I admit it. I was NAUGHTY

Yeah, I did it. I confess!

The picture says it all. I was naughty at the dog park. Now I'm a really good dog, but sometimes I forget the rules and I forget about bribes, it appears.

So here is what I did. After lollygagging around the dog park for over an hour... sniffing here and sniffing there, I decided to do something really fun. I RAN DOWN THE HILL. I was so excited with my new found energy I kept playing and running. I went over to the nice man sitting under the tree and got petted and then I walked over to the shade by the notice board to rest. None of this was naughty. It was all acceptable behavior.

Let me take you back to last year before I tell you the rest of the story. When I lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico I went to the dog park near the animal shelter (where I was adopted). It was a rocky, dusty dog park with juniper trees to provide shade. I had lots of friends there and I loved that park. When it was time to leave, my owner would usually catch me easily because I was tired too.

But sometimes I played a game. I wouldn't come to her and I'd stand about 100 feet away pretending I was deaf. If she got near me, I did a little jig and moved away. This was a fun game... for me! Now she got tired of it, especially when she had to wait in the sun to take me home. 

So, in her wisdom, she came up with a plan. She started bringing treats to the park. When I came to her, I got a treat. After awhile, I'd even jump up on the bench to get my leash on and have a treat when it was time to leave. I was sooo good!

Then when we moved to Vancouver, she wasn't allowed to bring treats into the dog park so she showed me that they were in the car. When she said, "Let's go get treats in the car," I came to her and got my leash on. And, I always got a treat in the car. No treats at the dog park.

So getting back to today. I was "full of it." I didn't see treats and I didn't smell treats. So when she said, "Let's go get treats in the car," I just ran up the hill away from the gate. I was up there for about ten minutes just sniffing and playing like I was deaf. I came back down and wouldn't let her catch me. Wow, this was a FUN GAME! Finally one of the other owners called me and they caught me (Actually I was tired and LET THEM catch me). I went back to the car... no treat!

So I was naughty. I forgot my training and I ran away from my owner because I WAS HAVING FUN AT THE DOG PARK!

But just between you and me, I got a treat for sitting here with this dumb sign on me. (I get my treats one way or another!)

Signed, Naughty Cinnamon