New Collar and a Sick Friend

This week has been very busy so far, and I'm glad the weekend has come so I can give Nicki a little more attention. One of his little Guinea Pig brothers has a small yeast infection and most of my time has been used caring for him. Nicki has been very patient with him, allowing Squeeky to sit next to him when he's being medicated and not chasing after him when he's drying off from his baths. Nicki's new collar has been ordered/made! It's a custom one from a woman who makes them at her home. For those of you wondering it is from My Dog Flair, and Nicki was very happy to be measured. Afterwards he wanted to play with his rope, of course, and ended up knocking stuff over.

Ducklings

Nicki has been a good sport about the ducklings that hatched in our bush months ago. Now that the mother has abandoned the remaining six, the tend to stay in our yard. Thankfully Nicki has gotten a little bit better about his instincts to chase the ducks. On their visit today I had him on short leash and allowed him to get steadily closer to the ducklings. He barked once, and I turned and walked back down the yard. Once he had become calm again I walked back, this time the ducklings ran right up to us. I had Nicki sit, and watched his reaction, he seemed confused about what the small things swarming around his paws were. I have to admit, I think he's making progress!

Inspiration

While I was working on a small speech I was going to give on behalf of all the neglected animals of the world, I looked down and saw Nicki. I couldn't really think of anything to write, and suddenly when I saw that dog sitting at my feet my head was full of thoughts. He was a survivor, all rescue animals are survivors. None of them deserve to die, they just need to find their place in this world where they can be loved and understood. Nicki was just one of the millions. My hands started typing like mad and I just couldn't stop, there was too much to write, I couldn't fit it all into one speech. The pain they must feel, the hope slipping away each day, but still burning eternally in their souls at the same time. I couldn't take it and a tear escaped my eye just thinking about it. Today's paragraph wasn't about training, it was about Nicki doing something he and other dogs do all the time: Inspiring people. Thanks to Nicki, I understand the world a little better, and the things in it even more. I hope the people whom I am giving the speech to will see the same things I see and understand after hearing the speech that Nicki helped me write.

More Rain

There was more rain today which altered training a bit more. Instead of working on outside training, we worked on his 'Drop it' command, he actually complied several times in a row, which means he is making great progress! Another thing I went over with him was his relationship with other dogs besides Lady, he's always had a slight problem, but he's making progress as long as it isn't near our home. 

Rainy Days

It was rainy today, which messed up a bit of the training we were putting Nicki through, but at the same time enhanced it. He was puzzled by the idea of rain falling from the sky and kept looking up at it, then back at me before he walked to the door and impatiently pawed at it. I think we made a little progress today, or at least we reached an understanding, I could play with, and mess around with him outside, but he would decided when it was time to go in. I'm fine with this arrangement, as long as walks will now be more enjoyable.

A Great Day

Today was a great day for Nicki! He officially got his first Facebook page, and officially doesn't go after the ducks, he has even seemed to make friends with one brave duckling nickname Butter since she's the only yellow one. This is a huge improvement from the same dog who used to chase after everything that moves! Also, he seems to have caught the hearts of many on Facebook as Nicki's Life. We're still getting him used to playing outside. 

Tennis Balls

Nicki has always had a love of Tennis balls, even when he was that small sickly puppy we saved from being put down. He almost always has one near him, or in his mouth. There's just one strange thing: He won't play with them outside, he just gets so distracted by other things, for example the neighbor's dog, Lady, that he just abandons them. A few days ago I decided to try an experiment, and threw the ball out the door just onto the porch and let Nicki chase after it, sure enough as soon as he felt the feeling of the porch he dropped the ball and began sniffing around in the grass. I tried it several times and got the same results. We're going to work on this, because we all love being outside and want to see if Nicki will find a way to concentrate on the ball so we can start bringing him to more dog parks, and other fun places.