King of The World

Simon, our dog thinks he is king of the world. So much for the Dog Whisperer's idea of me being the lead dog. On our walks he is way up in front leading us instead of us leading him and even when we drive in the driveway he will get up in front and lead us home (Thanks Simon, I wasn't sure which way to go there). He is a good dog though so I'm not too worried about it, anyway who has time for all the training? I'm already training two girls inside the house and besides there is no way on a -30 day that I am going outside to walk him before I give him his food so the whole Dog Whisperer thing is not going to work for me right now.

In addition to being king of our family he is also king of the animal world (in his mind). When meeting another dog he is quick to tell them that he is boss. He even bit our neighbour's dog once, not great for neighbourly relations but I think they've worked it out now and they both stay on their own side of the fence (mostly). He also keeps the wild animals away, there will be no deer eating my tulips. When our neighbour warned us about the problem with coyotes in the area we weren't worried we knew Simon would keep them away. Sure enough Simon is busy all night barking at the coyotes. Preventing them and any wild animals from coming near our property line. Thanks Simon, but I don't mind if you take a night off and maybe not bark outside my window tonight.

Our brave dog did have a couple fears though, car rides, going inside a building with the door closed and since moving to DV, going up onto the deck. Every car ride we have taken him on we had to literally pick him up and put him into the the car/truck and then close the door quick so he didn't jump out. He even barfed all over Curt's truck on the drive from Provost to DV. It was a fair trade I guess since I had to take Roofis to the SPCA. Poor Roofis, I wonder where he is, hopefully with a cat free family somewhere. For some reason since we moved to DV Simon would not come up the stairs to the deck, maybe it was the loss of his friend. He always did with no problem in Provost. Even our front deck that is only 3 steps off the ground was too much for him. If we did manage to get him up he would lay low and jump off as soon as he could. We had been meaning to work on this for a while because it was a bit ridiculous. The other day Curt drug him up onto the deck and held him petting him trying to calm him down. I saw this and ran out with a treat for him. The next day we did the same thing. Yesterday I looked out my window and there was Simon up on the deck on his own. He has apparently conquered his fear. Now I can sit out on my front porch in the summer and have my dog at my feet just like in my imagination.

There he is now up on the deck looking in the window at me. It reminds me of being in Provost, he and Roofis would come and look in the front window in the morning almost saying "if you guys are up why do I not have food in my bowl yet." At least I know I won't ever forget to feed him.

So now I guess he is king of the deck world too.