Do Dogs Think?

One of my favorite people sent this to my human. She liked it so much she sent this to the author:
Dear Mr. Katz,
I couldn't agree more with your article. While I think that dogs do go through an "adolescence", I don't think it's like human adolescence. Rather it's a stage in a dog's life where they are no longer puppy and not a "senior" but very active and learning boundaries. I have a rescue dog. I have been doing a lot of reading by Trish King and Patricia McConnell and find most of what they have to say very helpful. Since my husband and I have started using low-key commands that reinforce our leadership status, she has responded quite well. We also try to follow the simple rule that our trainer told us, set your dog up for success. (This was, by the way, a PetsMart trainer.) While I would like my dog not to get into the trash, a piece of chocolate cake was in there and my dog found it and proceeded to eat it, even after we walked through the door. Now the garbage lives in the garage. Setting your dog up for success is far easier than trying to catch them in the act and much funner than having to induce vomitting. One of the first things the PetsMart trainer told us was that dogs don't understand guilt. They understand that a person is angry and try to act in a submissive manner so that the anger isn't redirected to them. I'm really surprised that your friend's vet and trainer actually thought the dog was trying to get revenge for being left alone. It's really too bad, but I'm glad her dog did not end up with the same fate as the other dog mentioned in your article.
Great article!

So I'm sure you're asking why is he one of my favorite people? Because he is so nice to me and feeds me stuff like cheetos and cauliflower!

Saturday is game day! Sunday is game day!

Yes! Saturday AND Sunday are game day!
I got to run around and play and try to knock over the humans before they threw their frisbees. I kept having to stay and sit and I think they don't understand the game. I sit and watch very attentively and right before one of the humans throws his frisbee, I launch at him! The idea is they are still suppose to throw the frisbee to the goal. It's more interactive that way. I got to play in the creek. My human was a bit upset because I wasn't listening. I got tired pretty quick and gave up my rebellious antics. I did get to run around a lot. That is always fun! Ru-unning!
I played hide and seek with my humans. It was tons of fun! They would hide and I would stay in one spot and then they call for me to come and I'd come running and find them. It was easy because they yelled and so I knew pretty much where they were. The fun part was that once I found one human the other human would start yelling for me to come. I got lots of praises and lots of running! It was so much fun.
I got to go to the big hardware store. I love that place! There are always new people to smell and there's this old lady that always says hi to me and pets me. She's really nice. Sometimes I jump on people that are not paying attention to me when they pass. This time was really funny. My human was waiting for me to sit before opening the door to let me out and this guy asked if she was going to open the windows for me. What for, I don't know. My human doesn't let me jump out the windows. We bought stuff and then we went to the car and my human made a phone call and we went back in for more stuff! It was even more fun because this time I rode on a cart! It was fun.
And then at night I got to play this game where I chased my human for a treat! Such a fun idea! Chasing - I love! Treats - I love! I had to chase her around these poles. I'm not really sure about that, but whatever. I got me treats!