Jumping & Table Surfing

It became evident right away that shyness was never part of Cassie's DNA. She thinks anyone who walks into our house has come just to see her. And how does she show her excitement? Why, like any puppy...she gets excited and jumps. Now, when normal puppies jump up to greet you, their front paws end up on your legs and back paws remain on the floor, right? Well, not Cassie! When she jumps up to greet someone she comes completely off the ground! And not just a little off the ground. My husband comes home from work and she jumps up to greet him...jumps to his shoulder; he's 6'1. She jumped up to greet one of my friends, hit her in the middle of her chest and almost knocked her down! Good thing she was a friend! Maybe she's trying to get to our face for a kiss...hmmmm....

We have a hummingbird feeder hanging from the eave of the patio cover in the backyard. The bottom of the feeder is about 5 feet from the ground. We enjoy sitting outside and watching the 5 or 6 hummingbirds flock to and fight to get to our feeder. One day, Cassie discovered the hummingbirds. At first, she would sit very still directly under the feeder and watch them...at first. One minute she was sitting still like a statue under the feeder. Suddenly, I saw her head...in the air, at the same level as the hummingbird feeder! It's a good thing hummingbirds are fast...no hummingbird was hurt on this afternoon!

The infamous "they" say, to break a dog from jumping, bring your knee up in such a way that it meets them in their chest when they jump. Tried that, doesn't work...we can't reach her chest with our knee...she jumps too high. We tested her once to see just how high she could get..I held one of her toys as high as I could reach...close to 7 feet...she got the toy! She was about 8 months old. She loves to jump.

I knew I was in trouble when I saw this...this is where her food is stored! Sure didn't take her long to figure that out! And, yes, she did have her head in the bucket and was eating! Suffice it to say, we now have a child lock (well, a bungee cord locking the two doors together) on the cabinet. One good thing...I never have to scrub her food bowl...or Cody's for that matter. She licks her bowl so clean, it sparkles! Does the same to Cody's bowl. Has to make sure he doesn't miss a bite. Speaking of Cassie eating...

We had friends and neighbors over for our annual Christmas brunch. At our house, you have to tolerate our dogs because they are our children and we do not lock them in a room when we have company. Our dogs come to the party. So, we're eating in shifts. My girlfriend and I are eating last because she helped me cook. We take our plates to the table outside. We're eating and talking to those sitting around us who have finished. She turns to say something to me and all of a sudden, a black streak of lightening swooped up, snatched a couple of eggs right off her plate and was gone before any of us had time to process what had just happened! It was a Cassie strike! As she stood by the tree watching to see if we would chase after her....all we could do was laugh and continue to eat! What we learned from that is "don't turn your back on your food." Another little habit we're trying to break. And don't think leaving food on the kitchen counter will help! If she can get her nose to the food, she'll get the food!

I made hot dogs for dinner. They were on the plate, all made and ready to eat - fixed to the max. By the time I reached for the chips on the opposite counter, my hot dog was gone! In an instant, Cassie was up on two legs, had grabbed the completely made hot dog...bun and all, made a bee line for the doggie door and was gone! Once again, all I could do was laugh...and make another hot dog.

I work from home. One morning I took my breakfast danish into my office. Imagine me sitting at my desk, arms resting on the edge of my desk with elbows out just slightly while typing, danish directly in front of me. Suddenly, I feel a soft, cold nose slip under my left arm just in the bend of my elbow...and, yes, you guessed it...my danish was gone!  And so was Cassie...all the while inhaling my breakfast. And she got it right out from under my nose...literally!  You know what comes next...yes, I laughed a little...but by now I'm starting to scold her with a stern, loud, "Cassie!  Bad Girl!"  And I think she's beginning to understand the scolding. How do I know? I'll save that story for another time.

All that being said, I'll brag a little, now. As a puppy, food still motivates her to learn new tricks and behavior. Believe it or not, she knows the "wait" command. I know, I know, how can a dog that loves to eat like Cassie learn to wait for her food?  I told you before, she's smart! It's just the food she's not supposed to have that she can't wait for...because she knows she's not supposed to have it! Anyway, I put her food down, tell her to wait, she won't touch it until I say ok. I tell her to lay down; put a dog biscuit on the floor between her front feet; tell her to wait; she won't touch it until I say ok. Of course, I have to give a little credit to Cody for helping me teach her that trick since he was doing it first while she watched. But she only had to see it a couple of times and she was doing it on her own. That tells me she knows the difference between her food and food she's not supposed to have...she just wants to see how much she can get away with. And so, our adventures with Cassie continue...wonder what she'll do tomorrow? I'll let you know...