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So this week I met a woman who works as a narcotics detective and also heads the canine unit. She loves her job–mainly because her black lab accompanies her everywhere. How much more agreeable would your work day become if you could look down and see your doggie curled up at your power strip, commiseration reified as you yip and yap into the phone?
When this woman heads to the park, she brings a plastic baggie like everyone else, but she also brings a small suitcase filled with drug samples–a little meth, some coke, you get the picture. She’ll then hide the drugs somewhere, and command her dog (in German, so he doesn’t get confused when she inadvertently drops commands in English throughout the day) to fetch.
Have you ever played this kind of modified fetch with a dog? Wherein the objects to be fetched are hidden? It’s about the most fun I’ve ever had with a medium-sized mammal. We used to shut my childhood dog in a bathroom and busy ourselves hiding slides of Kraft cheese around the house, and when we finally let her out, it was practically Pamplona. The poor thing would go on sniffing in vain for days! Like a possessed John Walsh. And indeed our mother would scream at some stiff, grotesque triangle of processed cheese our canine unit star had missed.
I play hide and seek with my dog. I tell her to stay in one room while I go hide in another. Then I call her. She checks every room and gets so excited when she finds me!
posted by Martha on 12-14-2007 at 7:55 am
My dog would never play hide-and-seek. The most amusing thing he did (constantly) was to fetch an article from every single room of the house and leave it by the door whenever we left him alone. I guess it was his way of protesting. It was always amusing to come home see papers, cushions and clothes all piled neatly by the door.
posted by GTT on 12-14-2007 at 9:46 am
[quote]… it was practically Pamplona [/quote]
that was an absolutely funny and brilliant analogy!
congrats
posted by Fign on 12-14-2007 at 9:59 am
having owned & trained a search & rescue dog, i found that hiding things or people in the house for him to find was a good way of reinforcing his training and burning some excess energy during the winter months. Big fun for all involved.
posted by Mary Ann on 12-14-2007 at 3:57 pm
I have an older dog and I play hide and seek with him all the time. It comes in handy when the weather outside is too bad for a walk. I tell him to sit and stay (he cheats and tries to peek all the time). I then hide a little treat and release him. It’s hysterical to watch and he sniffs so loudly he’s like a vacuum. I swear he’s almost sniffed up the cats a few times!
posted by Kelly on 12-15-2007 at 9:43 pm
This one’s not too exciting, but when I’m playing fetch in the house with my dog, sometimes I’ll fake a throw in one direction, and while she’s distracted I actually throw the toy in the opposite direction. Then I wait to see how long it takes her to find it. She’s not too bright though, so I usually have to help her out.
posted by Craig on 12-17-2007 at 11:57 am