i'm thinking of taking a little time this weekend to work with norton on a few basic commands.  the only thing he's really learned so far is 'sit', and even that takes some effort sometimes.  he'll sit, then snort in frustration as if you're wasting valuable time!  we've also been trying to teach him 'stay' (which he's kind of started to learn) and 'off' - basic commands every dog needs to know.  but he's just so rowdy.  he needs to learn to calm down, especially when there are other people around.  i've read that if you move slowly when interacting with a dog, it will cause him to slow his movements as well, and as far as i've been able to tell, it works.  but not everybody's going to move that way.  especially kids.  we're hoping to get him to a point where he is calm in every situation - even ones where there are a bunch of kids running around.  he's a jumper, too, and has been known to knock chad's 5-year old niece to the ground.  we've been hesitant to take him with us to family functions for this very reason, and because of the presence of elderly people (namely my grandma).  i decided sunday (father's day) that i was going to go to waterman for the afternoon, and asked chad (who had to work) if i could bring norton along.  i knew my brother would be there with his dog, but he was the only other person coming and i didn't foresee any problems, so chad said it would be fine.

so norton and i took off on what was one of the longest drives he's ever been on - not counting when we picked him up from the breeder in davenport last year.  he's really never been away from home, except to go to the vet in dixon and to chad's brother's house, which is right across our backyard.  so he was understandably nervous.  he actually looked like he might crawl into my lap a couple times while i was driving, but he soon settled down a bit and actually laid down shortly before we got to our destination.  i'd brought a bag of milk bones with me, bits of which i gave him whenever he did something good.  as an example, i gave him a piece when he got both in and out of the car.  he did a pretty good job with that; however, once we were inside my parents' house, he about went nutzo on me.  all the new sights, smells, etc. made it so he almost couldn't control himself.  and when he saw bogart (my parrot), that's all he could focus on for about ten minutes.  he got upset because i wouldn't let him get as close as he would have liked, but i did so because i want them to get used to each other from a distance first.  bogart's one cocky little sucker, though.  senegals are known for thinking they're bigger than they actually are, and have been known to put themselves in some pretty dangerous situations because of it.  and he's no exception.  he climbed to the bottom of his cage and tried biting norton on the nose!  i realized right away that i should have put more distance between them, so i put norton's leash back on and held him back away from the cage, but he kept tugging on it and whimpering, so i backed out of the dining room (which is where the cage is) entirely, and into the kitchen.  there was still enough give to his leash that he was able to trail back into the dining room a few feet, but still be far enough away, and he just stood there watching bogart and whimpering.  my mom and i started talking and i tried to keep an eye on him, but it was difficult because he was bounding back and forth and pacing around nervously.  eventually, i took my eyes off him just long enough for him to leave a poop trail about five-feet long from where he was standing in the dining room all the way into the kitchen.  and it wasn't regular poop either.  it was what i like to refer to as, 'stressed out soft serve'.

well, because i hadn't seen it happen, i didn't feel right scolding him, so i put him outside instead and proceeded to clean up the mess.  then i blocked off the dining room with a couple of overturned chairs so he couldn't go in again.  that was pretty effective in making him lose interest.  why didn't i think of it before?  anyway, soon after that, my brother arrived with jax (his female pitbull), and the two got introduced.  there was a short period of sniffing, snapping at the air and growling, then the two became best buddies.  we went outside with them several times throughout the afternoon and they chased each other around the backyard.  jax would actually tease norton with her toys - dropping them at her feet and making like she was giving him a chance to take them away from her.  and when he would make grab for them, she'd snatch them up and run off.  it was pretty freakin' hilarious.

all in all, norton had four accidents that day.  i already mentioned the first.  the second happened soon after jax arrived; he got all wound up again and peed on the floor when no one was looking.  and again, because i didn't catch him in the act, i didn't feel right scolding him.  mistake?  who knows.  the other two were strange, to say the least.  they happened when we were all sitting outside on the deck.  the two dogs were getting visibly worn out and were staying more or less on the deck with us at that point.  we were all talking, when suddenly, my brother jumped up and pointed at norton.  he was peeing on the deck, but that wasn't all.  he was walking around while he peed.  he walked a full circle, then stopped, looked up at us and continued peeing, almost as if he didn't realize what he was doing.  i never would have thought he'd have that much pee in him.  i had to imagine that his accidents were due to the new environment, because he had never done anything like it before.  not at home – not ever.  i mean, sure he's had accidents in the house before (although not in a long long time *knock wood*), but never like that.  my brother actually snapped a picture of it because it was so disturbing and hilarious:

'modern art,' we called it.    and he did the same thing again about a half hour later, too.  it was shortly after that that i decided it was time to leave.  i could tell he was exhausted because he laid down almost immediately once we were on the road, and stayed on the edge of slumber for the entire trip home.  as soon as we turned onto our street in dixon, though, he perked up again.  i think he knew we were close to home.  boy, did he sleep good that night.  and there haven't been anymore accidents like the ones that happened that day.

what it boils down to is that he just needs to get out more, although i think it was probably a mistake taking him as far as i did the first time.  it might be better to start out taking him on short trips, then as he starts getting comfortable with riding in the car and being away from home, we can gradually start making the trips longer and longer.  maybe we can drive him to the park this weekend, or something, and take him for a walk.  get him out of the house, but not too far away.  if the weather cooperates, that is.