Am I Bored?

So. Tonight I decided to teach the dog to clean up. She was already running around with Lincoln Logs between her teeth anyway, and I thought in that miserlyteacherly way: I can shape that.

Thank goodness for dogs. Who else could I feed processed food to, command, and occassionally lay a guilt trip on (after, for example, she consumed an entire plate of pancakes)? I have to crack the halo on something.

I told her to "take it." She picked up the Lincoln Log and spit it out. "Good dog!" I said and gave her a kibble. We did this over and over so she learned to hold it in her mouth until I said "okay!" -- up to 3 seconds. Then I tried to chain the next step and get her to drop it in the bucket. I always like to think she's some kind of dog genius and I rush the steps. Why do I do that?

She learned to drop it whenever and wherever she wanted. But, like a child, she was very generous and gave me another try.

I retaught what I'd untaught, and now the dog is very full of kibble. I told her how smart she is. (Though what am I?) Even though she did mistake my finger for the 2 notched log once. Have you seen the size of a terrier's teeth? I'd remove the bandaid to show you, but my finger might fall off.

She pointed out that she would like more kibble by gnawing rather fiercely on the leftover logs. What kind of hobby is this, for a stay-at-home mom? What have I come to?

I think there's progress. She can hold it and chew it up and spit it out. Wait, what was the original behavior I was trying to shape?

Yeah, well. I'm not done. I'm much faster at cleaning up the Lincoln Logs now before she gets to them. Call me crazy, but still I aim to have a clean house ... and a fat dog.