Or maybe a sweet puppy face will. Yep that’s Luna, some of you probably have seen this photo before. If not you should check out the photos I have in Luna’s album over on my website.
I just wanted to let you know that my main computer is down, so I won’t be able to get at some projects I wanted to share on here. Hopefully it will get fixed this weekend, cross your fingers and paws. Working on a little laptop screen is getting really old. I don’t know how I did it for so long. Guess it’s that whole “can’t miss what you didn’t have” thing.
Anyway, I also wanted to share a funny story from the other morning. I have been running across quite a few posts on NILIF ( Nothing In Life Is Free) lately, both at Redbirddog blog and Successjustclicks. If you have not heard of it, do read up a bit on it. I had not known this theory/method had such a scientific/proper name… for it’s something I have always done with most of my animals, especially my dogs. I have always been big into dogs doing things for me, and rewarding them for it even if it’s just with praise, pets, treats, or things as basic as dinner, play, or water. Maybe this is why (I feel) most of my animals turned out alright, even when I was just a kid, I followed this rule.
I usually will make Luna do several tricks for her dinner… I make wyatt do the same but since he doesn’t know as many commands/tricks I’m limited to the same couple (yes, I have tried to teach him more, but he just doesn’t seem to get it). I typical routine for Luna before she gets a meal is “sit, stand, sit, shake, stand, bow” or “bow, wait, touch” or “sit, shake, other hand, high five, touch”… you get the idea. Sit, down, bow, touch, shake, high five, stand, and wait are all regulars with her when it comes to meals. So after reading these recent NILIF posts I wanted to continue what I was doing but continue to challenge her too. So the other morning I got her kibble ready and asked for a couple of her “norms” and then threw a new one in “spin.”
Now she has been working spin with me for a while now, and knows it well though she still needs a pretty big lure/que/lead… I am working on weaning her off such a big signal, as well as making her do multiples before she gets her reward. But in anycase, when I asked her to “spin” she threw a fit. I wish i could have recorded it. She was NOT wanting to spin for kibble, though she did exactly that the other night. She gave me all of her usuals trying to get me to feed her, down, sit, shake, high five, bow, speak etc etc… and even threw in “play dead” with great flare. But she did not want to spin. Well I didn’t want her “winning” so I grabbed a little pork from the fridge, and wouldn’t you know she spun right away for that pork, and happily.
The little stinker was trying to work me, but in the end I got my spin and she got her breakfast. Luna is not really a routine orriented dog, I don’t know exactly why she would not spin for me that morning, even though the reward was the same, and she knew the trick. Any ideas? I think she was just wanting to work me over. Does your dog ever try and outsmart you?
Like what you see and want to see what Luna is up to? Like AKG Inspiration on Facebook, I often upload shots while we are out and about.
Have a great Thursday
Vizsla Inspiration 
Awe look at Luna as a puppy. Love the first picture! Hmmm as Chessie owners, we don’t know anything about a dog “working” us…nope! LOL
Gosh, that first photo of Luna is adorable. I love her blue baby eyes, pink nose and bottom lip.
She sounds like a little character, too, which is what I really like in a dog. I’m not too keen on docile, submissive dogs, I prefer a bit of a challenge. So yeah, I think she’s doing it on purpose, just to keep you on your toes. George tries it on sometimes, too. And so does my daughter. Kids and dogs are not that dissimilar 🙂
P.S. I like the drooly picture too, and I particularly love the angle, it makes her head look huge compared to her body.
Yay for puppy pictures! She was just as cute back then as she is beautiful now.
Nothing in life is free was an game-changer for us. Since Shiva is so food motivated teaching her self-control and the benefits of focussing was easy once we understood this concept.