How Does Mo the Dog Start His Day and the Commands He Knows
I’m Mo. Short for Moab because I’m the color of sandstone. No one calls me Moab. Nope. Susan calls me Mo, Momo, Mosif, Boo, or Bub. Susan is my human pal. I’m her dog pal. We get along great.
I thought I’d talk about how we start our day. The very first thing is Susan calls my name “Mo-O” and I get out of my kennel which is so super cozy with two pads and two blankets. Since I have short hair and it’s cool at night, I wear a sweater. I take big steps out into Susan’s morning hug. She scratches my head and chin as I stretch down then up.
Before I go outside, Susan says, “Sit.” I sit. She says, “Wait.” I wait while she opens the door. Sometimes Susan says silly words like “Banana” or “Lettuce.” But I wait until she says, “Free Dog,” and then I run out the door to smell the air, chase the squirrels, and do by business. I am a dog after all.
After about 15 minutes outside I come sit by the door. Sometimes I shake my head to make my collar and tags jingle. That’s my command for Susan to open the door and let me inside.
We’ve trained each other a lot. Some of the commands I know are: Come, Sit, Wait, Free Dog, Go Kennel, Down, Fetch, Bring it, Drop it, Treat, Dinner, Off, Load Up, and I’m sure there are others but I can’t remember right now. I have some commands for Susan too. Mostly they involve my pleading looks at the Treat Jar or putting my nose on her knee so she’ll give me some extra hugs and pats.
Tip: Mo’s favorite trick is “Roll Over.” First Mo was trained “Down” and then initially with a high motivation treat like cheese or chicken he was taught “Roll Over.” From the “down” position, hold the treat near your dog’s nose, do not give him/her the treat yet. Slowly move your hand to the right and then towards his/her back and then all the way around while saying “Roll Over”. Your dog’s nose should follow your hand and his/her body will naturally follow the motion and roll over. Repeat this many times, decreasing the kind of treat, and eventually your fun dog will do it with the command alone and no treat. Mo loves praise and patting as reward too!
Good Reads: Fun dog detective book about Chet and Bernie that Susan enjoyed a LOT! Dog On It by Spencer Quinn. Dogs have great sniffers!
That’s it for now. Next time Mo’ll tell you what Susan feeds him for breakfast and dinner. Slurp!
Check out the painting Susan did of Mo, it’s on her website BarkArtPetPortraits.com. Can you figure out which one is Mo?
Bark for now! Your pal, Mo
susan@barkartpetportraits.com