Sadie’s Training

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Sadie has been training me quietly and effectively. I used to put pillow shams and a bolster on the recliner at night, but no more. That is Sadie’s favorite place in the bedroom. When she tried to get on the pillow-filled chair, either she fell back on the floor, or the pillows scattered. This morning, she had her arm possessively on the armrest. Would you argue with a dog over recliner rights?

You woke me up!

One of Sadie’s favorite activities is playing with her blanket. Son John $pencer throws the blanket over her head, and she charges at him and bites at his hands. Usually the dog lasts longer than the human. I learned NOT to play that game, because I didn’t get my hands and arms out of the way quickly enough.

I was standing near Sadie when she wanted to play. She took the blanket in her mouth and shook it, depositing it at my feet. She looked at me and said with her eyes that it was my turn. I didn’t move. She nudged it with her nose until it covered her eyes, and then she began to lick my toes. Ugh! She won, but I don’t think she played by the rules.

Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

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35 thoughts on “Sadie’s Training”

  1. My husband used to play the blanket game with Scout and Trooper. He would cover them with it and then let them find their way out. Then he would cover himself with it and they would have to find him. It was always fun to watch.

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  8. Yes, we all lost that battle early on. We put empty cardboard boxes on the places we did not want the dog. Abby just jumped over them to lie on the back of the chair. Like kids, just protect with a washable cover. 🙂

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  9. Resistance is futile, Anne. When your dog wants to play, they’ll wear you down eventually, for they know they’ll win. You might as well bite the bullet and just get it over and done with. It’s the easiest path to go with, as it means you’ll get back to what you were doing sooner, and without the guilt. lol ~ Cobs. xxx

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  16. My grandmother and aunt lived in the same house for years. That was my grandmother’s house, so she made the rules and Frances lived in the upstairs flat. Frances’ dog was not allowed into the living room, but this was difficult to enforce since you had to walk through the living room to get to the kitchen. So, there was an area rug and they trained Apache to walk on the wooden floor, but not to step on the area rug. He was a smart dog and would put his body as close to the wall staying on the floor, to risk Grandma getting mad at him. It was pretty funny to watch. When my grandmother’s health started to decline as to her heart, she no longer cared where Apache walked or sat and I have a photo of him on her chair with his front feet on her red corduroy pillow. The next dog had all the fun – no restrictions at all, after poor Apache was gone.

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      1. Yes he was Anne and our family had three dogs when I was growing up and none of them were very bright, although I don’t know if it was patience lacking on the part of the humans. or the dogs were just obstinate, but after we lost the last one in 1965, our family switched to birds and had lots more luck training them. 🙂

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