Monday 20 September 2010

Doggy boarding school report


It could have been Boot Camp, but this girl is learning so fast and so eagerly that it's Boarding School for Young Ladies instead. It may even turn out to be Finishing School, and she isn't going to need to be there for long, we think.

The video I took yesterday showed her not leaving the ball when told, but these pictures from today show her being left to sit and wait outside the post office (in full view of her trainer, so don't fret!). I'm not so sure about the bandanna, myself, but maybe it's like our old school tie, all part of the regime....


The photos came with this message:

Flossie and I had a training walk to the post office this morning. She sat outside and didn't move as if she'd done it hundreds of times before , while I went inside to buy milk. She stayed sitting when I returned, sweeping the pavement with her happy tail. Came home round the castle and played with the ball; LEAVE is now immediate! She's now sprawled on the cool tiles amongst all the other sleeping bodies - a very content dog. Wow, do you have a great dog or what! F. 

And what was I doing while she was having fun shopping in a tiny Northumberland village with a huge castle? I was shopping, of course.

We are now fully stocked with beds, bowls, packs of those plastic bags (bigger size!), training treats, ID disc, compensatory gifts for Tosca and the cats, and a ball-chucking wand affair for sissy types who can't throw/don't like handling muddy, drooly tennis balls. I'm sure I'll become less particular as time goes on, and might turn into one of those doggy types clad in fleece and sensible shoes, festooned with whistles, leads, toys and treats. I suspect from the enthusiastic comments received so far that rather a lot of you might be one of those already....



I'm looking forward very much to my own impending training session with Florence the Very Good Dog. I'm off to practise hanging my tongue out right now.

10 comments:

the veg artist said...

Doesn't she sound brilliant! I think the bandana should be pink, though.

jabblog said...

Florence/Flossie is obviously a very intelligent dog and keen to come and join you in your animal sanctuary, I mean, home. Why is it that young animals elicit a buying spree and isn't it fun?

Karen said...

Somehow I can't quite picture you as Barbara Woodhouse shouting Walkies!

Dan said...

What a good girl! Lucky I wasn't walking past whilst the trainer was inside, otherwise Florence might well not have been there when she came back out.
I love those tennis ball launchers, not because I'm bothered about slimy fingers, but ours can run a lot further than I can, and it's a great way of making sure they get enough exercise so that I can have a bit of peace on our return home.
She's lovely, and I'm looking forward to hearing how things go when she comes home.
Dan
-x-

Anonymous said...

She is an absolute star!! When we lived in Canbridgeshire, one of the neighbours had a black lab - one day she drove into a field, got out of the car with the dog, realised she had forgotten something, told the dog 'sit', 'stay', went back home ..... and when she got back to the field the lab was sitting ther patiently waiting for her!!

SmitoniusAndSonata said...

A model student .
As for the bandanna ..... well, she does drool , you've said so yourself !
( Not that that was why we wore ties at school. That was to keep us at the back quiet during Geography etc. Teasing threads out of my tie and turning it into textile art kept me from running amok .)

Anonymous said...

A very good first report card for young miss Florence: pretty, charming AND smart!

flwrjane said...

Ah, hell i have on a fleece vest and am going to walk the dog. But i'm also wearing rolled up, ripped jeans and flip flops. Is thatat all redeeming>

Good dog.

"Sunshine" said...

Love her attire and her accomplishments. A little concerned about your kitties though and little doggie. I think they're concerned too bark, bark, meouw, meouw..

Lesley said...

I've just shown George a picture of Flossie, his new girlfriend, and he's very keen to meet her but thinks the bandanna will get in the way of stick fighting and rolling down the hill together into the vale . . . oh no, two dogs to shower.

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