Cap

At about 17 weeks of age (and after one month with the fox terrier pack), Cap weighs 13.1 lbs (measured on the vet's scales yesterday) and is still between 13.25 and 13.5 inches at the shoulder. I'm leaning to the shorter measurement because I think I got the wicket right over his shoulders this time (practice makes perfect...). He's only gained 0.3 lbs in a week and I've been stuffing him with food.

House training is going much better. I take him out every 20 minutes or so but he seems to be settling into our routine and doesn't pee every time. A lot of that peeing before was probably stress related. I have actually let him loose in the house out of my sight for 60 seconds at a time! Okay, I exaggerate just a bit, but I am letting him wander about a bit more.

His recall and "get in your box" commands are becoming very solid. I continue to treat them nearly every time. His wait in the box for the release word and his stay in a sit or a down are also looking very nice. I'm getting about 6 feet of distance now.

I was in Austin this past weekend to help my flyball club at a tournament (I felt sad not to be running a dog; more on Harry later) and got a chance to watch one of my friends train her dogs in between races. She is a good dog trainer so I thought I'd ask her for some advice on getting Cap to offer a paw touch. It has been frustrating to me that he wouldn't offer this. He uses his paws all the time in play but so far never in training. The terriers start pawing at things right away no matter what and that is sort of what I expected from him. But Cap was not cooperating. I was stuck.

She suggested I use a piece of carpet or some other more familiar object instead of the strange and scary plastic lid.

You know what? It worked like a charm! I put a folded throw rug on the floor and Cap offered a down with his front paws on it immediately. Then we progressed to having him lay down on it. Then I put the plastic lid on the rug. Bam! In less than 10 clicks, he was offering a very deliberate paw onto the plastic lid, even when I moved it around the room. I tested him again on this skill tonight and it is pretty solid. He will even drive back and forth from the mat to the lid over a distance of a few feet. And he also tapped my closed fist with his paw, another game I play with the terriers. He only did it a couple of times so this trick needs a bit of work. But this is a huge breakthrough.

This same flyball friend has papillons and papillon mixes. After seeing her dogs up close, I'm not so sure Cap isn't part papillon too (one of you suggested this and I dismissed it but am now reconsidering). Something in his genetic mix is keeping him small. So I broke down and ordered one of the canine genetic tests. More on that as the story unfolds.

Cap and Mimi in a quiet moment, Jan 2009.

Here's some things I've noticed about Cap.

He walks on his feet, his entire feet. Fox terriers walk on their toes.

When I go to grab his nose, it's like some sort of trick--there's hardly any nose to grab! Along with his shorter face, Cap's got a tongue like a freaking hummingbird. Astonishingly long.

Without a tail, there's not much of a signal that he's generically happy. But when he's super pleased with himself, he wiggles that tiny nubbin on his rear. Very strange. I'm used to terrier tails that never stop moving.

His fur is like duck down, unless he's finished a play session with one of the sisters, then he is totally spooged with spit and his neck fur is all spiky and stiff. I've never owned a dog with a soft coat. The terriers have stiff, coarse hair that lays very close to their bodies and is hell on fleece. Cap has these wispy, microscopically fine hairs that are also hell on fleece but that float in the air.

He politely poops and pees far out in the yard. My lazy terrier bitches may go all of 2 feet from the back door before squatting to pee.

Cap almost always plays with one of the other dogs. The terriers never play among themselves. Too much stress, too much competition. But the tan and whites happily play with Cap, one at a time. (Harry has as little contact with Cap as possible and Dyna ignores him.)

The only time he doesn't have a toy in his mouth is when he is sleeping, eating, or outside. Otherwise, he's chewing, tugging, squeaking, carrying, chasing, or ripping up some toy. He has favorites to be sure but his tastes in toys are surprisingly broad. He's pulled out some toys from the bottoms of the toy bins that only Iz used to play with.

I was wrong about him not being a cuddler. I have to have both bitches work him over first, but after a couple of hours, once the other dogs are settled, he's happy to curl up in my lap and watch TV or read a book with me.

I suppose I'm going to have to keep him.