The town is the kitchen and the Toast is really just a piece of bread….
It all started over a year ago when Kali had a minor medical issue that required daily pills for a week or so. Kali is not the most discerning diner in the world Kali will eat just about anything. So I thought I could just give her the pills and she would gulp them down as she does with anything that comes from the kitchen and out of my hand.
I was surprised when Kali spit the pill out of her mouth. Being a resourceful and evolved human being I quickly figured out that if I wrapped the pill in a piece of bread that Kali would gulp down the pill wrapped in bread and be none the wiser for the experience.
This routine went on for the week without incident.
- Get up in the morning
- Get the medicine
- Go to the cabinet and get a piece of bread
- Wrap the pill in the bread
- Ask Kali to sit a reasonable distance away from the kitchen
- Bring the bread wrapped pill to Kali
- Boom – Kali gets her medicine and as far as she is concerned she got some people food from the (people) cabinet
The evolved human being wins as usual. Right? Well, maybe…
Dogs love to be trained. They love the interaction, mental stimulation, and rewards that follow successful execution of the command, trick, or show of obedience. When Kali followed me into the kitchen in the morning and I sent her out and followed that with a piece of bread that happened to have a pill inside she was trained. Trained to know that when I go near the cabinet where the bread lives there is a good chance that she will get a piece of bread. She’s believes it because since then I follow the same routine; because (duh!) I a very trainable….
Since that period of time when Kali had the meds and I wrapped them in bread there is the morning time routine – that occurs right after her formal breakfast of kibble – of me fixing my breakfast which almost always includes the bread cabinet.
Kali, and now Smokey too, will immediately “assume the position” on the edge of the kitchen and wait for their piece of bread; their “toast” as I now refer to it as.
It’s great to be trained. It’s liberating. I love the interaction and mental stimulation I get when Kali shows me what I need to do to make her happy. I really like the rewards of licks and tail wags I get when I do something right. And best of all, Kali loves it when i am obedient.
Kali and Smokey waiting for their toast from their all trained Dad
Golden Kali 
Haha! Loved that last paragraph. You truly are a well-trained human. Well done, Kali!
Around the ‘ranch,’ cheese is the preferred training treat for any meds and wherever he is in the house, I can rustle the packaging and Sam will come a-runnin. And like any “trainable” upright I give him a corner piece whenever I fix grilled cheese sandwiches. It is good to be trained. We are simple creatures, aren’t we? LOL
I love this post, but I especially love the last line! Sometimes I think training really does go both ways: we train our dogs, and they train us. And in the end, we’re all happy, so what could be nicer?
We have known a number of trainers as a result of adopting Ray and, without exception, they say that learning is on both parties. They will not even train any dog unless the owner participates because while the dog is being taught the desired habits, the owner is being taught the dog’s body language… and both are being taught to respect and respond to each other. 🙂
That was our experience with Kali when we first adopted. It was clear from the beginning of the 1:1 (1:2 actually) training we received that 1) we being trained on how to train Kali, and 2) as you suggest Ray, we were learning how to read Kali and Visa-Versa. And you are correct Ann, what could be nicer?…
Isn’t it a lovely feeling to know that you have responded so well to training? Ray takes pills if they are buried in pumpkin pie filling. He gets a treat on a spoon, which includes his pills, and we get the pleasure of his licks, wags, entertainment and overall good company! 🙂
Yes, I have a great sense of pride. I’m the smartest and most obedient owner in my neighborhood 🙂
Good boy! 🙂