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Who's training who? Never Underestimate a Dancing Puppy

Kristine at Rescued Insanity wrote a poignant (in that it keenly hit home) and yet hysterical article last week about how her dog Shiva has, over time, started offering specific behaviors for "untrained" verbal cues. (Think about how, for example, a dog might come running out of dead sleep whenever it hears the word "treat.") Kristine's (giggle-inducing) account clearly illustrates how remarkably observant (and smart) her dog is. And I'll venture to say, far more observant than many of us (myself included) can fathom our own dogs to be.

So I've been thinking: just how well do Jon Farleigh and Dewi really know me? I can't even begin to tell you all the things they do consistently, not because I've "trained" the behaviors, but because they are crafty sneaky manipulative brilliant voyeurs conditioned to my "untrained" cues and even more importantly, MY RESPONSES to their behaviors.

Observe Dewi: This is what I used to call the "Dewi Dance." Here, Dewi is demonstrating it for a crowd of spectators (on the verge of death by extreme cuteness) at his puppy kindergarten graduation. :) His dad and I were SO PROUD of him - and lavished him with yummy treats and baby talk and belly rubs, followed by more yummy treats and baby talk and belly rubs. Undivided pleasant attention for Dewi, wouldn't you say? :)

So yeah, we used to ask Dewi to "dance" A LOT in our house (and for total strangers in public places).

Then one day, as I was typing at the computer in our home office - completely unsolicited - this happened...many times: And I knew I was in big trouble.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the exciting conclusion - including a literal interpretation of Dewi's thoughts, and how we came to stop asking him to dance.

Dreamed up by Elizabeth Keene a few hours before 10:40:00 AM Labels: behavior, cute, Dewi, photo, puppy, training