Camp life and dog training

Almost every morning in our campsite, a group of three Gray Jays would visit. They are such gregarious birds who whoop and try to make friends with everyone. I love Gray Jays.

Around our campsite, mushrooms were popping up everywhere, including these very poisonous Amanatis mushrooms. I noticed the Gray Jays pecking at the mushrooms, and thought sadly that I was seeing them eat their last meal. Since coming home, I've learned that Gray Jays can eat these mushrooms with no ill effects. Indeed, the Jays might have been visiting our campsite specifically for the purpose of eating the 'shrooms.

Some of you might remember that our dogs have gotten into trouble by eating mushrooms in the past. Since this species is the most poisonous in our area, I feel lucky that R has absolutely no interest in these bright mushrooms. That was a big relief since R was close to them all the time in our campsite.

R and I continued our training games at our campsite. I am teaching him tricks like "take a bow", retrieving all sorts of objects to my hand, and targeting spots with his paws. That last one, targeting with his front paws, is very helpful with photographing him. I took both of the next two photos at sunset with R's paws targeted on a specific spot.

 Even when he scented something, he kept his paws in place and just lifted his nose.

It's been fun teaching R all sorts of tricks. I never spent a lot of time training him in the past because K would mope jealously. I've found that he's very smart... but, at times, it's almost like trying to train a hyperactive flea. He is so responsive that he hops or jumps or sprints at the slightest change in my body language. It's made me very conscious of what my gestures are *really* telling R.

R also gets frustrated sometimes when he has had enough of thinking hard. I am teaching R some tricks by shaping his motions using a clicker. I love using this training method but a dog has to truly engage his brain to figure out what the trainer is looking for. I need to learn to stop our sessions before sweet R starts barking in frustration!

Ah, what fun we had in that campsite! I love having views like this on the horizon.