hopefulhe's much less scared now. he has wagged his tail, licked my hand, and licked Nadja's hand today too! we took him over to the spca to see if he was chipped, but he's not. of course.
this dog is an utter sweetheart, and crate trained. however, he is barely trained beyond that. I have tried "sit" in english and spanish, and while I'm sure my accent is appalling, saying either thing and pushing his butt down (as one does to train a dog) got me a really confused look - not like "that's not the right word" but more "why are you pushing on my butt?"
he does ok with "in" but then the one thing he is trained to do is go in his crate. he goes in on his own, and also when directed. in fact, any time you talk to him and he doesn't get it, he'll go into the crate and then peer hopefully out, to see if maybe that was what you wanted.
he's kinda housebroken, but he's also gone on the floor a couple of times, so maybe that was it, they never really trained him and got fed up with the resulting messes. as for here, it's much easier to deal with on the cement floor out in the shop than on someone's carpet, and also I'm working on figuring out when I can let him roam around and when he needs to be confined until the next pee time. it *really* helps that he likes to be in his crate.
so while I was writing this, my friend Toad called and invited me to go on an easy hike. I asked if I could bring Poqui and he said sure, so off we went to a gorgeous trail high in the east bay hills. the sun was filtering through the redwoods and the light was all liquid honey... and that's to say nothing of the view of the city! it was also really great to get to spend some time with Toad in a non-party setting where we could really hang out and talk.
Poqui did great, trotting along with us, until he got worn out and let me know he needed to be carried for a while. after a time he got heavy so I set him down again and he walked some more, but clearly he isn't used to being exercised much (though he was totally game to go wherever we went). we made it back to the car with me carrying him again towards the end of the hike. even tired he was so happy to be included.
he's a wonderful little doggie with a great, totally sweet and unassuming nature and a great heart, and I kinda envy his new family. ;-) NOT that I have time for a pet as labor intensive as a dog (ahem, *bunnies* ahem) but if I did, this lil guy would be tops on my short list (no pun intended - lol!)
did I mention we are calling him a doxinese - because we think he is part doxie and part peke?! he's got those silly doxie bow-legs, but with a peke-ish face with sweet round brown eyes, freakin' adorable up-curled tail and long pekey fluffy ears on a squarish, slightly oversized head... which, just FYI, all adds up to SUPER KYOOTNESS! I'll post his pic so you can see for yourself.
so anyway, Jovino is off on a last minute climbing trip, so I'm home alone this weekend. it's cool, since I haven't really had a weekend off since before burning -er- the Bunnydome (and next weekend I am at a tarot symposium all day both days) so this is really my chance to kick it. I'm not minding having the lil feller around, since he is SO sweet and low maintenance (even when he peed on the floor, it totally was not his fault and we are already working on it).
also: thank you Carole. my fate is sealed!
<3,
- M
