Tobie doesn’t make any fuss on Water Day, but that doesn’t mean he likes being abandoned and he has taken to expressing that in a funny/sad form of passive aggressive behavior.
Lately I found a flavored leather bone that he likes. He doesn’t get them often enough to burn out on them, I bring a bag home every other month or so from the Palace of Food. And up till now I’ve been giving him one just before leaving him alone for hours, which happens at least once a week. But I noticed last time and this time that he has taken to refusing the gift…
…until I come back home. Then after the festivities are over, he goes to his bed and deals with the leather bone.
I guess it’s a happy treat, not a sad treat.
I’d guess he has come to associate the bone with being left alone rather than as a “treat”. Another variation on Pavlov’s observations.
Our late dog (Timmy) would do the same thing as Tobie. He would see us preparing to go to the store, see that bone come out, and his mood would change to bummed and quietly pissed. Only upon our return and having put away the groceries would he happily enjoy his treat.
Yup, Buster does the same thing. He gets all excited when we are getting ready, but when Buster sees that treat come out he knows that he isn’t going along. He will ever-so-gently take it from my hand, lay it down in his kennel, then flop down in the kennel with a grunt or a sad sigh. As soon as I come back he’ll get all excited, grab the treat and chow down.
Treats are for reward and not for compensation as their brains dont work that way. Just tell him to be a good boy and give him his treat when you get back if hes been one. Works with all of mine.
Sounds like that bed will need another laundering soon.