Desperate Dog

Auntie Di has been doing a wonderful job of teaching Leo all sorts of fun dog tricks over the past few months. Beyond the usual "sit", "stay", and "lay down" she also taught him "paw" (shake) and "kisses".

Typically when we go to give Leo a treat we have him do one of his tricks. I personally tend to get into a rut and do the same one over and over again - usually whatever his newest trick is - so as soon as Leo sees a treat in my hand he immediately does the whole trick (i.e., he'll immediately sit down and hand me his paw instead of waiting for me to say "sit" and then "paw".)

Last night I took out the granddaddy of all treats from the treat box. A big old bone called "The Busy Bone". He loves these things and doesn't get them often. As soon as I had it in my hand he immediately started going through every trick he knows in order to get me to hand over the bone.

He would sit and then try to hand me his paw. When I didn't take that he would jump up and try to kiss me. Then he would lay down. When that didn't work he'd try them all again. Finally he was laying down while trying to give me his paw at the same time and putting his face up trying to give kisses from the floor. Over and over and over again. I have never seen a dog so desperate to come up with the right combination of tricks that would get him what he desired.

He's lucky I could stop laughing long enough to hand over the Busy Bone.