Bait And Switch

Yesterday evening, I found myself in a bit of a precarious spot.  I needed to go upstairs with Flattery to take some pictures, but I was going to need some help to keep Bunny from going up with us because Flattery won’t go up ahead of me so I can close the door behind us.  She insists on going up behind me, which makes keeping Bunny from getting up there pretty tough to do.  Mr. Taleteller was getting ready to take a walk, but he took time to help me out and we tried to do the old bait and switch.

It Wasn’t Me

The plan was that he was going to take Bunny with him for a short walk and I would take Flattery upstairs with me for a few pictures.  The problem was that Flattery really wanted to go for a walk and Bunny would have preferred to go upstairs and do some modeling.  After a bit of wrangling, bribery and finagling, we ended up with Flattery upstairs with me and Bunny out on a walk with my husband.

Flattery did a really good job for me, and once she realized that treats were involved again, she wasn’t too concerned about taking a walk.  She was more than content to be upstairs with me and once she figured out that she was the center of attention, she was a happy hound.  It didn’t take us long to get what we needed to done, fortunately, and we were back downstairs before Bunny and Mr. Taleteller were back from their walk.

Unfortunately, Bunny wasn’t as happy about her end of the deal.  She came back, panting and bedraggled and gave me a look that said she was not happy.  She walked over to me and leaned against me, apparently to reassure herself that we weren’t going to be parted again anytime soon.  I don’t think the walk was really that bad for her, but she does add a little drama when it comes to getting to be close to me and having to go places with my husband without me.  I’m not sure what it is about going with him that she finds so offensive, but she does make it clear that she and I are supposed to be together.

Old Dog, New Tricks

I am pretty confident that the bait and switch trick isn’t going to be as easy to pull off the next time we try it.  Even though she’s an old lady dog, Bunny isn’t fooled by our human shenanigans.  Some dogs do learn our tricks pretty quickly and it’s tough to stay ahead of them, and Bunny is one of those dogs.  I’ll just head back to the drawing board now.