Tatum Tot Spice

Tired from Flyball April 6, 2008

I am beat tired! The Mum, me, Chase, Levi, and Muffit all went to flyball practice today. We had to take Dad’s little car ’cause the Mum’s big car is in the shop, it has a big dent in it.

Anyway… you know how I’ve been going over jumps to a lid with a liver on it? Well… we did that at the flyball park! And it was fun. The Mum said she was so proud of me, because I went over three jumps in a row for the livers on the lid! But then I got silly again and had to just run and run and bunny hop around the park! It was lots of fun. But then people had livers so I would go up to them and see if I could have some, and I could!

The place I used to live, where there were tons and tons of dogs… the people would grab my collar and drag me around, and I’m always afraid people will do that to me now. They haven’t in a long time, and the Mum said no one will ever do it again, but I’m still a bit afraid they will.

So it was fun, and now I’m tired!

This Jump Thingy April 4, 2008

So the Mum has been taking me outside a bit now that there is not any slippery snow on the ground, and she brings out this white thing and when I jump over it I get a click and a treat. So it’s been fun and I’ve been jumping over it! I was pretty excited… I ran and bunny-hopped over and got the treat on the white plastic lid on the other side.

But then, at the last minute, I thought maybe I’ll go around the jump this time… the Mum had dragged the Dad out to take pictures of me, and so of course I had to do something different! If you want to see me really go over a jump you have to go to the Mum’s blog, Tip Tail. LOL this is funnier!

And then I ran right up to the lid and the Dad didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to get the treat if I didn’t go over the jump and so I ate it anyway and it was yummy. LOL it’s so easy to trick these silly humans. But it is really fun to do these jump things too!

The Mum thinks it might be weird for me to start bouncing off the wall like Chase does, she thinks I’m more delicate than him. Hrmph! I can do anything he can do! Except jump off the side of the couch like Chase and Muffit too.. that’s a bit too high.

Me in the Hotel on the Bed April 2, 2008

The Mum dragged Chase and me to a hotel again.. this one was different. It was only me and Chase and the Mum in the hotel this time. I missed having all the other dogs around. But it was fun to play with Chase, and it was safe in that room, though it smelled kinda funny.

The Mum and Chase did a flyball tournament. I got to stay in my crate where it’s cozy a lot of the time, but sometimes the Mum would bring me out and we would walk around. I have a new best boyfriend! His name is Oreo and he’s a border collie. He’s very handsome! We had a great time playing!

There was some really scary stuff and I tucked my tail, but then there was mostly fun stuff and so I was okay. The Mum said she was very proud of me for being so brave!

Hoppin’ like a Bunny March 11, 2008

So the Mum took me, Chase and Muffit to flyball practice again on Sunday! It was fun. I like to nibble on people I see there, because I can and I’m not afraid of them anymore. Nope.. I just can push them around instead of being afraid of them. I stayed in Las Vegas with them in that house too, so I know I can push them around now!

The Mum let me run around and bunny hop while we were there. She wanted me to go and play with her.. which is okay, but I like the other dogs better. Except when they don’t do anything, and then when the Mum does stuff, she is more fun to play with. I actually quite like her for a human!

This picture is of my and my new brother Muffit. He is fun but he doesn’t play with me as much as I’d like. The Mum says he is still settling in and, hopefully, will in the future.

Touching the Stick with my Nose March 7, 2008

So Yesterday the Mum puts all the other dogs in the kitchen and gets out the phone book and yay! I put my feet on it. The Mum likes that and clicks and gives me a treat when I do. Then she started to move around me and I’m not sure what she is doing.. she said something about ‘rear end awareness’ but I don’t know what that means yet so I just try to move around a bit and get that click and treat.

She also brought out this funny long thing with a yellow ball on the end. And every time I sniffed it she clicked and treated. So that was easy! I touched the ball with my nose and got the click treat!

Then the Mum brought out this weird long thing with high sides and I just kept walking around it. When I did put my foot over it I got the click and treat! So I kept doing that… the Mum said it was a jump and I will get to do it much higher in the future, when we can go and train outside.

Then I got to go in the Kitchen and the Mum got out Muffit. Gah… only I should work with the clicker! But the Mum said that Muffit has to learn this stuff too for flyball.

Scary Place Fun Place February 8, 2008

Today the Mum took me to a scary place. It had strange noises and people and smelled really funny. Tomorrow I get to go with to an agility trial, and when there are lots of dogs around I have fun!

The place today the Mum called a store.. and had weird things for sale. We only walked in one door, then out the other door, and then went home. And I’m fine when I’m home or back in the car. I only tried to bolt from the Mum once, right after we went out the door. It probably wasn’t more than one minute we were in the store. And no one bothered us, so that was good. I wish there were more dogs around.

The Mum said she wants me to do Therapy someday. Well, I don’t know what Therapy is, but it’s supposed to help people to feel better. But I need to feel better first! So the Mum wants to do this lots, almost every day (she said we were going to do it every day but we haven’t, dorky Mum).

I’m excited for Tomorrow.

Oh, and I have some sad news.. or the Mum says it’s sad. She says my big sister Lucy might have Cancer. And the Mum was crying today because of it. But Lucy is my big sister, so she’ll be around forever, right? I think so.

Ringing Chimes make Scary Noises January 30, 2008

So the Mum pulled out the clicker today and wanted me to learn something new. Man, so many new things! The Mum said Lucy knows how to do this and she’ll show me later.. but she wanted me to try it first on my own.

So out come the liver treats too.. man those are good. The Mum just bakes them in the oven for a while then cuts them up, and we all stand around and I want to eat them, and sometimes I want the other dogs to go away… oooo the Mum is telling me I am blogging about the chimes, not the liver! Okay well anyway so she led me toward the Chimes with some of the yummy liver and made them ring. And it was kinda freaky I didn’t like the noise much.

So after the Mum put all those Livers on the chime, she walked away and sat on the couch and watched to see what I would do. Well I knew that darn liver was on the chimes.. but when I tried to get it off on my own, it would make funny tinkly noise. And the Mum says that’s the point, but I didn’t really like it. So I wanted the Mum to hold the chime steady so I could just eat the Livers off!

Well after I wouldn’t get the livers off, the Mum let Lucy come out to show me how it was done. Oh My Gosh. Lucy just ran right over there and tinkled all the chimes, not afraid at all, to get the livers off! She would push it with her nose then look at the Mum, and the Mum would give her more livers. And if Lucy didn’t get livers fast enough, she would push at the chimes again and again and make them fly all over the place! Wow Lucy!

I am not as enthusiastic when it’s just me and the Mum like Lucy is. Lucy danced all over wondering what the Mum wants her to do so she can get some livers. But me, I am not so sure about being alone with the Mum yet, and not so sure about what is going on. So I’m a bit more slow and I think more (thus I get a thinking award yay!). But the Mum says it’ll come, I haven’t lived here too long yet, and it’s all good and yummy and fun. And then after I got to play with Chase on the couch and that was super fun!

Oh, the Mum says that she wants me to ring the Chimes to tell me when I need to go out potty when the dog door is closed. Whatever. I just stare at the door, and that works!

Oh, and the Mum is going to Los Angelez tomorrow and taking her computer with her so I won’t be able to blog until she gets back! Boo!

Going Again January 28, 2008

The Mum is so dorky! First she says to me she says “Tatum, you are gonna come with Chase and me to the flyball Semeenars and we will have fun!” Then she said… “Tatum, I don’t think you can go, because we won’t have room in the car.”

And then today she says “Tatum, guess what! You do get to go, and you get your own Semeenar too!”

What is up with this? Well, I hope I can go. She sent money in the mail today, and as long as they get it in time, I get to have a Semeenar all for my own. Just for one day, it’s the day before Chase’s semeenar. And the Mum says it’s for Puppies and Green dogs. Well, I’m not green, I’m sable, but I’m not a puppy either. But the Mum says I really am Green, ’cause Green means new, and I still think I’m not Green but What Ever!

So we get to go a day early and I get to go to the Green Dog semeenar, and I get to learn how to run with other dogs and chase them… err… I mean not chase them (we’ll see about that!). And go over jumps and do something with a box and maybe there will be a cone, too, with liver on it!

Should be fun!

Me and the Cone January 21, 2008

Okay so the Mum set up this orange cone thingy in the basement today. She was reading these white papers I really wanted to eat earlier today, but she wouldn’t let me she said they were important for flyball. I’ve been to watch Chase do flyball and it looks fun but I want to play with the other dogs instead of go over jumps. But it’d be fun to chase the other dogs down the line of jumps!

Anyway so the Mum put the cone and I wanted to sniff it so I did and whaaa! I made a click! Then I got a piece of liver. So I stared that the Mum’s hands and then she put them behind her. I hate it when she does that. I don’t like looking at her face or eyes much yet so I look at her hands instead. They hold the treats anyway. But then she put a piece of liver on the cone and when I went to eat it I made the click again! And then she put the liver on the cone for a while and so I kept making a click when I ate it. Was fun! And then she’d put the cone waaaaay over on the other side of the room and I wanted to go check it out to see if it had liver on it and guess what? It did!

Some of the time the cone didn’t have any liver on it but I went to see anyway, and when I touched it with my nose I made the click happen and then went back to the Mum for the liver. Yummy! The Mum says that this is gonna help my flyball as well as my obedience go outs. And even my distance work for agility. I dunno about any of that yet I just like to go and get liver from the cone, and make the click happen.

Then the Mum wanted to play and chase me around the house but I just wanted liver and I was kinda tired. The Mum said I’m supposed to get really excited and run to the cone and then run back really fast. But she was using liver, not toys, and I don’t get fast about liver. So she says soon we’ll have to stop doing the liver and just use the toy to get me super excited. After we did the cone stuff and some weird stuff with cheese on a stick I only played with Chase and the Mum outside in the yard for a few minutes. Now I’m sleeping on the couch next to the Mum. We gots to chew yummy bones again this morning and oh I should put up a picture of me chewing that the Mum took! I’ll go do that too.

All your Treats are Belong to ME! January 5, 2008

So the Mum is cutting up these super yummy treats today in the kitchen and she says they are for our going out to practice agility and obedience and stuff today at the cold barn. And for tomorrow, too, when I get to go to puppy class and see Bindy and Feisty and the other fun puppies. But when she’s cutting them all up me and the rest of the pack stand at the counter by her legs and want her to give us some.

And I just really think that I should get them all, and all the other dogs need to go away. So I tell them that! I growl at them and bark and even bite at them. But not hard ’cause I’m a nice collie and I don’t ever hurt anyone. But really don’t they know that I am their pack leader? Lucy doesn’t think so, she thinks she is, and we have to work this out between us ’cause I think I am even though Lucy has been here longer. I’m cuter anyway, and spunkier, than her.

So Hrmph. I think I should get all the treats so I tell the other dogs so, and the Mum she is so mean!!! She takes me by the collar and marches me into the bathroom and I have to stay for three minutes all by myself!! She is cutting up really good stuff like Lamb Liver and Lamb Heart, too. I love that stuff! I want it all!

The other dogs don’t like it when I growl and bite at them but I don’t care! The Mum let me out of the bathroom again.. and I tried to not growl I really did, but it’s so hard… so I growled again and the Mum marched me back into the bathroom!

I hate it in there I don’t get any liver or any hearts. The Mum let me out again and I tried really really hard again, I stayed in the back of the pack for a while but I got brave again and moved in… and for the third time got marched into the bathroom. HRMPH!

When she let me out the last time all the yummy treats were gone. She says if I learn to be nice and stand there with the other dogs, then I’ll get to eat the treats too, but.. it’s just so hard!