Chip Trial Day 2 evening

SUMMARY: More Chip notes

Fixed my pocket camera. Whew! (Just a bent cover piece that affected the lens cover opening. Thank you, WWW, for having all the answers!)

• Fetch. He almost fetches. Sometimes brings it back partway, sometimes all the way, sometimes not at all. Wants us to chase him, at which point he'll scoop it up (if we take a step towards it). Neither Boost nor I will play that game, however.
• Catching. Doesn't seem to have the idea of catching things--toys, food, whatever. Seems startled that things would actually land on him. More experiments needed. Easy-peasy to teach a dog to catch if he doesn't already do it (in my experience so far).
• Bone. He found an old bone that the dogs had lost interest in. Has been carrying it around and chewing on it delicately off and on. Nice that he's got that. Of course, now that he thinks it's cool, so does Boost (who has paid no attention to it for months).
• Dog door. He so far hasn't shown a clue about how to use the doggie door. I am happy with that at the moment; means that I can keep tabs on him more easily during the times when I let him off leash.  I seem to recall thinking that about Tika and Boost, too, but then after 2 or 3 days, poom!, they figured it out on their own. He watches with amazement as the Merle Girls bip through a solid wall! And is a bit offput by the flap flapping back behind them. I think he'll figure it out eventually.
• Zoomies. Chip got the Zoomies in the yard in a big way after dinner, and I encouraged him by saying go go go! and giving the Play Fingers as he went by. Would be nice to have a dog who could be exercised that way if needed.
• Mouth. He has some mouthiness that I'm not keen on. Grabbed my hand a little more firmly when cleaning his paws this evening. I held his collar and told him firmly No. Later, we were playing with a toy, practicing having him Give it to me and I give it back. Doing pretty good. Then he grabbed my hand once as I took the toy. He got  a collar grab and No on that one, too.  He's not biting, but it is him trying to get the upper hand. Or mouth, whatever. Something to watch.  It's true that he barely knows who I am yet, but that's not something he should do even so.
• Relaxing. After another walk, some playing in the yard, dinner, and a bit more general wandering around, I suddenly realized that all 3 dogs were sacked out on the floor around me, snoozing. Chip is starting to relax, trying out the various dog beds, even closing his eyes for a while. 
  
• Tired Human Mom. I am so, so tired. Other than moving a bunch of things around (including his huge and heavy crate), also standing and sitting and inning and outing and managing 3 dogs on leash for *two* walks today and a whole lot more bending over than usual... emotionally, mentally, physically worn out, and my back is aggravated. I feel that it was all worthwhile, though.  I bought hot dogs this evening but ran out of energy to do more treat-based training.  At this point, everything I do with him I'm evaluating or training even if it's play. It's important that he have fun and enjoy doing things with me. And it's important for him to learn a lot of things that i need him to know. I *do* try to make training = play almost all the time. But it's a higher level of intensity than I've really put out for a while the the dogs. Well, certainly I don't have to train everything all at once.