I Guess We All Have Days LIke This...

Isaac was happily gnawing on a gross-smelling, and disgustingly slimy, beef-flavored rawhide bone when the dryer buzzed.

Most of the time, I try not to interrupt Isaac when he's involved in something like a good bone.  If I interrupt him to do a quick task for me, he might go back to his bone afterward.  But he might not.  He might instead decide that he needs to go outside, or wants to take a walk, or wants to play with me with the tiger with the squeaky butt.  I enjoy the time when he's occupying himself because then I can get things done.  Today, I was busy writing about eating disorders.

But you know what happens when you leave clothes in the dryer too long?  They get wrinkled.  And I hate to iron.  I decided Isaac would have to take a short break from his bone.

I have said before that Isaac loves his job.  He is always happy to work.  Always excited to be asked to do some task for me.  Well, change that to most of the time.

Today, he looked at me like I was just silly.  I could see him thinking, "Hey, do you see this bone here?  I'm busy."

I had to call him a couple times before he picked up the bone and carried it over to where I stood beside the dryer.

I suggested he put down the bone.  He walked away from me.  I called him back and told him firmly to drop it.  He looked at me, like he was considering it, but decided against it.  So I bribed him with a doggie treat.  I held the treat out to him, told him to drop the bone, and when he did, rewarded him with the treat.  I put the disgustingly slimy bone on top of the dryer, where he looked longingly at it.

Isaac did get the clothes out of the dryer for me, but he required much more encouragement than usual.  He kept looking back at that bone, then giving me the sad puppy dog eyes.  Poor mistreated boy.  Has to work so hard.  You're not feeling sorry for him, are you?  He got plenty of treats for taking the clothes out of the dryer.

He got the rawhide bone back after he tugged the laundry basket out to the living room for me.  He's now happily devouring it again.

I guess I need to start making more of a point to interrupt him sometimes to do tasks for me.  I think it's a matter of him understanding I am the dominant one in this pack.  I get to decide when it's time to work and when it's time to relax with a bone, not him.  Plus, there are just going to be times when I need to do something now.  So part of his training will now include being interrupted to do tasks when  he's relaxing and entertaining himself.