Wednesday, July 28, 2010

I think we need a dog

Our neighbors just adopted a 9 month old puppy, and I think my girls are as excited about Jake's arrival as his owners are. My big girls and the kids next door have been talking lots about dog training and what they are going to teach Jake to do.

But my girls' enthusiasm for dog training has taken a worrisome turn. They've decided to train Elizabeth like she's a puppy.

Yesterday I caught Ella teaching Elizabeth to sit and stay and then rewarding her by popping pieces of cookies in Elizabeth's open mouth. Ella and Lily have done such a good job that Elizabeth now responds to hand signals for lie down and twirl.

The girls have asked for their own puppy, but B and I have told them that we cannot possibly bring another living thing into this house because there is simply not enough room.

But if they keep up the puppy training with Elizabeth, I may change my mind.

*****
And speaking of cute animals, go check out knittergran's adorable new kitten Baxter.

7 comments:

donna said...

Can you send Ella and Lily up here...maybe they can train my dog...or even my children!

Susan said...

I distinctly remember using some of the training tips we learned for our puppy on my then 3 year old!

Dee at Pedestrian Palate said...

Puppy raising is similar to baby raising in too many ways to mention.

Unknown said...

if Elizabeth starts to pee outside then you have a problem

anymommy said...

Take it from me, don't do it. The hair. The additional accidents. The additional meal at mealtime.

He is sweet. And slobbery. Yeah, don't do it ;-)

Liz @ ewmcguire said...

You are the second friend this week to say she's considering a dog. It's all I can do not to leave our two on your doorsteps. :)

Baino said...

Haha that's hilariious. I've always known there's a similarity between training children and dogs.