Tag Archives: torque

Torque’s a strange little Frenchie

torque_birdwatchingI’ve been hiding a secret. Torque is a weird little dog.
He doesn’t jump up on stuff. Not chairs, or couches. Not even the bed. He doesn’t even follow Teddy’s naughty ways – kitchen chair to kitchen table to kitchen counter. We’ve learned to keep all edibles off the counter, but not because of Torque.
It took Torque a long time to learn to climb stairs. He’ll climb up if the “steps” are small. And he’ll jump down from anywhere – recklessly, if I don’t watch him.
I’ve asked other trainers I know if they had any ideas to teach him to jump up onto things. All suggested trying to gradually increase the height of whatever I was asking him to jump on. And I tried. He’ll jump on two-inch things. And four. And six. And eight. Then he’s done. I put his dinner dish on a platform measuring 10 inches high. He didn’t eat dinner. He sat there, looking at it, and whining. Or put his front paws on it and tried to grab it. But it never occurred to Torque to jump up to get it.
As everyone with more than one dog can attest, dogs do learn from each other. And almost every evening our family room becomes a racecourse, with Booker, Tango, and Teddy racing around, floor to couch, around and around. And Torque follows along – always on the floor.
It’s a bit unsettling for me. I always planned to do all kinds of performance stuff with Torque, including Obedience, Rally, and Agility. All of which include jumping, to some extent.
And he will jump over stuff that’s lower than his eye level. So he’s doing the jumping I need him to do for our activities.
So I’m going to try to stop worrying about it. At this point, the only consequence of Torque not jumping up is that the other dogs in class might laugh at him. I can deal with that.

Torque the Terrible

sweetTorqueI don’t know whether it’s the change in the weather (a bit warmer), the light (a bit sunnier), his age (almost 16 months now), or what – but Torque, my wonderful, sweet, easy-going boy is turning into a bit of a whirling dervish with an attitude.

Yesterday our friend Alisha and her French Bulldog Moe came for a play date. Moe was good, mellow, and entirely appropriate. Torque went lunging to bite his ears. (He’s an ear-biter from way back, thought we had it under control.) Moe objected – rightfully so. They reached a truce, but never really played.

On Saturday mornings here at the shop there are a couple of obedience classes. If there’s time at the end of class, the instructor usually lets the dogs play, and invites Torque to join in. I was a bit reluctant, based on yesterday’s experience, but since the other two dogs involved are sweet, pit-bull-mix sisters, I thought they’d be safe from “Torque the Terrible.”

Fortunately, they were! The three of them had a grand time chasing each other around and playing. And Torque responded immediately when I called him to me (recall practice!). Then, when the pibbles and their people were leaving, they told me Torque is the only dog to date to stand up to their style of play. A bit much for most other dogs.

No surprise – Torque is, too.

Peace reigns

How do all your dogs get along?

Booker, Teddy and Torque

Booker, Teddy and Torque

It’s a question we hear a lot – between Fran and me, there are four dogs around; her Boston Terrier Booker and Brussels Griffon Tango, and my French Bulldogs Teddy and Torque.

The truth is – they get along great, for the most part. Tango is the oldest and really enjoys pouncing on Torque, growling and, apparently, biting him. Tango doesn’t actually have many teeth, so Torque thinks it’s pretty funny and bounces right back for more.

Torque likes to chew on ears (both human and canine), which the other dogs find annoying and let him know. He’s also the youngest, most easy-going of the bunch, and least likely to sulk or take anything to heart.

Teddy is kind of a cuddly blob. He doesn’t instigate any mischief, but is the object of both Booker and Torque’s teasing play – they’re always trying to get Teddy to join in the fun.

Booker is the most active dog in the house – which makes sense, because he’s a Boston Terrier. If you want a couch potato – this is not your breed. He’s also sweet and playful and incredibly soft – if you can get him to sit still long enough to be petted.

We haven’t (knock wood) had any serious battles among this crew – but that doesn’t mean we’ve always been immune. Many years ago we had a couple of male dogs that would, on rare occasions, get into real, serious spats. Fran made the mistake one time of reaching in and trying to pull them apart. A couple of stitches were her reward.

Ever since then, we’ve had a “puppy battle protocol” which we actually practice, just like fire drills. When you hear a dog fight, raise your hands over your head, wave them around frantically, scream like a banshee and run in the opposite direction.

It astonishes the dogs so much they break off what they’re doing and follow to see what the heck you’re up to. Works every time.

Booker IS a Canine Good Citizen!

booker_cgcOur obedience club, the North Shore Dog Training Club, had its after-session Club Night this last Tuesday, with a CGC test for members and people who train with us. I decided to take the plunge with Booker, as did Hope with Torque. Both Booker and Torque are extremely friendly dogs – they love everyone, and every dog! Part of the test was to walk your dog in a crowd – with other people walking their dogs! That was difficult for both Booker and Torque. Another part of the test was greeting another person who had a dog – and the dogs not say hello to each other! Again, very hard as Booker feels he NEEDS to be a greeter! But both Booker and Torque weren’t extreme in their jumping or trying to say hello, so they passed! And now we can add the title “CGC” after their names!