Rewards

I love playing. My human says I have tons of energy and am super bright, so I get bored quickly. Fetch? I’ll grab my toy once or twice. Tug? I’m usually ready for a new game after 2 1/2 minutes.

So my human starts with a tug game, and then she runs away into the kitchen, where I chase her, squeaking and squawking. Then I run back into the living room shaking my toy, and she sits on the carpeted stairs and tells me to “run up” with my squeaky and then “bring it down.” I crash into her so we can tug again, and then she runs upstairs, where we repeat our romp, and then I pounce on her after she hides on my dog bed.

I love our game so much, and my human snickers and snorts with a big smile on her face, but it took time to figure out our frolic time and trust each other, even riled up, so the game was rewarding for us.

Now that my human has officially phased out my SniffSpot (the changing weather made me want to stand and eat grass rather than run around), we’re working more on my calm behavior around other dogs on walks. Playing is extra important, so I’m not starting my walk super pumped.

Well, I’ve done some really big, really good things this week. First, on my leash at our front door, my human asked me to “wait” so she could make sure “the coast is clear. ” One of my dog nemesis walked by, so she shut the storm door. I ate every treat she scattered and was so confident I even looked up at her. Can you believe it? She couldn’t! Treat party for my voluntary eye contact? Yes, please. I love treats! 

Then, the next day, I turned away from a deer for treats. A deer! They’re everywhere right now, and I’m very curious about fawn, but my human was so excited that I saw the deer and walked right back to her. I got snack after snack after snack. Getting rewards makes me happy!

Speaking of rewards, my human has been working on a Dog Pro Program for a super long time. Well, it’s finally ready. You can check it and her other rewards programs out here. 

That’s all for today. We hope you have a super fun weekend filled with the play that makes you and your dog(s)’ days.