsay walked a few steps back and Gatsby followed.

“Gatsby, sit.”

AGAIN.

Then I did it a couple times, and for the third time I had Lindsay record this:

Margie at New England Dog Training Club: we’re aiming to knock your socks off next week!

The last couple weeks with Gatsby have been a little too eventful. Poor kid needed minor surgery to drain an abscess on her paw, and the vet (whose specially is animal dentistry) thought it would be fun (for him) to take out two loose teeth at the same time.

But today the Gats was back to her old self, sprinting down the sidewalk (despite being leashed), dancing and spinning when we walk in the door, and making great faces.

To that point, I finally got around to posting a handful of videos of Gatsby, including this one:

And this one, which, if you like peanut butter, you might not want to watch: