Tatonka and I finished out the year with a trip to the ski resort, our first one this season. Mostly this went without a hitch, despite the extensive avalanche control bombing which meant the group did an extended obedience session while we waited for the lifts to start up. Tatonka didn't mind the loud noises in the slightest, but he did have an attention issue with the plethora of roaming dogs Girdwood is known for. After stepping out of the lineup to regain his attention, he performed his appointed tasks well.
Our biggest challenge has been loading him onto the chairlift. He is happy to unload at the top and to ride along and eat cookies and check out the scenery and to ski along between my legs. It's just the getting on the bench he has struggled with. Lucky for him his human finally found something that just might work. But it's going to take a little off resort work with him to get it all lined out. I have to find a way to get him to do something he historically has gotten in trouble for: facing the wrong direction when at attention by my side. Then he can see the chair coming and jump his entire body onto it, not just the front half and have me pull the rest of his 100 pound body up onto me. It's just as fun as it sounds.
Then we will figure out how to side slip down really steep terrain. Sounds like fun, no? I've got just the hill for it and it's close to the house, so I suspect most nights you will find us there in the coming weeks for a short session of 'How not to die or hurt your dog while on skis on a steep slope'. Tickets available at the door.
Then, and only then, will the mountain be ours completely. Until then, we'll just keep riding that learning curve to the sky.
Tatonka and I finished out the year with a trip to the ski resort, our first one this season. Mostly this went without a hitch, despite the extensive avalanche control bombing which meant the group did an extended obedience session while we waited for the lifts to start up. Tatonka didn't mind the loud noises in the slightest, but he did have an attention issue with the plethora of roaming dogs Girdwood is known for. After stepping out of the lineup to regain his attention, he performed his appointed tasks well. 
Our biggest challenge has been loading him onto the chairlift. He is happy to unload at the top and to ride along and eat cookies and check out the scenery and to ski along between my legs. It's just the getting on the bench he has struggled with. Lucky for him his human finally found something that just might work. But it's going to take a little off resort work with him to get it all lined out. I have to find a way to get him to do something he historically has gotten in trouble for: facing the wrong direction when at attention by my side. Then he can see the chair coming and jump his entire body onto it, not just the front half and have me pull the rest of his 100 pound body up onto me. It's just as fun as it sounds.
Then we will figure out how to side slip down really steep terrain. Sounds like fun, no? I've got just the hill for it and it's close to the house, so I suspect most nights you will find us there in the coming weeks for a short session of 'How not to die or hurt your dog while on skis on a steep slope'. Tickets available at the door. 
Then, and only then, will the mountain be ours completely. Until then, we'll just keep riding that learning curve to the sky. 
1 comment:
Who wouldn't want to ride along on the chairlift and eat cookies?...Samantha and Jasper might even sit still for that.
Post a Comment