A few posts back, I mentioned that Lomax's first puppy raiser warned me to watch out for a water bottle fetish that ultimately, at least in my experience, he seems to have overcome. But our trip to my church's "Fall Festival of Fun" carnival enlightened me as to a few of his other interests.
For example -- and Joanna had also warned me about this one -- he does enjoy balloons. One of the kids had left a very small balloon on the ground behind a table, and Lomax spied it just before I did; fortunately, a quick "Leave it!" did the trick.
Secondly, there's the basketball obsession. Our obedience class meets at a park next to a basketball court where there's always a spirited pickup game; we were placed at the end of the line one night, which I thought would be good because there would only be dogs on one side of us. Lomax was perfectly focused and alert...until the game started and a pack of wildly flailing, smack-talking, "BOOyah"-ing young men sped past us, laughing and swatting at each other on their way to the hoop nearest us.
BOIIINNNNNGGGGG! Lomax snapped. Lunge, wag, spring, pull. NOOOOOOOOOOOO! Jenny responded. Pop, command, correct, control. I did get his focus back, but every time the guys were on our end of the court, he wanted to go play.
I thought it was the running and excitement that had captured his attention, but at the Fall Festival, I noticed a similar theme. We heeled past the bounce house full of giggling and shrieking kids, no problem. Tables full of food, didn't even look. Speakers blasting music, no big deal. Free-throw shoot, BOIIINNNNNGGGGG!
Hmm. Let's try this again. Bean bag toss, been there. Ring toss, done that. Bowling with some 2-liter soda bottles and a basketb--BOIIINNNNNGGGGG!
I suspect Lomax's real ambition is to become a point guard for the Lakers.
Don't get me wrong, I'd be fine with that if I thought he would use the exorbitant salary to pay his share of the rent, maybe pitch in for the gas money I'm spending to drive him around town all the time. But I suspect he'd get swept up in the sports celeb scene and fritter away his millions on balloons, babes and bling. He's very smart, but I'm concerned about his financial savvy and his discernment when it comes to gold-digging Golden Retrievers.
So we've had a long talk, and despite his initial protestations that "Air Bud" was very successful and popular with the chicks, I think we've agreed that guide work is a much more noble and important career. I assured him that girls find him plenty attractive without the uniform and the tattoos. But in a spirit of compromise, I'm letting him keep this.
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2 comments:
I feel compelled to add a postscript here, just to say that at LAST night's obedience class, my little point guard's behavior was much more focused as the basketball was going by. =)
Hi Lomax,
I think a dog with a "true" job is much more appealing than one of those over-rated point guards! Although I'm sure having their salary is pretty nice. *giggle* So you keep up the good work, you can always play bball on your off time!
~Woof!
Storm
PS: My mommie says that your mommie's "sign on" name is cool that it goes perfect with her name. She liked that song, way back when.
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