#go find

[doomspaniels]

I have been trying these magnetic cord organizers on my oxygen tubes and really like them, but it seems for cords that flex a lot, they're going to need some kind of thread-lock. I lost two in quick succession, though one stuck to another magnet so I only lost the circular nut. I showed one to Tristan, who immediately brought me the bottom half of the other one, wow. Wow.

So I had two bottom halves and two missing nuts. The next day I figured I would try again; I showed one part to Tristan. He trotted to his cave under my bedside table, picked something up, trotted back, and deposited the circular nut on my hand. Not only did he FIND it, he stashed it until I asked for it??

This boy, he's un-freakin-believable.

[no-self-destruction]

[doomspaniels]

Tristan has this blank stare he gives when you ask him for an item he doesn't want to give up yet. "Bring... chewy... burrrrrriiiing cheeeewwwwwwy.... No, I am afraid I don't know these words." Tristan, go find chewy? "I can't read suddenly. I don't know."

Most of the time this is okay. Almost all of the words Tristan knows, and stuff he might have hidden, are his own; I only offer to put it away because he likes to have his stuff out of. Gwyn's reach. Mostly.

[doomspaniels]

Gwyn wanted to play, so I sent her to "go find a Toy." While encouraging her, I heard a tiny sound of protest from the floor. Tristan had a toy! Why wasn't I *looking*, look, look!

[doomspaniels]

All right, Spaniels, your Extra-Extra-Big Sister Firefly lost both her slippers after the storm. Where's the other? (that's an old one, for the search) Go find!

I am really impressed that they sort of worked as a (very small) group on this, not as two individuals. Both looking, splitting the paths, mostly not doubling up any sections; going around together, but far enough apart for them to each cover different paths.

And they found one! Good job! So good!

This was a lot of work, both for their brains and for the time in the heat, so we'll check another field tomorrow perhaps. We aren't in a hurry; these are single use slippers made of cast material. I just want to eventually get them picked up, and to give the Spaniels a fun game.

[doomspaniels]

Developed a new minimal-effort game for days of painful flares that do allow some walking time.

* Collect scented go-find targets and dog treats.

* Walk straight out of house to nearest fenceline, conveniently covered in grapevine so you can't see the far side (or any convenient visibility block handy).

* Walk short distance along fence, throwing scented targets over the fence, to where the dogs can't see them.

* Walk around corner of fenceline, indicate far side, and tell dogs to find the scented targets.

* Wait while they bring all the targets, and both get treats for each one (it's a team effort!)

Wow, you can really see Guinevere's Spaniel Oscillation (moving in a zig-zag) even in pictures taken more or less every few seconds in a vaguely thataway-ish direction. (also that she glances my way in the pause while galumphing, to see if I have suggestions or changes)

* All right, they found the last one! Dog candies jackpot!

* Time to go bac--oh, look at those faces. Okay. Walk back along the fenceline, throwing the targets back to the ground on the first side.

* Repeat search for targets, jackpot, and go rest.

[doomspaniels]

Playtime currently often involves a "go find [named toy, like "ball" or "frisbee"]." This is their "Do you have a quest for me?" faces.