[pyrnet] Misery, and Newman's training

[Rhonda Collins <rhonda@castlepublishing.com>]

I knew people were alive out there, albeit buried under "life".  I have 
been SOOO sick. I don't ever recall my throat hurting this bad, and I wake 
in the morning with my eyes so glued together, it's awful. And my nose is 
about to fall off, it's so raw.

On the upside, we've been working hard keeping up with Newman's training 
after graduating from class. He's doing very well with most stuff. When I 
call him, he generally comes at a lope (of course he knows he always gets a 
treat, so why not?). His sits, downs, and waits are damn near perfect, 
although he does get impatient and starts wanting to get up and I have to 
go "Ack!" to make him go back to what he was doing. If I'm eating on a tray 
in the living room, he is SOOOO funny. He comes up, hopefully drooling, and 
I say, "Get back!" At which he barks in irritation. I say, "No...get BACK!" 
So he backs up a few feet and I say, "Down" and he goes down, and I'll toss 
him a treat. I tell him to Wait, and he lays his head down and glowers at 
me. Periodically I'll toss him something with a "Oh, you're such a GOOOOOD 
boy!" Then, as I get up, I tell him, "Okay" (his release word) and he trots 
on my heels to the kitchen, where I always let him have the last bite. When 
we're in the kitchen cooking, he knows to "get out of the kitchen" and 
"wait". It's really funny because he'll actually come in from outside just 
to have the privilege of "staying out of the kitchen", because it means 
treats. LOL! If he gets an ice cube, he knows to "take it outside", and 
whenever we have to leave him home, he knows to "go to the bathroom".

"Get down" off the couch is a bit tougher. He loves looking out the window.

I just wish he wasn't so bad about getting brushed and getting his nails 
clipped, but I'll just have to get around that. Guess I'll have to devise 
someplace where I can cross-tie him like I would a horse. Wonder if I could 
devise a belt to put under his belly to keep him from sitting down so I can 
do the hair on his butt and tail?

We need to take him over to Pet Smart and do some work on his sitting 
politely to be greeted and sitting and waiting patiently whenever WE stop 
to browse. It's a convenient place to weigh him, too. Last time we weighed 
him, he was 109 lbs, an that was back on Jan 5th--the same day he broke my 
finger. I'm betting he's up to 120+ lbs by now. He's looking very "lean" 
currently, and I imagine he's going through a growth spurt.

Well...headed back to bed. Got up to cough for about ten minutes.