The way MY MIND works, the way I AM

There are many reasons why people say "Airedales aren't for everyone, you will either love them with all your heart or hate them from the bottom of your gut"!!

These are two examples of why - the mind games we play.......

I was having so much fun running around with my buddies at Kits Beach this afternoon when mom all of a sudden started rushing me for no obvious reason. She put my leash on and started storming across Vanier park. Mom tried to explain to me that she had forgotten about the time and was running late for an appointment. I, on the other hand, pretended I was listening, but was actually wracking my brain out trying to find a legitimate reason to prolong our walk to the car. VOILA........when all of a sudden, the duck pond in front of the Vancouver Museum came into sight. I got my inspiration!!!

Knowing that mom never forces me to walk or move against my wishes by my leash, I stopped. Mom turned to look at me, and I, gave her an indication that I wanted to go by the pond. Now, this is a pound that I usually NEVER pay any attention to while running around free off-leash. However, this was my ONLY chance today and I knew I had to convince mom that I really really wanted to go "see" the pond. Well, as I had expected, mom gave in and walked me towards the pond. To make my act seem even more complete and convincing, I started to stare intently at those boring looking ducks of whom I'm usually completely oblivious of. To be honest, those ducks were really boring to watch while they slowly waddled around the pond. This is why I never pay any attention to them because they are just so NOT exciting to watch or even chase as compared to squirrels or other rodents. I tried my best to keep staring at them with my undivided attention, but my eyes wandered away to other distractions from time to time. Mom noticed that, and asked me to follow her. However, as soon as she said "Sunshade, let's go to the car", I again, stared "intently" back at those ducks. Finally, mom decided it was faster to just let me off leash to follow her back to the car (which I did V-E-R-Y SLOOOOOOOOWLY).

In 20/20 hindsight, I think I should have picked the "kites" to stare intently at instead of those ducks. The kites had more movement at least and some of them even came crashing down every few minutes. Way more interesting than those slow paddlers.............

Another mind game I sometimes play with mom is during brushing time. I don't like to have my hair brushed, so everytime I see mom getting my slicker brush, I run to the window, put my front legs on the window sill, stand on my hind legs and pretend to be watching something really interesting happening outside, when in all honesty, there is nothing outside.