Anyone who has ever met my sweet dog, Bayley, knows that she is a bit of a diva. "A bit of" might actually be an understatement. Bayley loves to be pampered in every way possible. She loves to cuddle up right next to you and gets slightly annoyed if you move and cause her discomfort. She likes to burrow under blankets (even if you are currently using the blanket) and is more than slightly offended if you fail to give her the blanket you are using when she wants it. Bayley loves to have you help her get comfortable under a blanket if she is struggling with this and she expects that you will allow her to curl up in the bed with you at night if she wants.
Bayley sometimes prances around the house while looking back at you to make sure you are following her to the destination she thinks you need to go with her. Usually, these destinations include going to the pantry to let us know it is time for us to feed her, going to the back door to let us know it is time for us to let her outside, or going to her toy box to let us know it is time to play with her.
But, of all the things Bayley does, the one I like the most is when she begs for treats. Bayley has a few favorite things in life and I believe that they are, in this order: 1) food of any kind (except veggies); 2) walks with her masters; 3) the dog park; 4) catching bugs; 5) blankets. So, it would make sense that if food of any kind is Bayley's favorite thing that dog treats would be favorite among food of any kind. In the dog treat category, there also exist different levels of love for Bayley. Bayley loves store bought treats. But, above all, Bayley loves dog treats that I make her from scratch. In fact, I think Bayley might even have a love affair with these treats. She loves them so much that I refer to them as "my people trick". You know how dogs do tricks to impress humans? Well, these treats are my trick that I do to impress my dog.
Here's how it works. I get out all the ingredients and begin to make the dog treats. Usually, you have to roll and cut the dough with cookie cutters (yes, I have dog themed ones!). Bayley has become familiar with this process and when I begin to make the treats, she comes running into the kitchen and prancing around excitedly. Then, I bake the treats. She runs to and from the oven throughout the baking process trying to tell me that she wants a treat. Usually, right when the treats come out of the oven, before they have even had time to cool, I will throw one on the floor for her to appease her curiousity. She will play with this treat by nipping and pawing at it until it cools and then devour it. Later, once the treats are cooled, I put them in a container on the kitchen counter. And this is where the real fun begins.
Bayley will frequently make trips to the kitchen to stare longingly at the kitchen counter where the treats are housed. She will come and get us to tell us that she wants a treat. She'll come and run to us and jump on us and then run into the kitchen while looking back to ensure that we are following and then sit down and stare up at the counter. If we fail to give her a treat, she will run into her crate and sit in there hoping we will then give her a treat. Bayley gets a treat when we put her in the crate to leave in the morning. She knows this. She also gets to eat her daily meal after sitting and looking up at us. She knows this, too. Bayley pulls out all the stops to obtain her special dog treats.
In fact, the other day, Bayley wanted a treat so badly that she came to find me and nudged at me for 30 minutes before I finally got up and asked her what she needed. She led me to the dog treats. I told her no and left. She then ran into the bedroom where my husband was, nudged at him, and ran back to the kitchen. I went to the bedroom to share what she was doing, and upon seeing us both in the bedroom, Bayley stood at the end of the hall, tail wagging, ears perked up, and looked at us expectantly. So, my husband (I think just to mess with her) got up and began to walk toward her. She ran to the treats and when this didn't work, she sat down. When this didn't work, she ran into her crate. And then, when it still didn't work, she ran back to the treats. I'm pretty sure we could have had her do just about anything in that moment if we had just followed it by a treat. And that, my friends, is an awesome people trick.
