So, tonight I was talking to Boy on the phone and walked through the living room to see Dudley sitting on the couch, staring very intently at a bowl of potato chips on the coffee table. Girl was in the bathroom. She'd left him there and ordered him not to touch the potato chips. He was perfectly capable of jumping to the coffee table and eating the entire bowl, I never would have known the difference and Girl would have returned to an empty bowl and a suspect.
Instead he sat there, patiently waiting, with furrowed brow, glancing down the hall to the bathroom, then back to the bowl, waiting for her return so he could have a potato chip. No potato chips were harmed in this training exercise. He's six months old. I'm SO impressed.
Did I describe the Sacred Kitchen Cabinets? After investing thousands in new Kraftmaid cabinets and a granite countertop, the first thing put off limits to the new young Boston Jumping Bean were the cabinets - NO PAWS ON THE CABINETS! is a sacred rule. He stands on his hind legs like a dancing bear, sniffing and stretching to see what I'm cooking, but his paws do not touch the cabinets. Ever.
He's six months old. I expect him to do my taxes by April.
It is so funny to watch dogs sit there and evaluate whether or not it's worth it! Hmmm...should I get the potato chips or not? And if I don't, will Mommy give me one? And if I do, how much trouble will I be in?? I can see my Westie, Casey, going through exactly the same calculations in her head!
ReplyDeleteGirl's little Dudley sounds like a doll, and smart enough indeed to do your taxes!
BTW - congrats on the new job, and that it's going so well. You SO made the right decision!
Teresa in Chicago (Dandelion5618@hotmail.com)
I'm grandma to my daughter's Schipperke now that she (the daughter) has gone off to college. The dog is about a year and half old, and although she's cute as hell, she's driving me crazy. Wish I had some of your dog training skills. Now I'm afraid it's too late.
ReplyDeleteI don't know anything about training Schipperkes, but we treat these dogs like pampered kids - you can get away with quite a bit, you are indulged and spoiled, you can nap on the couch and get fed human food treats if you sit and wait quietly, but there are lines you just don't cross. Learn them and don't go there, life will be very pleasant and easy.
ReplyDeleteI try not to yell much (other than to get their attention) or punish, though a rolled up magazine works wonders when waved at two dogs who have never been hit in their lives - they are so horrified by the very thought of a spanking, that's all it takes. The first time Dudley put his tiny baby paws on those damned expensive and silky-perfect cabinets, I yelled, "NO! PAWS OFF!" and he didn't know what that meant yet, but he was so startled he jumped back. Now he knows what Paws Off means from other paws-on moments elsewhere. It means get your paws off or you will be shoved off forthwith and not very gently, and has never even tried to put his paws on the cabinets, ever. The hind legs dance is the cutest thing ever, he looks like a dancing bear, and he's busy sniffing and snorting good cooking smells. He's not perfectly trained but he's good, and in another year I think he'll be a really civilized grownup dog.
The potato chip thing really impressed me - he could have snorked down the entire bowl while nobody was in the room, he would have been yelled at for it, but not punished in some scary way. But he waited, and she shared chips with him because he was so good.