Celebrations

Do you do something special for your dog when he/she does something especially good? Or for a birthday or such?

I started thinking about this when I reviewed the post I wrote yesterday about Teddy finishing his RN title. The caption to his picture there (it's a photo of him that doesn't have a thing to do with Rally but it's one I really like) said "give me a cookie" but in truth he got not only several handfuls of treats after we came out of the ring at the show but also got a double cheeseburger on the way home. That's our tradition - on the way home from a show the dogs get a burger if they did well.

Now, I totally understand that this has nothing to do with being a training reward - the dog doesn't associate the burger with whatever they did some time before back at the show site. It's just our way of celebrating. And you have to understand - for a Great Dane, a plain double cheeseburger is just a little snack. Not something big enough or rich enough to upset the dog's stomach!

For their birthdays, I usually bake them some treats. When I have an elderly dog, I make more of a fuss over birthdays and try to make it a special day. Maybe not so many special treats since an older dog's digestion may not handle it well, but we'll take a fun trip to Petsmart or some other place they enjoy.