TGIF

What a blast; the poodles and I attended a poodle gathering of sorts at one of the members homes yesterday. I wasn't sure how Luke would react to being in someones yard with all those other dogs; it really depended on how large the yard was. When we arrived he was already wound and whining; whining is never good when Luke is doing it. This means that he is already over excited; so I kick into my super calm and mellow mode to assist him.

Once in the backyard he was his typical whirlwind until everyone was there and he had made the rounds. I have to say I was so proud of my boy; the only pushy behavior he displayed was to dominate a 5 mos old puppy which I already knew was going to happen. He loves to strut his stuff and its easy to look big and tough to puppies who are still insecure. But all in all he was the perfect gentleman as he was the only boy there. Tilley took a bit to warm to our new enviroment but was chasing shadows before too long.

Luke kept a close eye on me the entire time we were at the get together; I was watching him watching me. If I started making a fuss over one of the other poodles he immediately came over to get some eye contact "yep, I'm your boy right MOM?" What a guy. And as one of the other poodles jumped up to say hello he was by my side in a flash. No one else would know how closely he was watching me unless they too were watching him; he is a corner eye watcher. He is constantly throwing side glances to keep my whereabouts well known to him. He is kind of like a Nav system.

About an hour into the visit he started hanging out with the people instead of the other poodles and about 1 1/2 hours into the gathering he was ready to go. He was using his eyes and his body language to let me know that he was good and ready to go home. One thing that Luke did that really amazed me; I know what you're thinking Luke this and Luke that, hey it's my blog! So anyway, there had been a babygate at the door to go in the house so that the people could go in and not the dogs. Once everyone started to leave it was taken down. As I sat in the yard watching my two; Luke went to the entrance of the house and stopped; he knew it was a boundary and turned around and came back.

Even when a guardian and their poodle were leaving he stopped in his tracks as they crossed what Luke thought was a clear boundary. Funny when all this hard training kicks in; it is very rewarding. When it was time for us to leave Luke was right by my side, Tilley was still chasing shadows and took several calls to get her head out of the clouds or should I say off of the ground.

Now that you've had your dose of poodle talk; have a good weekend.