Sick AGAIN???

A virus, I guess. Just kinda mildly headachey, mildly upset stomach, tired, can't focus even to read or knit (that's how I know I'm really sick!). Living on hot soup and hot milk with vanilla and honey. :-P

Did I mention I got my laptop running? I can't figure out how to reload the address book to my e-mail or the favorites to IE, but it's running a lot better than it was. (knock on wood)

I haven't felt very much like doing anything for a couple of nights, so I haven't gotten very far with my scarf, darn it. I did get to day three, using camel-hair yarn, which frankly is like using carpet thread after the yak and the guanaco. I did knit up a tiny swatch and swish it around in a bath of tepid water and baby shampoo, then rinsed it and squeezed it in a towel, and it did soften up and fluff up a bit, but I'm pretty disappointed in it. I'll have to rework my list to try to keep it near the ends, away from my face and neck when I wrap up in the finished scarf.

It's warming up here quite a bit and the snow is melting, so Taenzer and Timber are getting out every evening. But I advised a friend to try clicker-training her dog the other day, so thought I might practice what I preached. I decided I would try to teach them to touch a cookie sheet with their back feet. They know how to whap things with their front paws, but I would like them to be aware of other parts of their bodies. Also, it's pretty obvious; I don't have to be super observant--a good thing in my present state of health.

So we've been working on it about 3 nights now--for about maybe 3 minutes apiece. I noticed even the first night that toward the end they were standing on the cookie sheet with their back feet more than their front feet--say, maybe, 51% of the time--but it was obvious that they really didn't have any clue why they were getting clicked/treated. Kind of the same the 2nd night, although the percentage of back feet on cookie sheet was maybe up to 65%. Tonight I think Timber's starting to get it. He hasn't had a lightbulb moment yet--the kind where he looks at me thoughtfully, then very deliberately puts a back foot on the cookie sheet and then looks at me as if to say "Is that what you want?" But several times instead of circling around and walking over the sheet and stopping with his back feet on it, he stepped off to get his treat and then simply stepped backward onto it. I was thrilled and excited. He is such a bright boy!

You can really tell that she's a cross-over dog and he was pretty much clicker-trained from the get-go. He really tries to figure things out--"what was I doing when I heard the click? What should I do to make her give me another treat?" Taenzer is much more excitable and reactive when we're training. It's not that she's not smart, because she's very very intelligent! But she gets excited and then her brain just short-circuits. She's getting better as she gets older, but it can be hard to get her to just take half a second to think. Also, she gets discouraged very easily, although she's slowly learning to keep trying. And she's very food motivated, which can make her easier to train--remember how she was actually doing better than Timber when we were working on loose-leash walking before it got so cold? That was because she was willing to work for treats even outdoors; Timber got all over-loaded by the new smells.

Maybe I'll try getting them to touch my hand with their shoulder next.