Potato, a Book Cat

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Potato, a Book Cat On 6/10/2019 I said goodbye to my long time reading cohort, my original Book Cat, CatCat. This is his journey.

On 6/13/2019 I started a new chapter with Potato, an Apprentice Book Cat.

When you walk a black puppy in October...
06/10/2024

When you walk a black puppy in October...

Tea time...(These two are the biggest snoops in the neighborhood.)
01/10/2024

Tea time...(These two are the biggest snoops in the neighborhood.)

Everyone else is at Oktoberfest this weekend, we are doing everything except Oktoberfest. PA work with parking ramp nav...
28/09/2024

Everyone else is at Oktoberfest this weekend, we are doing everything except Oktoberfest. PA work with parking ramp navigation, a trip to Duluth Trading Company, (for which I have overall envy, yes, the kind you wear). I saw them and wasn't thinking fashion, but great outdoor yard work/dog work piece for the colder months.

We hit Menards and tour the seasonal decor, giant inflatables and singing automatons included. Did a pharmacy run, grabbed a few grocery essentials, and lunch at Culver's. Marlowe got to shred the drink holder for a job well done.

Of all things bright and beautiful, this boy is among the brightest. We did tool switching tonight after I got off work...
26/09/2024

Of all things bright and beautiful, this boy is among the brightest. We did tool switching tonight after I got off work. The Little Trane loop on gentle leader just to practice and proof our loose lead skills and heel position. Absolutely beautiful work from Marlowe. It is times like this I see the full potential of this puppy.

Sweet natured and reserved, as well as the wrong colour, Marlowe was the last of his litter, but exactly what we needed.

In the year we've had him, I never expected to come as far as we have as quickly as we have. Yes, he's a puppy and we have frustrating days when you wonder why you keep trying and then you get a day like today. A good walk with an even better dog.

One of the things I appreciate about the Pammel Creek Trail is that certain areas are essentially fenced in. These area...
25/09/2024

One of the things I appreciate about the Pammel Creek Trail is that certain areas are essentially fenced in. These areas are perfect for training things like recall without worrying that your dog will get distracted and run into the road, but also allow for some distance. (Please note the I also do observe trail etiquette and use drop lead with Marlowe only when the trail is empty.)

Tonight we did 'sniffy recalls'. Basically, Marlowe would get distracted smelling a tree while I got more than 300 feet up the trail before he noticed. Once he did...Full speed sprint into his heel position, which he overshot by fifteen feet because he was going too fast. Fun was had by all.

Rueful Confessions: Training Styles. Both Marlowe and Rue Dog are smart dogs, but learn in very different ways. Marlo...
23/09/2024

Rueful Confessions: Training Styles. Both Marlowe and Rue Dog are smart dogs, but learn in very different ways.

Marlowe is what I call a warp drive dog, essentially you give him the premise of a skill and he will jump straight to the completed chain of steps within one or two tries. He jumps from first skills to the complete routine without needing to show his work.

Rue Dog on the other hand is a step by stepper, (he is also a cheat and a con, always hoping to get something for nothing), so we have to be consistent and firm with him. It's not that he doesn't know what we're asking of him, he just thinks he doesn't need to do it.

Right now I'm working on teaching both boys to step up onto an elevated surface and circle around it using only their back paws. I started yesterday afternoon and Marlowe has the 'step up' portion of the task down unprompted. He has also now freely moving his rump around it counterclockwise (dominant side) and clockwise with a prompt. (Basically, I take a step toward him and he shifts a step in the clockwise (nondominant) direction around the circle. He is 90% of the way there with thirty minutes of work.

With Rue Dog we are on the 'step up' portion. He will touch the step with his paws multiple times, on one foot or the other, but rarely both together and with this skill bothe paws are crucial. Dude knows this, so he tries every combination possible to get a treat without actually doing the one thing I want him to do. He is testing for loopholes in the system.

Seems like a lot of work fir a pretty pointless skill, but I have a reason for doing so. With Marlowe it is about developing is proprioception for his agility, hiking, and rally. While with Rue Dog, it is about maintaining strength and tone to his hindquarters. At fourteen he does have some age related muscle tone loss. This skill helps restore that tone by targeting the rump area. Essentially, it is doggy PT.

Home reset days just make everything better. While we keep things tidy, cleaning is still a weekly necessity. Laundry,...
21/09/2024

Home reset days just make everything better. While we keep things tidy, cleaning is still a weekly necessity. Laundry, vacuuming...the whole shebang. And I will be honest, having a smaller domicile makes reset days a lot more manageable. Living in a space you can handle comfortably makes a huge difference.

Potato Cat is 'helping' with laundry...
21/09/2024

Potato Cat is 'helping' with laundry...

20/09/2024

Faith is a Firefly

Sitting on the porch
its weathered cement
hot water bottle warm

Grandpa's standing
just a little bit behind
as we watch the lights
in the old fir grove

nature's fireworks
begin in earnest
as day slips away

the thought blooms
the words spilled
I couldn't catch them

but I realised
those words

they're true...

faith is a firefly

Grandpa understood

This book has been on my covet list for a while. I'm about two chapters in so far and it doesn't disappoint. I have tw...
19/09/2024

This book has been on my covet list for a while. I'm about two chapters in so far and it doesn't disappoint. I have two very intelligent dogs, yet they both learn in very different ways.

Try and break a new command into steps and Marlowe will look at you like you're stupid for assuming he's stupid. Ask the puppy for the whole caboodle and he'll nail it.

Rue Dog needs steps, but assimilates each step after one repetition. He learns quickly, but you need to show your work.

Lessons of Potato, Book Cat: It is amazing how quickly we are capable of adapting. We look back at what was and it bec...
12/08/2024

Lessons of Potato, Book Cat: It is amazing how quickly we are capable of adapting. We look back at what was and it becomes harder to remember when that was our normal.

Lessons of Potato, Book Cat: As we look back we learn that the pain of loss does not ever diminish, but rather, we cont...
11/06/2024

Lessons of Potato, Book Cat: As we look back we learn that the pain of loss does not ever diminish, but rather, we continue to grow around it day by day.

Today marks five years since we said goodbye to CatCat. It is also Marlowe's first birthday. As well as a new start for a local abandoned kitty, who is now off the street and safe at our local humane society. Thursday is Potato Cat's fifth Gotcha Day, too.

Lessons of Potato, Book Cat: Shiny Object Syndrome: A malady wherein your social media accounts get hijacked by your e...
29/05/2024

Lessons of Potato, Book Cat: Shiny Object Syndrome: A malady wherein your social media accounts get hijacked by your extremely photogenic, athletic, and charming younger fur sibling (yes, we are talking about you, Marlowe...).

Don't panic. You are still loved as noted by a glass of filtered water on the kitchen table and unsupervised access to the entire house. The dogs are always...and I mean ALWAYS supervised.

Confessions of an Aussie Boy: Plant nerd, plant nerd what do you see?Sometimes it is hard to understand what your perso...
04/05/2024

Confessions of an Aussie Boy: Plant nerd, plant nerd what do you see?

Sometimes it is hard to understand what your person sees in this strange, leafy hobby. You can't eat it, play with it, chew on it, or wrestle with it...

🐾 🌱

Confessions of an Aussie Boy: Today is World Book Day and I definitely get my name from books. When your person loves ...
23/04/2024

Confessions of an Aussie Boy: Today is World Book Day and I definitely get my name from books. When your person loves the Indiana Jones movies and romance novels and calls you Marlowe Jones. Mr. Jones when you're in hot water. Still working on the Doggy Life Skills Dissertation for the doctorate.

.Jones 🐾

Lessons of Potato, Book Cat: Persians like Hobbits wisely held gardeners in very high esteem. On a scholarly note from ...
18/03/2024

Lessons of Potato, Book Cat: Persians like Hobbits wisely held gardeners in very high esteem.

On a scholarly note from Encyclopedia.com:

The word paradise originated from Old Persian pairidaeza, which meant "walled enclosure, pleasure park, garden."

Confessions of an Aussie Boy: Sometimes we get so busy we forget about the bananas on the counter. The green ones are ...
14/03/2024

Confessions of an Aussie Boy: Sometimes we get so busy we forget about the bananas on the counter. The green ones are now perfectly ripe and the yellow ones are perfect for banana bread.

Right now I have a green banana dog (Marlowe, 9 months) and banana bread dog (Rue Dog, 13 years). I love and adore both of them for totally different reasons. Marlowe is wickedly smart, sweet, and honest as the day is long. This puppy will turn himself inside out to please you. He is an absolute joy to work with, but he still needs plenty of time to just be a puppy.

Rue Dog is noisy, pushy, and just as smart as Marlowe, but he is a con and a cheater. If there is an easy way to do something, he'll find it. He is honestly the most charming jackass of a dog I've ever met.

🐾

Rueful Observations: When you find your people you will know. They will embrace you weirdness and all. They reach out...
24/02/2024

Rueful Observations: When you find your people you will know. They will embrace you weirdness and all. They reach out and learn your dialect of muppet. (In this instance: Pets, plants, and books.)

We did one on one outings with both Rue Dog (Home Depot for the first time) and Marlowe (Book Revolution for settle work). My best friend bought me an awesome Bird's Nest Fern and both boys did really well. This was also the first time we left Marlowe crated at home without Rue Dog. More often than not, Marlowe goes with me or someone is home. This was a first for Mar since we got him back in September.

🐾 🌱

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