Preteenage spirit

The good news is that Dieter will be six months old on Monday. The bad news is that in human years, that makes him 10. That's bad because I thought the behavior we were witnessing this afternoon was similar to that of a human teenager and that we'd soon be seeing better canine citizen behavior as he grew out of the rebellious teenage years. But, alas, he's just a preteen; I can hardly contain myself to see how a "teenaged" dog behaves.


Admittedly, Dieter hasn't had as much outside time today as he sometimes has. Nasty weather (don't really feel like playing frisbee in the rain, and I don't want him running, slipping, and hurting himself on wet grass, either) and me being under-the-weather with some upper respiratory thing curtailed our midday romp time. So he is being a Grade-A booger right now.

He pinchy bit both mom and dad (thought that behavior was a thing of the past), he's grabbing things off the table, and is barking at the cat. "Jerk, jerk, jerk." "Hiss, hiss, hiss." Oh, and he chewed on the quilt some more--but that's mostly the humans not being as observant as they should be about what Dieter can reach and grab.

What makes me really dread Dieter's teenaged years is how good he is right now at not listening. Here's what just transpired this afternoon. Dieter's humans: "Dieter. Sit." Dieter: "Huh? Oh look, there's that pillow I like to carry around." Humans, louder: "Dieter. Sit." Dieter: "What-Ever. I do what I want. See ya."

I sometimes make bad decisions and have selective hearing when being informed my decision was bad.

I should have had the video running. We've been taught that you don't let the dog make the decisions. The command isn't a suggestion, it's, well, a command. After a couple of ignored "sit" commands, I tried pushing on Dieter's backside to make him sit. That didn't work, either; I didn't think engaging in a wrestling match would result in improved behavior. Also, it's much more fun to go and stare at the cat who has by now been exiled to the dining room. Staring at the glowering cat and making it glower even more is much more fun than sitting. Finally I used my head for something other than a battering ram and got a treat. I faced Dieter, showed him the treat, and positioned the treat above and slightly behind his forehead. Boom, the butt hit the floor.

Score: Barb 1, Dieter 0. But the day's young. He's out for a walk right now.

Stay tuned. There'll probably be late-breaking Dieter news. His preteen mind seems to have forgotten a lot of what he's learned about walking on leash. He managed to walk in front of Lloyd and get his paw stepped on. Twice. He's quite dramatic when that happens. "Yipe...oh, the humanity..."

UPDATE: I'm told it wasn't the best walk in the world. Dieter seems to think changing from walking on dad's left side to his right in midstride is a good idea. After getting his paws trodden upon four times, he finally decided to comply.