I have created a monster. Between the extra homework that needed to be done before Thanksgiving break and the constant rain, Rugby has been a little neglected. He doesn't sulk or sleep the days away when he feels neglected. Instead, he uses his training against me.
The past two days he has been working hard to annoy me. He does't do anything wrong, he just does everything... creatively. Then he gives me the look. The one that says, "You can't possibly be mad at me. I DID do what you said." Last night I was sufficiently annoyed that I promised him we would train in the morning. As soon as he knows I have reached that point, then he changes his tactic. He starts to beg. He begs to be worked, and does anything and everything I want with precision, staring intently at me the whole time. He does it just to make me feel guilty, I'm sure.
This morning, I kept my promise and snuck him into my only class, then gave him a tour of campus afterwards. It was still raining today and the school buildings were a perfect place to train without getting wet. We took some photos while we were there, practiced our heeling and refreshed our stair climbing etiquette. I think more than half of the people we passed inside never even noticed Rugby. They weren't expecting a dog, so they didn't look down. Rugby didn't give them a reason too. He was happy to get back to work!
Rugby's picture also made it into Bailey Be Good's Dogs In Cars #2 post. You can see Rugby, Diesel, and other well traveled dogs (maybe a bird too) over on her blog.
Our dogs do the same thing when they are bored...they get into everything. We find that if they have had a bit of a layoff they seem to do better and are more focused the first days back.
ReplyDeleteI just love the pictures you posted. I bet Rugby had fun going to school with you.