Jax-I

How's the dog? Well, after a two week hiatus from puppy class we have developed enough bad habits to take us forward for a while. Jax exceeded even his normal exuberance this past Tuesday night, reducing H to utter frustration. The other owners apparently persist in tranquilizing their dogs with heavy sedatives before class.

The one activity in which Jax's dynamo showed itself to be both entertaining and within the requirements of the class was during the recall practice. The arena is about a 30ft square in the main room of the building and is bounded by a low gating system to deter the dogs from exits, etc. For the recall exercise one of the handlers would hold the dog at one corner of the arena while the owner would go to the diagonal corner. The handler would then release the dog at approximately the same time that the owner recalls the dog, "Jax, come!" After watching a few dogs trot over to their owners, or maybe wander over while sniffing along the way, it was nice to see Jax excel by doing his best impression of a Saturn rocket on its way into orbit. You could see the fear on H's face as, in the split second that it took Jax to reach escape velocity, she tried to decide whether Jax would be able to stop himself before he ran her over.

In her uncertainty she failed to secure the treat bag.

So when the Jax-I rocket did arrive, H held out her hands in self-defense and the contact sent treats rolling about the floor. This was the perfect opportunity for Jax to demonstrate that the Jax-I comes complete with an anterior Hoover attachment. Once the treats were consumed, Jax and H left the arena as a pair, though H was the redder of the two.

In the next iteration of the same exercise a second handler sat in the arena off to the side of the diagonal linking owner and dog and provided some mild distraction with a tennis ball. I was concerned how Jax would do with such a distraction in play. Never fear. The reason rockets don't have wings is that you don't turn rockets, at least not quickly. Jax noticed the tennis ball as he passed at about Mach 9. He then created something of a mess of H as he touched her, made a half orbit, and then went back for the ball. When he realized that he'd been duped (that deceitful lady didn't really want to play ball at all) he headed back for H.

Jax slept on the way home, as usual.