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After his afternoon nap, we played around for awhile. He chased the toy on a lunge whip for awhile (I got some good video of that (I think) that I'll upload at some point.) I put on a harness just before he played with this toy to take his mind off of it which worked pretty well. He also saw my basement training room for the first time. He wandered around down there, climbed on an over-turned "pond liner" I put out as an unusual object for him to explore. He didn't want to go over the ramps of a really low "A-frame" I made from 2 doors but I'm sure we'll get there.
We also went for a short walk down the road during which the harness seemed to be messing with his brain. He kept flopping into the tall weeds to roll around! LOL I got it on video, but not sure if it will be watchable or make everyone "motion sick" :-) He walked on the road pavement, gravel, a cut soybean field (for a really short time because of the rough stubble) and we were on our way to the corn field when I realized it was time to leave for our evening activity!
A few months ago, I was filmed with 2 of my dogs (Coyote and Bear) for a TV special that includes a segment about Dog Scouts. Tonight was the private showing held at WCPO TV station and I got prior permission to bring Dazzle. The show will air in Cincinnati on CH 9 at 9pm on Oct 17th and nation wide on Oct. 25th. It was a fantastic show!!
Dazzle did fine in the crate on the ride out, I was repeatedly saying his name and feeding him a piece of his dinner and was happy to see he was much more food motivated. When we arrived, he went potty on the grass so I could trust him to walk on his own up the stairs and through the large TV station's building. He went from person to person down the hall and sat politely for greeting. He was a bit spooked by the guy who ran full speed down the hall past him (at least he gave warning by yelling - "coming through!!") but he recovered quickly and went back to schmoozing.
Once in the proper room (sorry photo is really blurry but it gives you an idea of the event and part of the crowd), he continued to win hearts and get lots of Awww's. He fluctuated between being a bit overwhelmed and being happy with ears up and tail wagging happily. There were 2 other dogs there that were in the TV show and Dazzle was a bit shy about meeting them. The police K-9 spooked him too much to meet him because he kept staring with a hard look (he continued to do this through the entire evening, but after awhile Dazzle ignored him.)
Once we were all settled, he fell asleep in my lap and slept soundly (including some active dreams) through the whole show. Just before the show ended, he started waking up and I started feeding him treats for sitting quietly in my lap. Flopping and light fussing didn't get anything, only sitting quietly. What surprized me was his reaction to applause. He barked furiously like he was going to take on every person in the studio! Guess I know what I'll need to desenstize him to! I know the breeder clapped a lot, she would do that to get the pups attention and get them to follow her. Not sure why he had such a dramatic reaction to it. Of course one person clapping is completely different from many people lapping. Everyone thought it was really cute, but I know I'll be working on it! :-)
He greeted a few more folks in the studio on the way out from his position in my arms. I didn't dare let him down till I was outside after the water drinking and food eating and napping he had done! Shortly after getting to the grass he peed and then about 1 minute later left me a pile. Such a good pup!!
He was a bit more active in the crate on the way home after such a nice nap, but he still was willing to settle and even fell asleep again before I got home.
He went in his pen to play with his toys while I ate a late dinner and updated this blog. Hopefully he will be willing to sleep tonight after all the napping! Right now he's on Mike's lap.
