Photos and text copyright Romping and Rolling in the Rockies 2009-2017.

All photographs and text within this blog are copyrighted.

You may not copy or repost any photos or text without specific permission from the author of this blog. When in doubt, please ask.

Thursday, January 17, 2019

Thankful Thursday - Our Puppy and Our Big Dogs!

Hachi is changing so fast that it makes my head spin. I thought that you might like to see a bit of him in action, both during training and play.

I made a video to share with you. In the first part of the video, I show you how Hachi used to "demand bark and growl" because he wanted to earn treats but he didn't know how. I think that all of his noise was simply frustration.

I decided to ignore all of his noises and to wait for him to make eye contact. I wanted him to start to learn to make eye contact when he wants something rather than doing all that other noisy stuff.

As you watch the first part of the video, imagine that the video camera is on the floor at Hachi's height, and I am standing behind it. Watch for him to flick his eyes upward - that is when he meets my eyes. I click and give him a treat every time he looks at my eyes. Then, I show you a few minutes later - look how fast he learned! And he's barely making any noise at all after he's figured out that he can get treats by making eye contact.


We are so grateful for almost everything about Hachi. Most of all today, we are thrilled to see R starting to really play with Hachi.

As I watched them starting to play for the first time, I realized that R cannot see Hachi very well. He'd open his jaws and bare his teeth but his aim wasn't very good for a play bite.

In response, Hachi laid down on his back, stayed still, and played from that position. I believe that our puppy was "self handicapping" like adult dogs usually do to help puppies not to be afraid of them. Somehow, Hachi knew that their roles needed to reverse for him to get the almost-blind R to play with him. It was wonderful to see.

It sometimes looked like R was blowing Hachi's ears back with his roars!

The two boys played and played. It was SO cool to see Hachi adapting to R's poor vision.
I think that our pack is very lucky to have such a special puppy join us!

29 comments:

  1. his barking and the bell makes a very good song ;O))) ...maybe he will be caninidate at american idol once?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hari OM
    OMD... am I supposed to be feeling this floppy and soppy?!! YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
  3. He caught on really fast making eye contact.
    It was fun to also see him sit with Shyla
    he copied her moves.

    ♥ Astro & Mitzie

    ReplyDelete
  4. they are amazing together and this has warmed the cockles of my heart. the last shot made me laugh really hard. the synchronized sit and down is amazing and love the growls and playing. big boy put his ears up at the first few barks in the video

    ReplyDelete
  5. The cute in your home has reached lethal levels. What an adorable smart little guy!

    ReplyDelete
  6. We sure enjoyed that video, Hachi is smart and adorable and we love seeing the crew together! Thanks for joining the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Loved the videos and it was so much fun to watch Hachi sit and "down" with Shyla. He's a very fast learner! To see him play with R just melts our hearts.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Gr8 Video!!! Too Cute!! Please slip R an extra treat when nobody is watching.

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  9. OMDs I'm grinning so big my face hurts. What a joyful video. Hachi WELL done on being such a quick learner. They sitting was in sync with Shyla too!!
    My mother in law was a tiny woman but she wore a size 8 shoe. She used to tell me she didn't like to wear white shoes because they made her foot look bigger...so that being said, Hachi's front feet look very big for his size or is it just that they are white. I loved the tug of war with Shyla and how sweet he plays with R and vice a versa.
    Hugs Cecilia

    ReplyDelete
  10. Aw, what a great video for Awww Mondays. Just saying.

    Have a woof woof Thankful Thursday all you pups. My best to your mom. ♥

    ReplyDelete
  11. OMG THOSE PAWS!! He is going to be BIG!! I can't get over those white paws! I love when he crossed them earlier in the video. When he was next to his sister on the blue rug he looked so small! I just love him!

    ReplyDelete
  12. It is amazing how quickly dogs learn to adapt and change behavior. Wouldn't it be great if people could do the same?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hachi sure is a special and smart little boy. All you posts give us a huge smile.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I think that your pack is special and wonderful! especially it's thoughtful human mama!!! xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  15. You are killing my resistance:) It is great to see them play together. As for the training, Hachi is a very fast learner. But he also has a very good teacher. Santa brought that same toy here:)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hachi sounds so smart! I love that he's adapting to R and can figure things out. What special pups you have!
    KZK

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wow! PLEASE come train my dogs, lol! Very impressive :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Loving the way the three are learning to play so nicely together! And LOVING the videos of Hachi learning. Isn't clicker training amazing - it really creates a thinking dog! Even if the dog is just a few weeks old. VERY nice.

    Cheers,
    Chris from Boise

    ReplyDelete
  19. It is great to see the older dog playing with the younger ones. No jealousy there which means you did a great job integrating him into the house. You do a fantastic job with your training. I think getting the dogs to look you in the eyes helps when you are taking pictures of them.

    ReplyDelete
  20. love love loved the video, especially the sit and downs with Shyla!
    hugs
    Hazel & Mabel

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hachi is SUCH a smart boy! He shows it not just in his training but in his interactions with his siblings. Love it! My favorite part of the video was he and Shyla doing their sits and downs together!!
    Jan, Wag 'n Woof Pets

    ReplyDelete
  22. Oh my gosh...those little growls...too adorable! So cute watching him play tug-o-war.

    ReplyDelete
  23. All of us are lucky that you have this wonderful puppy. I've been feeling tired and sort of down all day, but now, after watching the video and seeing Hachi playing, I'm all smiles and ready to go and get some work done around here.

    ReplyDelete
  24. What a cute little bundle of energy and fun! He looks like a little rascal :) LOVED the video of he and his sister doing synchronized sits!!

    His bear bell looks so big right now :) Won't be long before it looks tiny compared to his size.

    ReplyDelete

If you are a Blogger registered user, you can skip the step asking you to verify that you are not a spammer. For posts older than 5 days, I have comment moderation turned on.

Thanks for your comments!!!!!