We found out very quickly that Boomer would to anything for food. When we went to Puppy obedience school we brought dog treats with us and Boomer would really focus when we were teaching him any new trick when there was food to be had.
Before every meal we would say to him “Something to eat?”. He would freeze in his tracks and stare at you and sometimes he would even start to drool a bit!
One of his favorite foods was cheese, and he knew what the word meant. Whenever we opened the refrigerator drawer, if we pulled the cheese drawer open, by the time you slid the cheese drawer closed and then closed the door to the refrigerator, he would be standing there.
If his Mom was cooking dinner and had a big stick of cheddar that she was cutting up for dinner, Boomer would be standing right behind her, ears cocked, hoping that a piece would fall to the floor.
We used food to try and bribe him to do anything. I had always wondered if he would be able to fetch the paper. So one morning after he went out to the bathroom, he bounded back to the breezeway ready to eat. I knew that I could probably get him to do anything, because he was so excited to eat. I brought him out to the end of the driveway, and said “PAPER!”, and kicked the paper. He pounced on it and put it into his mouth, and I said “good boy, let’s get something to eat!” and we ran back to the house. I took the paper from him and fed him.
As usual, he wolfed his food down without seeming to breathe.
The next day, I tried again, but this time I just stayed in the house, opened the door, pointed out to the end of the driveway, and said “PAPER!”. Amazingly, he ran out of the house to the end of the driveway, picked up the paper, and brought it all the way back. And then I fed him.
This happened every day except Sunday. The paper was just too heavy for him! He would spill the paper out of the bag and then drop it and look, and then grab the empty bag and bring it back. I learned to stop asking him to do it on Sunday!
He was pretty proud of himself. He would go to the end of the driveway and stand over the paper and look up and down the street before bringing it back! The neighbors would sometimes be looking out their windows and watch with amazement as Boomer would bring the paper in each day. Sometimes I sensed that he would like to take off and visit the neighborhood! But the thought of breakfast would usually woo him to get the paper and bring it back in.
It didn’t last forever. As Boomer got older, apparently he didn’t feel like going out and getting the paper, so he would walk out the door, turn around, and start barking at me. This didn’t work at all, because his Mom would usually be upstairs sleeping at the time!
We used food to get him to do just about anything. Sometimes, when he would help himself to our food, we had to tell him “you baaaaad dog!!!”
