Treat, Treat!

When we go out to the backyard to see the dog, I often give Eleanor a treat to give to him. She is getting better about letting him take them out of her hand. She was wary of him for a while because he's been known to get impatient and get a little "chompy," which gave her some bad experiences to start on. So for a while, she would drop the treat on the ground almost as soon as I put it in her hand. She's getting more brave these days. She's still funny about it. She might drop the treat on the ground, but if a small piece falls out of his mouth, she's eager to pick it up and offer it to him from her fingers (I don't get it).

Yesterday, we gave him a treat and were enjoying the back yard. Eleanor noticed that Lane still had food leftover from the night before and jumped at the opportunity to give him as many "treat, treat(s)" as she wanted. She offered the food to him one at a time at first, and he just looked at me for guidance, trying to figure out what this crazy child was up to. But, he must have decided to humor her because he started eating the "treats" she left for him on the ground. Maybe we just have an OCD dog, and he was trying to clean up the mess she was making. When he didn't eat a certain treat she wanted him to, she picked it up and offered it to him. Since it was nothing more exciting than his everyday food, there was no risk of chomping, which made for a good experience for Eleanor. She fed him several from her fingers. Then she figured that if one by one was good, by the handful must be better. (And I ran to get the camera.)

Say "ahhhh," doggy!

As much as this grossed me out to see her grabbing handfuls of dog food that had been sitting overnight and was crawling with ants out of a dirty dog food dish, she was having a really good time. (And we washed hands afterwards.) How do you like her lovely seafoam green shirt? It matches our house-- you almost can't see her for the camouflage.