Wow, not sure what happened this weekend.  My once obedient little brother is now a rebellious teenager.  It all started innocently enough with him deciding to make a midnight snack out of his bed.  Yep, the bed he was so proud of and waited so long to get now has a big hole in it.  Then during breakfast he broke the “four paws on the floor” rule and almost knocked our food bowls out of Mom’s hands.  But that all pales in comparison to what happened when we were out on our daily hike.  Asa ignored the all powerful “come” command!

I couldn’t believe it, there we were in our woods enjoying a good run off leash.  We started to get a bit far ahead of Mom and Dad on the trail, so Dad gave a whistle and said the magic word.  I immediately whipped around and headed back thinking Asa was right behind me.  But he wasn’t!  He kept going in the opposite direction!  Now if I’ve learned anything in my four years it is that you NEVER ignore the word “come!”  I waited next to Mom breathlessly wondering what Dad would do.  I knew he was angry, but I have to give him credit for playing it cool and just repeating the command even louder.  I could hear Asa’s bell jingling in the distance and gave a sigh of relief.  Perhaps he just didn’t hear Dad the first time.  Those bells jingling next to our ears, combined with our loud panting, can get really noisy.  But then the little guy really messed up.  He came just close enough so we could all see him, then darted off the trail running full sprint into the woods.  What was he thinking?!

Now Mom was starting to panic, and yelled in her angry voice for Asa to come.  Again with no result.  But who could blame him?  She sounded really upset.  Who wants to approach an angry person?  Dad leashed me up, and told Mom to start walking back to the house.  He said Asa will probably follow.  To my relief it worked, and Asa could be seen trotting behind us, panting and looking rather confused.  Would you believe he actually thought he deserved a treat for following us?!  But Dad was really angry, and Mom was definitely not in cuddles mode.  We all quietly headed home to the sound of Asa’s panting.

The remainder of the afternoon I listened to Dad’s plan on how Asa needed remedial training, and would not be allowed off leash until his rebellious teenage phase is over and we could trust him again.  I have to admit I secretly like this plan, because it means I’ll be getting a refresher course too which translates into extra treats!  Well played my brother, well played!  But next time can you not go to such an extreme?

Our Clueless Delinquent