Rain and Cookies

[leih merigian]

We haven't had much rain here in central VA this winter. Last nite, it stormed.

Geyser hates the rain as many of our DSs seem to do.

Yesterday evening, she needed to go out. Took her to the backdoor, opened it up, she stuck her head out, said, "well, I don't have to go that bad, really I don't..." (Just goes to show how urgent her need isn't when I'm watching my TV shows ...she just wants to go out...)

So, later on, it's time for bed, and she has to go out, whether she likes it or not, and besides, by then, she needs to. She knows it.

We go to the backdoor, I open it up, she looks out, won't pass the threshold. So, I say, "I'll give you a cookie!" Nothin' doin'. OK then...gotta up the ante.

I use counting with her a lot, 1,2,3. So, she has some rudimentary concept of low numbers. I count out treats as I'm giving them to her, and she understands when she's done something exceptionally well that she'll get more than one.

So, then I said, "OK, I'll give you TWO cookies!" She immediately perked up, gathered her courage, ran out, did her business, and scrambled back in, eager for her big reward .

Cracked me right up

[Dutchringgirl]

That is sooooooo funny !!!!

[Sugars Mom]

LOL, that is hilarious!!! Miss smartie pants!!

[woods witch]

Love it!

[Diesel]

Hahaha, that is awesome! Smarty pants, I bet next time she will hold out for three!

[felixone123]

She is a smarty pants!! That is really cute.

[johninny]

and what a smart way to teach her to count! came in useful. i can see many similar uses. sorry that i did not think of that years ago.
on urgent occasions, like TD cooperating with an assistant if i was tied up in a business meeting, after literally all else failed like trying many times for an hour or so to get TD to go for a walk, i discovered if i said, 'you go with jason, then you come back and get a bone', the outwitted assistant would get full and immediate cooperation in the task at hand.

[Lauren]

What a funny smart little girl. Yep, I am thinking three next time...

[leih merigian]

...and what a smart way to teach her to count! came in useful.

So many things do come in useful .

Every time I dry or wipe her feet, which is every time she comes inside (yeah, bummer being me ), since she can be such a jerk about it (is it time to bite you oh-so-playfully?), the reward for behaving is three catches of her toy (think of The Count on Sesame Street ). The down side to this is that you pretty much have to give three catches every time, but it sure beats having issues with the foot wiping, and reinforces the counting stuff.

[Kgazlay]

I have to walk Oz out to the top of the stairs when it rains to get him to go down and do his business. If we are on a walk and it starts raining he starts jumping in circles trying to get the raindrops off. funniest thing i have ever seen.

[Nordis]

So many things do come in useful .

Every time I dry or wipe her feet, which is every time she comes inside...

So right you are! I do this as well. Easier to keep the carpet clean if any residue gets wiped off while still in the kitchen, and important if we've been in areas salt has been laid down to prevent ice from forming on sidewalks. I use this to practice teaching Rorhin Right Paw, Left Paw, Right Foot, Left Foot. It didn't take long for him to even start raising the back feet to help me out! That was surprising the first time! Knowing the left and right paws helps when the leash gets tangled up and he needs to lift a paw to fix it. We also use it for trimming claws and when he finds a sticker. As well he is learning to heel to my right or left side, and hopefully he'll be finding my right and left shoes and bringing them, when he finally decides to do that.

Granted it's a 50/50 chance, but my previous guy rarely got it wrong when bringing my shoes.

I really don't know what learning four different feet, a tail, nose, ears, eyes, and so on will be used for, but my idea has always been it can't hurt to do it.

I constantly hear in my head what I read somewhere, a person talking about their DS: The only limits I've found to what my DS can learn is my imagination. I've found this to be so true!

Thanks for the laugh Leih and Geyser! We're going to start counting now! I expect it the outcome will be a lot of laughs! And joyous curses at you too, because now

(think of The Count on Sesame Street )

I'm going to be saying, "One... ah ah ah! Two... ah ah ah!)

[leih merigian]

Nordis...and you are so right, too!

We've always done left and right feet...there's a trainer who numbers them, so each foot has it's own number, which would come in very handy for teaching certain things, but I've not done that. Just left and right. And yes, it's so handy when that leash gets tangled and you want them to lift a foot. Great minds think alike, eh?

I just use different cues for heeling on either side. For us, heel is on the right, and fuss is on the left. But the left/right thing comes in handy for directionals (which way to turn after a jump, for example, and I do believe that my dog knowing her left from right foot made that easier for her to learn).

I just love it when someone else is as OCD as I am about foot wiping