Then I looked down, and there he was Caleb, our little dog. Nothing unusual about a dog looking up at you, but I knew what this one meant. No barking, no whining, just a little "plop it down and give him, "the look." and like HE has trained me, I got up, put a Walmart plastic bag in my hoodie pocket, got the leash, put in on him, and with no commands, nothing, he yawns, stretches, and I take him out.
This automatically follows our morning procedure. At 8, almost right on the button, every morning, Caleb, either by a low whine, or a lite scratch, a paw on my feet, he gets me up. Then, takes my place in bed. How, I don't know, he knows exactly when I have made the coffee, opened the front window blinds, sat down, opened the laptop and ready to type, and there he is, just sitting, and looking or staring, and the day starts. Put on the leash, take him outside for the first "command" of his, of the day.
Once outside, he hears everything, sees every slight movement, and finds a plethora of spots worthy of his sniffing. He plays little games with me too, he will walk around a tree, and when the leash is taught, stare off into the distance, and after an irritating, to me, period of time, he will slowly turn his head toward me, and we will stare at each other, intently, till I give in, and walk around the tree, feeling defeated, defeated, again, by Caleb.
He has a few spots where he prefers to "partially empty his bladder," partially, because he generally rations his output for at least three stops. Then, when HE is ready, to the door, open it, and once inside, he stays by my feet, until I go to the kitchen and get him a "Pedigree DENTASTIX" which is his preferred treat. Milk bones do not work, or some others we have tried.
This morning there was only one left, I felt foolish, but I showed him the empty bag, and laid it on the floor in front of him so he could see. He took the last one, looked at me, then the bag, went back to bed, and has not come out since.
Normally we repeat the above two or three times a morning until he has done all of his "business." He has me trained so well. At times, I will shout, gripe, bitch, at him. His expression will not change, and he seems to have a "not again" attitude about him. I am the human here, he is a dog, only a dog, but a dog, who, has trained his human to serve his every need. It is difficult to describe how that actually makes me feel. I guess it is just a feeling you have when your dog trains you, and not the other way around.
