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A Day in the Life of Trixie K. In the morning around 6:30 am Trixie knows it is time to wake up. She gets up from her pillow, walks to Olaf's side of the bed, and sniffs at his face with her wet nose. If he doesn't react immediately she scratches the bed and sometimes his arm, which, depending on the length of her claws, can be quite painful. She accompanies him to the family room and, while he exercises, takes a short walk in the backyard. After another quick nap during his shower, she is ready to conquer the day. First chore: Getting the newspaper but, more importantly, earning a treat for a job well done. Then it is time to wake me. Olaf sends her to the bedroom and the sniffing and scratching starts all over. While I have breakfast and read the paper, Trixie gets in and out of the house, lies on the step next to the door, or bumps my hand with her nose to remind me to stroke her. Olaf and I work from home and we have our own offices. During the morning she lies in the hallway between our rooms. From time to time she visits us, asks for a hug, or comes for her share of apple. Trixie is very just. After she cuddles with Olaf, she comes to me to show her love or vise versa. If she needs to go outside, she ring the bells we have fastened on the door handle. My puppy trainer taught me that trick after Trixie pooped several times into our house, since we couldn't see her go to the door from our offices. We usually eat at home. One of us sets the table and then gives Trixie a red rubbery toy which she has to deliver to the other one still working in the office. This means lunch or dinner is ready. Then she comes running back to get her treat. In the beginning I used to put a note with "lunch is ready" into of the toy. Now, we don't bother with the note, the toy alone already is the message. Each time we are getting ready to leave the house, Trixie runs to the garage door and hopes that we take her along. If we haven't gone for a walk by mid-afternoon Trixie reminds me by notching my arm so vehemently and looks at me so reproachful that I get my jacket. On weekends the three of us love to explore Seattle or the countryside. One of our favorite places is the Green Lake. On her Flexi-leash she runs around with such a gusto for life, chases ducks or geese, or says hello to other dogs, that we often see people watching her and smiling, or stopping us with the question: "What kind of dog is this?" Tixie's dinner time is late afternoon. She seems to know how much Olaf despises noisy eating and slurping, thus she eats very quietly. While we are having dinner she is close-by, just in case something falls onto the floor. The rest of the evening is passed mostly by sleeping. From time to time she asks for a hug and changes places She loves to nibble or play with ice cubes. When we get up to go to bed, she waits for me in front of the refrigerator to give her one cube before we turn in. Portuguese Water Dogs belong to the breeds of working dogs. The Portuguese fisherman bred and raised these dogs to help them pull the lines of nets, bring buoys, or carry pouches from one boat to another. These exercises are emulated in "water trials." Trixie and I practice during the summer. So far we were successful in one trial and we missed another. Since I do the water work, Olaf wanted to do something as well, so he does Agility with Trixie. Here the dogs have to jump over obstacles, run over bridges, teeters, trough tunnels, and weave through poles. Except for the breaks there is usually one agility practice per week. Trixie seems to know which day it is and pesters Olaf on this particular day. She watches him very carefully if there are any signs he is preparing the bag for the class and gets all exited with high-pitched yelps, jumping in circles. Trixie loves the exercises and the challenge. So far Olaf and Trixie have participated at one trial and received one point. She needs to get three points in order to get to the next level. However, it is not so much the winning that counts, of course everyone want to win, but the most important thing is how close dog and handler become while working together. We now know Trixie so well that it doesn't matter that she only barks - we understand. |