Dog Lover

Everything, everywhere, all at once

Lesson 4: Keep all of your toys accessible

It’s important to have all your toys easily accessible, wherever and whenever you need them. If your house has a family room or other place where the humans gather between meals, this is the ideal place to keep your toys — in the middle of the floor, of course, so someone will want to play with you.

Your human may insist on putting them away periodically. “Clean up,” they like to call it. I call it a training opportunity.

If they put your toys away in a place you can get to them, then wait until the human leaves the room, retrieve them all, and spread them out again. This can be a fun game for all.

Sometimes, your human may tire of this game, and put your toys away where you can’t reach them. If this happens, sit in the room where you want them, and bark. A slow, monotonous bark, say once every ten seconds. Not often enough to be mistaken for a burglar or fire alarm, but an annoyance that will make them have to investigate.

Sometimes they will mistake this bark for your “I have to go outside” signal, but you can quickly clear up the confusion by returning to the family room as soon as you get back inside and repeating your earlier barking exercise. Now, humans are not the sharpest tooth in the mouth, but eventually, they’ll catch on that you want a toy, and they’ll get one for you.

Play with the toy awhile — include your human so they feel rewarded, and so you reinforce their positive behavior. This is how to “train your human.”

Once the human leaves the room or gets distracted, hide the toy where they won’t find it. Now repeat the prior steps until you have managed to get every toy back; then bring them out of your hiding space and spread them across the floor.

Eventually, your human will tire of putting toys away. Congratulations! You have a well-trained human.