Just say no!

Now that Dempsey is an adolescent dog, we're teaching him to say no to drugs.

The impetus came last night, when I was cutting some carrots in the kitchen, with Dempsey lying quietly at my feet. Being the big oaf that I am, it wasn't long before I knocked a bunch of baby carrots off the counter onto the floor.

Like his brother Sawyer, Dempsey is awesome at leaving spilled food. But when I asked Dempsey to "move" so I could clean them up, he did move -- straight for the carrots. By the time I'd finished gasping, Dempsey had eaten them all.

Luckily for the little punk, it was only carrots, which made it kinda funny. But what if I had spilled something more dangerous?

So this morning, we've been practicing spills of fake pills (TicTacs, mints, LifeSavers), and I'm happy to say that Dempsey seems to have mastered saying no to drugs. Not only does he not lunge for them, he'll safely move away from the area so I can clean it up.




Of course, the real trick will be to teach Dempsey to say no to steak or chicken. We're working on that, but it might be a while before we have any videos to share.