Weird Things I Did Vol. 3
Child 3
I don’t remember specifically when, but I am sure I have mentioned previously in a post that the Cookson family expanded in November with the arrival of Sunny the dog. Sunny is a good dog.
Like most new parents, Caryn and I have purchased way too many toys for the new addition. I say Caryn and I, but really it’s mostly been me. I can’t help myself, I keep buying her stuff. But the latest weird thing I did was inspired by a Caryn purchase.
Though she is a very good dog, Sunny gets a little pushy and aggressive during mealtimes, often pushing up underneath the boys when they are trying to eat, and generally being a bit too much. To curb this behavior, we have made a habit of locking her out on our sun porch, but I usually will try to leave her out there with a toy or some treats so it does not feel like a punishment.
Lately I’ve been using the toy pictured above for this purpose. Caryn found this one, and it’s supposed to be a little puzzle for her to solve. You hide treats under the little pegs, and she has to figure out which ones have treats under them, free the treat, and then eat it. At least that’s the idea. It generally keeps her occupied for a little bit, hopefully long enough for the boys to eat.
If I remember, I will try to hide the treats when Sunny is busy doing something else to raise the degree of difficulty. Not surprisingly, given my general makeup, I usually don’t remember to do it in advance, so Sunny will typically see where I hide the treats. I don’t like giving her an unfair head start on the search. She needs to really earn those treats, damnit. I’m raising entitled children, I don’t need an entitled dog too. This led me to my latest weird thing.
Yesterday, Sunny followed me into the sun porch, and as I began trying to hide the treats I said, “Sunny, close your eyes.”
Yes. Close your eyes. Out loud. To a dog. As if it was a child. A child that could follow directions in a game of hide-and-seek.
Not my proudest moment. For the record, Sunny did not close her eyes. She cheated again and had discovered all three treats by the time I left the room. I’m enabling another lazy child.