Crossed Paws

My last dog, Chance used to cross his paws on a regular basis. I thought that was unique, but as I asked around to dog owners, it was a trait common to dogs. It was just new to me.

The morning Shadow arrived, he lay down on his doggy bed and crossed his paws at once. I had to take his picture and though he was tired from his long trip, he put up with this new giant flashing a bright light in his face. It didn't stop him from falling fast asleep. He was such a beautiful little pup laying there. I was happy at his arrival.

Now, about nine months later, he is much larger and self assured. It is learning time. And one of his new commands is "Cross Paws" for the verbal and a my crossed wrists as a visual cue. He hasn't got it yet, but I can see his little brain churning to figure out what I want. At this point, the commands he absolutely knows are few. He will respond both verbally and visually to Sit, Down, Come, Go in your house, Get in the car/van/boat. He is having a little difficulty with "Stay" as do most puppies I've worked with. Their attention span is short when they are young and the new commands will be learned over time through repitition.

We have many small lizards running in our yard. Shadow is beginning to notice them. When we go out the front door he is still on a leash; I don't want him running to the neighbor's trash bins and finding chicken bones. I keep him on a retractable leash and if I am going to be working on something, I'll snap his leash somewhere close to my task. He likes the proximity. He is beginning to stalk the lizards. Basically, he ignored them for months, but now they hold his fascination; he will "point" at them and slowly inch towards them, totally intent on their every move. He hasn't caught one yet, but I'm sure he will eventually.

Shadow has all his canine instincts intact. One evening as I was taking him out, he charged towards something. He made no sound and there was a huge whoosh as a creature rushed to a tree and climbed very fast. Shadow tried to follow but tree climbing is not a dog skill yet. Turned out to be a huge raccoon. The guy was easily three times Shadow's size but in the animal kingdom, the players know their roles. I ran inside my house for a camera but by the time I got back, the coon was thirty five feet up and hiding behind the leavers and branches. I shined a flash light upwards and all I could see was the light reflecting from his eyes. No picture that night. The whole time, Shadow's attention was on his prey and didn't make a sound. I wondered about that.