Reggie Takes a Rest

Hello. I'm Reggie’s owner, James Perdue. Reggie has asked me to take over this week’s blog, mainly because after 48 weeks of steady writing for this blog he wants a week off. I could barely refuse him after his being so conscientious. He tells me that he may be getting Carpel Tunnel Syndrome of the dog paw. He reads the internet too much!

Reggie and "Dad" along the Madison River in Yellowstone Nat'l Park, a favorite place.

I thought I’d take this time to tell you a little about Reggie, the RV Dog. I can tell you some things he won’t tell you himself, either because of his modesty, his bad memory, or his refusal to acknowledge certain things about himself.

Reggie and "Mom" somewhere at an RV Park in Ohio. Do they look happy together?

Reggie is our third Golden Retriever. We thought no dog would top our last Golden, Prince, but I think Reggie has managed to do that. Prince died at 5 years and we’ve had Reggie going on 9 years June 21st. Reggie is a very special dog, even aside from his un-canine ability to type, surf the web and write using pretty good English.

We’ve been RVing with Reggie from about his 7th week and therefore he is accustomed to all the things that go along with RVing, mainly moving his home base so often and thus his base of smells and his sense of territory. I think he does that very well. He takes joy in sniffing out the new smells everywhere we land. Of course we do stay an extended time in Idaho each summer, so that kind of makes up for the rest of the year.

Reggie enjoys RVing. It gives him a chance to experience a lot of the USA. This is in Utah.

Reggie is an off-leash dog. Most dogs that we meet are not. In general it’s not a good idea to let your dog wander around or be off-leash in strange places. Especially if you aren’t sure of what he or she will do with that freedom. Reggie will not wander around even if he is off-leash, unless we are with him. Reggie loves to explore, run, and jump, but never far from us. Of course there are places that you just can't allow it, like National Parks. Reggie really doesn't like to be told he can't wander free, but he does it for me.

Reggie posing in front of the Centennial Mountains, near our summer "home".

On walks (and we take a lot), Reggie keeps within a few hundred yards of us, and if we are on a road with traffic he stays next to us. (Really busy traffic calls for the leash to be sure.) We walk down Red Rock road here where the traffic is mostly fishermen and ranchers and they are not frequent. He usually sits by the side of the road without being told when he sees an approaching vehicle. If I determine that he isn’t planning to sit, I use the word “CAR” and he sits immediately. Of course, that type of behavior can’t go un-rewarded. He always comes to me after I release him for a small treat.

Reggie waiting for me on Red Rock road in Idaho. He will sit if I give him a remote command.

In unfamiliar areas, I use the words, “this way” and he follows me. If he starts to investigate something I am unsure of, I merely say “ugh-ugh” and he stops. If he picks something up, I say “drop it” or “leave it” and he does.

Reggie "heels" along a "glide" with my Segway transporter in North Carolina.

I own a Segway personal transporter. Occasionally, I’ll take Reggie on a “glide”. If we have to be on-leash due to the rules, he’ll obediently walk along side me without getting in front of the Segway. He forgoes his normal sniffing unless I stop for him. Off-leash he will either “heel” next to me or wander around ahead of me if possible.

When we are walking where there are many dogs, we will leash him, but here, on the dirt roads outside of RedRock RV Park it is enough to ask him to “stay with me” when we approach another dog. That’s akin to “heel”. Once we are next to the dog I ask him to sit and stay. The other dog may be tearing at his leash to get at Reggie and he will just sit until I tell him it’s OK to investigate the other dog. I praise him after such encounters and he seems to be proud of his behavior.

If Reggie spots another animal he wants to run to investigate. Usually I’ll notice his behavior and call him back. He stops and comes back. I give him a treat. What more could you ask of a dog?

Reggie likes to nap and watch outside our motorhome. But, he gets lonely, or too warm or too cold or wet and he wants to come in. He has figured out that if he gently knocks or scratches on the steps to the RV, we will come and let him in. He will also do that if he smells something appetizing cooking, or if he hears one of us putting on our shoes getting ready for a walk with him. How he knows we are getting ready for a walk is a mystery to us.

Reggie waiting for me and my photography at Mile Creek in Montana.

While on our wildflower and photography walks, Reggie is great. He will patiently wait along the trail as I lay down to photograph a small flower close up. I may spend 10 minutes and he will wait. When I finally get up and approach him, he asks for a treat which I give him. Further, if I point the camera at him and ask him to sit for a photo, he does it graciously, but after the camera comes down from my eye, he comes to me to extract a photo tax.

Reggie waiting for me to finish wildflower photography in Idaho. He is so.. patient.

Although Reggie likes to bark at cows from the car, usually he will behave himself when a strange animal is seen from the car (like an Elk, Moose, Antelope, etc) when I’m photographing them. If I am photographing birds and he is loose, I’ll give him a hand signal to get down and wait so as not to scare the birds. He does that without question.

Reggie really likes the cold. RVing gives him the opportunity to experience it occasionally.

Last year I developed a little secret signal that says COME TO ME. I draw the air between my lips to make a very quiet high-pitched sound or almost silent whistle. After about 2 or 3 times of doing that and giving him a treat he behaved like we’d been doing it for years. He can be 300 to 500 yards away from me, or he can be sniffing around in the forest out of my sight and I’ll silently signal him that way and immediately he is upon me, asking for the treat. That beats carrying a whistle.

Reggie sleeps in our motorhome at night and gets the entire front of the RV to himself, including the couch. He rarely wakes us during the night. When I finally decide to get up for good in the morning he comes into our bedroom, and demands a pet and hug. He won’t do it if I’m just going to the bathroom. Somehow he figures out I’m up for good. Once he’s had his hugs, he turns and goes back waiting for me to take him for his morning walk.

Reggie has never met a human or dog he doesn’t like. He won’t overwhelm you with love, but if you invite him, he’ll make sure you know you are liked and welcome around him. He rewards your attention with his.

I could go on with more great behaviors by Reggie, but I’ll spare you. The point about this is that Reggie is a member of our household like any child would be. (Except that he behaves better than any child I’ve ever had or seen.) He is a great friend, companion and probably great protector, though that hasn’t been tested yet. I suspect that his good behavior is a combination of breeding, and how he has been treated by us. (Same as with a human child.) We know that rewarding him for good behavior gets us more than punishing him for bad behavior.

Aside from his big ego because he can type and browse the internet, he is a great dog. I hope that all of you feel the same about your dog as we do about Reggie.

I’m sure Reggie will be rested enough to continue next week. I hope he doesn’t mind me bragging on him so much. You can’t tell when he is embarrassed, after all, he is already red.

James Perdue, (Arf)