All the dogs, especially Jack, like to help me prepare food. Certain foods bring them running. When I am preparing any kind of meat for cooking, they know it, and wherever they are in the house they converge on the kitchen and form an ad hoc Committee of Assistance & Special Pleas. I always save them something, which they get on a fork. Yes, it's true. They have learned they will all get some so they are patient as I go down the line presenting the laden fork saying "Emma!" and give her hers; "Jack!" and he gets his; "Maggie!" They don't even try to poach their neighbor's portion. Such manners!
Posts
3 comments:
We have the same thing at our house. They line up and await the treat off the fork. A name is called and that one steps forward and the other dutifully restrains themselves until their name is called. It's a delightful moment. The behave quite well. It's when they are left alone over a single bowl that mayhem results. The dominant and much larger Pointer asserts herself and the smaller dominant wannabe retires from the field.
My experience has been that dogs are capable of some very sophisticated response to our expectations of order and decorum. It helps a lot if you condition them from the very beginning to those expectations, as apparently you have done very well.
From the time they are wee puppies my dogs are taught to "Wait!" when their food goes down for them. (I use "Wait!" rather then the bird-dog "Whoa!") They sit and wait until until I give them the OK, to which as they get older I add a hand signal. They have this down pat by 10-11 weeks.
The same goes for doors to the outside or fence gates. They are not allowed to burst through an open door or gate (applies to vehicles as well): they must wait until released. I have found that once they internalize the "Wait!" at dinner time, it is an easy transition to the door.
Dogs. How can one not love them?
Post a Comment