#goodboyblr

[doomspaniels]

Tristan is extremely interested in rattley pill bottles, but has learned to be very very good about just watching me open/close them (and he touches the rack they're kept on, from time to time, but doesn't try to take anything).

So about a month ago I started giving them to him when they are empty. I watch him carefully and take them when they start to crack ("swap" for a carrot). And I planned to take them away permanently if he started getting too interested in me taking meds from pill bottles, but it hasn't become a problem. He still sits quietly every day and watches with giant eyes while the rattley bottles are picked up and put back.

BUT. Tristan can hear the difference between a full bottle and a nearly empty one, and he sit-wags with much enthusiasm when he thinks I've used the last pill in a bottle. Clever, clever baby.

[doomspaniels]

Today is better than last night (thank you, everyone) but not great. Tristan, with his love of routine, chirped at me from the kitchen until I finally got up and made myself a meal. When I set my icepack aside to eat, Tris investigated it thoroughly and... gave it a snuggle? Funny little DerpPuppy.

(Yvaine is sitting on me and watching over me carefully, but she's so close I'm not managing to get decent photos.)

[doomspaniels]

I was so proud of Tristan-baby yesterday. I got my breakfast, I set it on the table... then I left the room because I was stumbling around in a morning haze. When I returned, Tristan was lying on the daybed next to the table, facing away from the food, just waiting for me.

He's trying very hard to do as he's being taught to do. So earnest, so intent. He has an odd interesting quirk: when he learns a verbal command, he learns THAT phrasing and intonation. So only "Tristan, COME" and not "Tristan, come here" or "Come, Tristan."

But general concepts like impulse control, daily schedule, things that are allowed without specific permission and things that are never allowed... he's getting good at those, very good, and wants to be a Good Boy.

[doomspaniels]

Such a good boy!

When I'm in the kitchen, the Spaniels' job is to stay out from underfoot until the human is done, then they get a treat. Tristan has decided, in true Melodrama Puppy style, that this means squinching himself as far into the corner as he can get. We never asked him to; he's just clever (and an overachiever) . Other household dogs have accomplished their kitchen duty by standing to one side of the busy areas, or moving frequently.

He's having just a touch of difficulty understanding the process of cooking, though. Sometimes cooking involves waiting, such that the human leaves the kitchen for a while. Tristan can occasionally be heard making sad noises at the stove or the microwave because they're still going, but the human isn't there, and he can't handle the cognitive dissonance of kitchen noises happening without the human. Tristan Is Owed A Treat... maybe? Does the microwave owe him a treat?

Ah, Dog Logic.