He is far more popular than I will ever be.
Everyone loves him and he showers all with cuddly devotion.
We started attending a beginner obedience class as a prerequisite to the therapy “Pet Partners” training I want to do with him in April so he and I can visit hospitals and nursing homes.
Needless to say, he outshines everyone in the beginners class, but it is helping me learn more about what he knows.
I suspect he is very well trained, although I do not know the cues and commands to bring that out.
For one thing I found that if he is on leash and the leash drops to the floor, he will stop dead in his tracks as soon as he realizes nobody is holding the other end!
I tested this by calling him and trying to entice him to come with a treat, but so long as the leash is lying on the floor he will look at the leash then look at me as if to say – “I’m confused, what do you want me to do?”, but he will not move.
This comes in very handy when I am loading and unloading his stairway to get him into the car. Yes, I have a stairway!
It is an accordion folding contraption of 4 carpeted steps the folds and unfolds to reach the back seat of the car.
I got it for me because I was hurting my back lifting him into the car.
But it turns out those calcifications on his front legs have fused those joints and the vet said Pax could be in serious trouble if he re-injures those joints jumping down (probably how he injured them in the first place, probably by repeatedly jumping out of the back of a pickup truck).So now the stairway gets unfolded coming and going.
Fully opened it is about 7 feet wide and Pax does look like “His Lordship” getting in and out of the car.
The good news though is he seems far less bothered by his back or joint issues.
We walk 20-30 minutes every day after lunch and lately we jog for the first half (downhill) and walk our way back.
He has a real spring to his step and can definitely out run and out last my energy.
He does that cute little twirly thing a lot
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