Clifford Rearing

Clifford is doing really well on his new trick, now learning to use and "strike out" with his front feet a little. We will work on a little longer "up" time as his muscles strengthen. He really enjoys doing this trick! Here are a couple of funny shots his Aunt Vickie snapped today.

Learning to Rear on Cue

His rearing trick is coming along well!

Targeting

Clifford is working with a new target stick -- a modified longe whip. Even after years of longeing, in just a few minutes, Clifford figured out that he needed to follow the stick instead of moving away from it. Surprised the heck out of me! He was trotting BEHIND it instead of AHEAD of it, following it over little jumps and everything! Is this just using another part of the brain, or what? Hoodathunk he could still have such a bag of tricks after all these years.

Clifford Auditions for David Letterman's "Stupid Pet Tricks"

Aunt Vickie found out that Channel 6 in Lansing was holding auditions for "Late Night With David Letterman". We immediately realized that as a budding artist, Clifford needed to try out by painting Dave's portrait. We hauled him back downstate yesterday and today, we gave him a bath, with the help of Vickie's niece, Ellie. Ellie washed his feet, and he obligingly lifted his tootsies so she could get the bottoms too.

After his bath, Aunt Vickie boosted Ellie aboard for a photo opp...

"Cliffy's Angels"

Brushing out his tail was a group effort.

When we arrived at the auditions, I spent a little time warming Clifford up. He was acting like he didn't really feel like painting. I urged him to find his muse.

I decided to put him to work, making him concentrate on other things besides his art. We did some walking in the parking lot and even some longeing.

He was earning some clicks and apples but his efforts were pretty half-hearted.

He just wasn't into his tricks like he normally is. I was a little worried that he might not paint at all.

Then, just before we were to go on, I realized what was missing: He wanted praise! I started scratching him and hugging him and telling him how great he was, and he perked right up. Then he really got into it.

We had set up the table with Dave's portrait in a frame. When the crew started filming, Clifford marched right over to the table with me, grabbed the sponges and did a quick painting of Dave.

He painted a blue circle, then a red stripe for the tie. Then he did a fleshy spot in the circle for the face. He finished it off with some grey hair at the top.

This is the photo he worked from.

Quite a striking likeness! We wonder if Dave will call.

Wholly Terrier

Now Stewie, given a breakfast of kibble in a bowl, thinks he would rather earn chicken or baby food. So he forsakes it to come and hang around my feet, sitting and waiting.

This is the calmest he has ever been, and it's early in the day! This is what I was hoping to see -- the cerebral cortex kicking in.

God Loves a Terrier

Stewie's been with me about ten days now, and I've been just letting him be a dog. He runs a lot and is calming down a little bit. He shows no separation anxiety indoors, but fortunately for me he is really making an effort to seek and stay close to me (or Rippy) outside.

He had his first clicker session today. He gets absolutely wild when he smells food, so I decided to do it with baby food. He is so small that he can't chew anything quickly, and he can't see things well enough to find them if they hit the floor. (I've decided that he's nearly blind.) Besides that, he still bites so hard I thought eating from a metal spoon might deter that a bit.

I cracked open the baby food, and he was running around like mad, searching for the source of the smell. He was literally spinning, trying to find it. I clicked and stuck the end of the spoon right in his face. He went nuts! He clamped down on the spoon, hard. I just let him do it. He had baby food smeared all over his face and whiskers. I decided a smaller spoonful would be better. When I took the spoon away, he ran and dashed around trying to find it again. He paused for just a second to sniff the floor, and I clicked and immediately delivered the spoon again.

After a few repetitions of this, he had a, "Wah-wah" moment! He became very excited upon hearing the click, and I knew he understood. I started waiting for longer periods of quiet. First they started with just sniffing. Then, I began clicking only when his head was up. Finally, he settled down enough to pay attention, although he really couldn't watch. He would stand and turn his head, searching for any shadows. He used his ears, though, tipping this way and that, listening for a sign of movement.

Within twelve minutes of the start of the session, he had learned to "sit" on cue. He began doing it by voice command. Sometimes he would sit with his back to me, still listening -- he was that disoriented. I waited for longer periods of quiet from him, letting him think and making him really pay attention. With his handicap, he is going to have to learn to really listen.

I will do more attention work with him next time, but I was glad to see he was able to focus on this simple task.

Thinking is hard work, and tonight he is a much more mellow pup! I was able to get this picture of him when he stretched out for a few contemplative moments.