basic training

Bosco, the nine-month-old bulldog/boxer/pitbull/who-the-hell-knows puppy has a new game. It's compulsory. It's not enough now to give her a rawhide bone. No, I have to torment her with it, pass it right under her nose, dangle it just out of reach, tickle her whiskers with it, tuck it under her collar so that she has to gyrate like Houdini to shake it loose, drum on her fat little rump with it, pretend to eat it myself with great relish, and finally, throw it out the window so that she has to run through the house and garage, out into the yard to get it. Every day she adds another step in the tantalization process.

My punishment for not doing at least this much is that she puts it down, looks at me with those imploring puppy eyes and whines. My training is going quite well.