Friday, October 20, 2006

She Learns!

When little Luna came to us, she knew nothing. OK, maybe not “nothing.” She had some street smart skills - like scavenging through garbage cans, but she didn’t know any basic simple commands like “sit,” “down,” “off,” etc. She didn’t have a clue about walking on a leash and she even jumped up on table tops because she just didn’t know any better. Well, fortunately, we have managed to undo some of her bad habits, such as the standing on table tops and leash walking. (She’s not perfect at the whole leash thing but at least she pretty much stays on the path, now.) Through much training and practice, she has mastered the sit command.

However, what we are really pleased to brag about today, though, is that for the first time, she has achieved the down command on a semi-regular basis. We used to think that it was impossible for her to ever get a grasp on this because she always seemed to want to keep her derriere in the air. Well, at long last, she has gained a clue to the command of “down.” We wouldn’t say she has aced it quite yet, but it did seem like a huge breakthrough. If you have ever seen “The Miracle Worker” it was similar to the scene where Annie Sullivan helps Helen Keller learn the sign for “water.” As a matter of fact, we giggled amongst ourselves that she CAN learn! Talk about teaching an old dog new tricks! It can be done, but believe you me, it is so much easier when they are puppies!