Old dogs can learn new tricks, but are cunning enough to play dumb. Sometimes, they slip up.
Sparky loves car rides, and is alert to signs that we are going for one. He gets more eager as the evidence accumulates. If I put stuff in my pockets and he hears the car keys jangle, he camps out by the stairs.
Sparky thinks I’m dumb. He figures that if he looks cute and eager, I will forget that he isn’t going with me.
I could push passed him or physically block him from going down the steps, but that seems disrespectful of his earnest manner and sense of decorum. Instead, I have to outwit him. He has caught onto the Mr. Moose distraction, and no longer goes after a weak toss.
Sparky is trained to go to his crate on command. I could send him there, but that seems like a bullshit exercise of my authority.
This time, he went down the stairs, and was eagerly waiting for me to open the door into the garage. You see how eagerly he wags his tail. My shoes are down there, so I went down, put on my shoes, then went up the stairs and out the front door.
The game always makes me laugh. Not because I can outwit a 70 dog-year-old beagle with attention deficit disorder, but because I feel that Sparky deserves fair play. I have to get out of the house without ordering him, lying to him or physically restraining him.