The Water Resistant Dog ~ Vodotěsný pes

Charlie Mini Clip #1
Originally uploaded by capovak

Especially in this weather, it is impossible to get Charles out of the water. He swims, jumps in - all four legs in the air and he dives his head under, while his fur changes into a wet-suit. I've seen dogs love water, but never really quite like this.

V tomhle horkým letním počasí je skoro nemožný dostat Charlese z vody. Plave, skáče šíbry a potápí hlavu pod vodu, přičemž se jeho srst změní v neoprén. Už jsem viděla hodně psů, co milujou vodu, ale tohle je opravdu speciální případ.

The King of Liben

Charlie is now 6 months old and I his personality is showing. He is quite independent and energetic, loves discovering new things, meeting new people and learning new tricks. He has quite a lot of energy and basically, he goes and does everything with great enthusiasm, until exhaustion. He goes and plays - in the daycare, then we have dog obedience training and agility and at home we learn and practice dog dancing tricks, then we play some more and then he (and I) sleep through entire Saturday.

As far as obedience, he's actually quite good (compared to other dogs his age/not size), but I have to be stricter with him, considering his size (he know weighs over 30 kg!). I have recently taken away his privilege to go on any surface in the household (see above) as he may have felt that he can do (play, bite) whatever he pleases in the apartment. My authoritative position has been somewhat strenghtened by implementation of this new rule, but I've realized that I will always have to work on applying authoritative excersizes with him, as the power struggles come in waves as dog grows older.

Recently, I've been asked by a friend of what is the most valuable thing I've learned at the dog trainings we go to. Firstly, I have learned that whenever the dog is being bad, it's not his age, or not his breed predisposition, it's usually something the master is doing wrong (consistency, not enough patience or not enough praise!). The second thing I've learned, or am in the process of learning, is the fact that after every command there should be a releasing command (the Go Play! command, Volno! in Czech), so that the dog knows, the command has ended.

So have a great weekend everyone and go play! And remember, your dog will do, what you allow it to do!

The First Dip

Originally uploaded by capovak

This Sunday, my dad and I took Charlie on a nice walk, all the way from Liben through Troja to Cisarsky Ostrov and back. The weather was quite nice despite the morning hours in early spring and we all enjoyed the walk.
We walked all the way along the river and I wondered if it was safe to let Charlie off the leash. I didn't know if he could swim and I had no intention of going in in case he needed rescue.

My dad reassured me: "Don't worry, most likely he's scared of water and he's not going to jump in."

Now, look at the picture above; the enthusiasm Charlie has for anything new and the energy he has to do anything should have been a clue.

About 6 seconds after I let Charlie go, I could see almost in slow motion how he fearlessly jumps, all four forward into the river, then a huge splash.

Not sure if his attempt to get back on shore could be classified as knowing how to swim, but he definitely knows how not to drown.