Theresa Lewis

The adventures of Misty and Sasha continues

When Misty and Sasha were about five months old, my stepdaughter went out with her friends for Halloween. She came home with a huge pillowcase full of Halloween treats. I told her she had to keep them safely locked up so that the dogs wouldn’t get into them when we weren’t around.

Every night after chores were done and we were relaxing in the parlor, she would open her bag of loot and we would all share it. The puppies were allowed to have one small roll of icing sugar candy each night and oh, how they waited for my stepdaughter to open her bag.

By the middle of December, all of us had had enough, but the puppies still looked forward to having their nightly treat. One night we were watching television and hadn’t opened the bag. Sasha whined and whimpered because she wanted a treat so badly.

I asked her what she wanted (as if I didn’t know). Her reaction surprised me. She sat motionless and stared at me. It was as if she was trying to drill a telepathic message into my brain. Just for fun, I asked her a series of questions, such as, did she want to go out, or did she want some water, and on and on I went. She didn’t flinch. She sat perfectly still and if I didn’t know better, I would have sworn that she was even holding her breath. Finally, I put her out of her misery and asked her to show me what she wanted. She slowly turned her head and looked at the bag with the treats in it then she quickly looked back at me.

I told her to go and get the bag and bring it to me. She did. I was truly amazed that she understood what I had said because she was only five months old. Now that I think of it, she was probably amazed that I finally understood what she wanted. She got her treat and was satisfied. I have since learned that candy, in any form is really bad for pets.

The next night, she wanted a treat again, but we all were too lazy to get it for her. In the meantime, my husband asked his daughter to go upstairs to get his pillow off the bed so he could lie on the sofa in comfort while he watched television. She couldn’t be bothered so she turned to me and told me to go upstairs and get it. I turned to Sasha and told her to go up and get the pillow of the bed and give it to my husband.

Instantly, Sasha ran upstairs and I heard her go into our bedroom. I heard a small thump as she jumped down off the bed. The next thing I knew was that she was struggling to drag the pillow downstairs. She tripped on it numerous times, but she finally made it and brought it over to my husband.

I was so shocked because I had given her a complex command and she had obeyed to the letter. I was also shocked because she was only five months old and I couldn’t believe that she even knew what the heck a pillow was. That night, I didn’t give Sasha or Misty a candy treat instead I gave them each a piece of meat. After that night, we all agreed to toss out the rest of the candy.

Every day with Misty and Sasha was a learning experience for all of us. We also discovered that when either of the dogs performed well, it wasn’t necessary to reward them with anything other than a lot of praise and cuddles.

The End

More adventures with Misty and Sasha to follow