Pavlov’s Dogs

Today was Photo of the Week day (as in, I’m running out of days in the week so I had best hurry and take some pictures.)

Earlier in the week my son and I got a big kick out of watching Zachary reach over the back of the sofa and paw Beau on the nose. It was funny not because Zachary was hitting Beau (although he was – albeit gently) but because Beau so calmly sat there while Zachary swatted at him like some overgrown cat going after a toy on a string.

One step backward by Beau, and Zachary would not have been able to reach him. But Beau never moved and Zachary methodically leaned over the sofa and pawed him over and over again.

Weird. Funny, yes, but weird.

And it has nothing to do with the Photo of the Week except that watching Zachary lean over the back of the sofa gave me an idea for the location of this week’s shot. So today, with the week fast drawing to a close, I grabbed my camera, some cookies, and a couple of Golden Retrievers who happened to be lurking about, and headed for the family room.

What I wanted was a shot of Zachary looking over the arm of the sofa down to Beau, who would be lying on the ground below. So I lured Beau into position, put him in a down stay, and basically didn’t have to do a darn thing with him after that except feed him the occasional cookie.

You’ve gotta love a solid stay.

With Beau in position, I called Zachary up onto the sofa and then lured him to the arm. He was a natural, offering me several really cute shots in the span of just a few minutes. He also held a pose really well, and both managed to hold it even when I brought out the squeaker to get their attention.

I did succeed in getting a shot with Zachary looking down at Beau, but the camera angle was off and the shot a bit fuzzy, so you’ll not see it here. Maybe I’ll try again next week (in the daylight, and for once not have yellow pictures!)

As to why this post is called “Pavlov’s Dogs”, well, I’ll leave that one for you to figure out on your own.