New Big Fluffy Toys

SUMMARY: Lambchop, poor little Lambchop.

Oddly--or maybe not--I couldn't get over Luke and/or Chip trying to disembowel the giant squirrel toy that I bought for Remington the Squirrelhünd when he completed his NADAC championship. None of Tika or Jake or Boost was ever as excited about it, so it has remained intact in the living room behind the chair with the Special Living Room Toys for a dozen years, although we all played with it from time to time.

New dogs--Luke loved it! But when one or the other of he or Chip started to open up a seam and pull its stuffing out, I hid it away.  Silly human emotional things over a probably inexpensive toy.

SO I ordered these (about $13 each) from a favorite, Chewy.com, the other day, and they're already here! (One of the reasons I love that site.)

And here's what happened.

(1) Joy!

(2) True love!

(3) Destruction!  (Nice work, Chip, didn't even take 15 minutes before you started in on him.)

Luke officially in Taj Mutthall

SUMMARY: He now has his own photo in the right sidebar here--big ears and all.

What exactly is "high drive"? And is it useful?

SUMMARY: Luke might have some, but also has some other stuff.

I've used the term "high drive for Luke when he's focusing on certain things: Catching that lizard. Getting someone to play with him and his Flatball. In those cases, his energy never flags and it takes a superhuman effort to distract him, but he is deliberately going to work on those tasks with a single purpose in mind.

I have also used the term “overstimulated” for him, which is in just about any newer situation or when random dogs appear on the horizon (say, while we’re walking in the park).

Although some of the appearance is the same–takes superhuman effort to distract him–I have always recognized the difference in him. In the first case–high drive–he is focused and not frantic. In the second case — overstimulated–he is frantic and barely aware of who or what is around him other than the one or thousands of things that are setting off synapses in his brain.

Interesting that another dog friend just pointed out this article, High Drive Dogs (drive vs. arousal), a fairly quick read.