Stella and I went downtown on Monday (along with about twenty thousand other people) and shot a few pictures of the flood water. We also went to a couple of other places we normally walk and though the water was gone, the damage was significant. One thing many people tend to overlook in this town is the number of hills and creeks there are before you ever get to the Cumberland River. They're where the trouble started. The river didn't rise until the sun was already out.
One thing that became apparent (and I don't mean to minimize anyone's disaster) after the water receded was how filthy the streets of Nashville usually are. On Monday they were sparkling clean with the exception of the worst areas, which is of course where all the dirt and litter ended up. Once everything is under control I think Nashville should launch a campaign, I mean - one would think a city worthy of a half a billion dollar convention center would also have clean streets, no?
Tricky Treat
About two weeks ago, Stella and I took neighbor Judy to see the doctor. We usually walk the fitness trail around their parking lot (it's a hospital) while Judy sees the doctor and along the route we pass a preschool. When we passed it that day, the kids were all playing in a fenced area and their teacher took this opportunity to teach them the word "dog". Naturally, they all ran over to the fence and waved to Stella. I told Stella to sit and she did and I thought to myself, wouldn't it be great if Stella could wave back?
That night I decided to try teaching her this trick and it took about five tries before she did it perfectly. I expect it'll be a while before she'll do it for strangers out in the world but when she does...it'll be serious fun. On that note, training one dog to do a trick is pretty simple. Training a whole pack of dogs to do synchronized tricks is something altogether different and I'm glad I don't have that on my list of things to do anytime soon. Check out this incredibly fun video sent in by regular visitor, Susan Rose.(Thanks Susan)
5 comments:
Oh I LOVED that video!! Would you mind it if I shared that on my blog?? Thanks fot showing it to us - it jsut made th start of my day :-)
Not a bit Colleen, go for it. It made mine too. I didn't look up that training method. I hope it doesn't involve a cattle prod :)
It seems that most disasters have a bit of an up side (however small it may be). I'm glad your streets are clean.
If Stella masters the waving trick, her popularity will skyrocket. She'll be known as "that sweet Pit Bull who waves."
Thanks for posting the doggie drama. I googled and found an article about the "Mirror Method"... http://www.examiner.com/x-7431-Clicker-Training-Examiner~y2010m3d28-Hungarian-clicker-trainers-and-the-Mirror-Method-of-dog-training
Waving is so fun. I taught Miss M. that trick, and she loves doing it at corners, and people stop and point and wave back. It was her waving that got us noticed to show of her high-five and end up in the Chicago Tribune. Everyone loves a performing dog!
Yeah, the waving thing is cool as hell, I can't wait to see her do it....
Love the pic of you guys in the parabolic mirror.....
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