(no subject)

One of the banes of dog walking is that Tom tends to go nuts over motorcycles. Other vehicles occasionally too, but especially motorcycles. We're well into spring, so we're well into 'cycle weather.

I've been noticing lately that for the really quiet 'cylces, Tom has been reacting really well: just looking up at me and then going on. We had a nice test today when I went home for lunch to walk him. One of the noisier varieties of motorcycle passed us. As it approached, Tom went into stalker mode. As it came even to us, he took a couple of steps and I could tell he was ready to go. But then he jumped--and instead of jumping toward the motorcycle, he turned in midair and looked at me. He had is "laughing" face on. He didn't even bark. I don't think I even said anything or tugged on the leash. I may have clicked my tongue a little to try to draw his attention. Other than that, he made the decision not to go into a frenzy all on his own. Needless to say, he got a treat and lots and lots of praise for that!

I'm confident that there are plenty of episodes of nuttiness to come. But today's little episode makes me think that my puppy really is starting to turn into a dog.

(I bet that after all of this bragging, Tom's going to bark like a demon at every car he sees on our walk tonight.)