My Dog Is Crafty

I don't mean that my dog Seymour does crafts - at least not when I'm home. Although sometimes I've noticed a few of my "Do It Yourself" books opened near his crate. But I digress - he is crafty in the way he tries to manipulate me. He usually fools me once, but fool me twice - or three times and I could be President.

Back to the crafty part - he knows that I don't like him to bark. When he does, I get out the "Bad Dog" squirt bottle and spray him with water. As a matter of fact, when he does bark, all I have to do is hold a squirt bottle out in front of me, pointing his way and he instantly quiets. Unfortunately, he also knows that if I stand there aiming long enough, my arm will start to throb and I'll have to lower the bottle so with a smirk, he starts barking again.

He also knows that when he whines, I go through the whole array of what can be wrong. "Do you have to go outside"? "Are you hungry?" "Are you feeling sick"? "Do you want to sit in my lap"? Usually, he doesn't need anything except for all of my attention. Got me again!

When I take him for a walk, he wants to stop every 3 feet to smell the aromas of the various dog and cat droppings. I have never figured out why, when dogs are supposed to have this great sense of smell, he has to put his nose directly on another dog's poop - or another dog's poop hole for that matter. He knows what it smells like from a football field away. He also knows that his time is limited in the nose-to-poop exploration because I will drag him away quicker than the weather changes in Texas.

He learned a way to prolong that pleasure. He stops, lifts his leg and then stands there while his head slowly makes it's way to the ground - and smells - the wonders in front and beside him. He knows I'm not going to stop him from peeing and I can't always tell if he is or isn't. This 3 legged yoga-like maneuver has really improved his balance -unfortunately it hasn't improved my patience. I finally started lifting one leg a few inches to try to get my own balance exercise in since I know I'll be standing there for awhile. I'm sure my neighbors think that Seymour is teaching me tricks. He is so crafty, I think he is! Fool me twice . . .