Well Banjo has been sprung from the po po. woo hoo. lol…lot o O’s.
Let’s just say it has been an interesting first few days. Here is how it went down:
Sunday 9 am Banjo’s mom arrives at the kennel. Trainer/Parent review and education ensues. Banjo is doing quite well. Obeys, wants to please, is happy, and understands what is happening. All is good.
11:00 am Banjo arrives home for the first time in 6 weeks. He is greeted by his pack with good will, there is joy and happiness. No other human is home but me. It is peaceful and fun.
3 pm a new dog arrives to live with us. He is accepted smoothly with no issues.
From that moment on the rest of the evening is smooth as glass. Fun, obedient, orderly. All is great. And then….
Monday morning. I leave out of town for two days on business. I arrive at 9 am from my flight to the phone ringing off the hook. Banjo and one other dog have run off. No where to be found. Family is either late for work or school. I tell them to just go and hope the dogs will be ok. 11 am, I get a call from a local animal hospital that they have my dogs. Some good Samaritan picked them up and brought them in. I either needed to come get them, or the police would be called.
Great…I’m 1000 miles away, everyone is at work or school….ugh. I got hold of someone who was able to get them and lock them up at home. Ok, that is great. All is well. I give specific instruction on how to manage Banjo and the other dog. Commands, not suggestions!
Monday night, 8 pm…the phone rings. Do I really want to answer it? Sigh… Guess what one of the dogs (possible 2 dogs) have made a biological mess of my carpet – at epic proportions. So bad no one will clean it. Literally. It was waiting for me when I got home. It was horrible.
I get home, I organize the dogs and suddenly there is peace. They are all 4 laying at my feet sleeping and content. I say come they come, I say down they lay down. No barking, fighting, or messes in the house.
So I call the trainer. She is going to set time aside to come visit the humans and train them. The dogs get it. The humans do not. So, human training 101 will begin next week. Hopefully we can get this right.
Good luck to us.
Tags: Alan Lomax, Arts, Banjo, Dog, Mike Springer, Pete Seeger, Texas Gladden, Woody Guthrie