Sam: Oh moooom. I’m calling an editor’s meeting to discuss equity and fairness.
Mom: Umm, what part of “I’m the boss of the Ranch hands” do you not understand? I’m the one who calls these meetings.
Sam: Umm, we both know who runs this show but if you want to think it’s you, fine by me. Whatever gets you through the night, but I wouldn’t mention that to Elsa though.
Elsa: What…did someone call me?
Sam: I’m calling an editor’s meeting to discuss the issue of equitable treatment around here, or inequitable as the case may be.
Elsa: Wait, what…there’s some sort of inequality going on? As the one calling the shots around her, I want to get to the bottom of this. Yes, let’s have a meeting!
Sam: See, what’d I tell you?
Mom: There is no inequity around here. Sam was just trying to be clever.
Elsa: Clever, schmlever. Ok, bro…I’ll bite. What are you talking about?
Sam: I think mom may actually be giving you more treats than me on our walks so I’m registering a complaint.
Mom: You know I give positive reinforcement to Elsa so she doesn’t go nuts when we encounter another dog on our walks. And yes, I give her a treat to help her focus on me rather than going all Cujo on some neighborhood dog.
Sam: See I knew it! How come I don’t get one, huh?
Elsa: Look Knucklehead, I’m making up for lost time learning how to be a dog after all those years in the puppy mill prison. Those treats remind me that I’m loved and well taken care of and help me bond with my mom. They’re building my confidence.
Sam: “Our mom,” but I digress. [Displaying pitiful look on face] I just want to know why you get a treat and I don’t.
Elsa: Well, I’m the one doing all the learning here. You’re just along for the ride. I didn’t realize wingmen needed treats.
Mom: Now, now…the treats are rewards and positive reinforcement. When you’re good, you get a reward.
Sam: Yeah, but…
Elsa: Oh put a sock on it, dude. I’m the star here. And I’m learning as quick as I can. It ain’t easy when you’ve never had exposure to dogs and people and strollers and…SQUIRRELS!!!
Mom: I don’t think we’re resolving anything thing. Maybe we should check in with Blogville and see what they have to say about this issue.
Sam: Oh you mean let all my fans decided this. Hell, yeah!
Elsa… Let’s hold on to our top knots here, kids. As the resident Ranch baby and aggrieved puppy mill survivor, I think I should be getting treats all the time. For just being me.
Mom: Treats are given with good performance, Elsa. When you act appropriately and calmly, you are rewarded. We’re trying to teach you that life can be good and is not always a DEFCON 5 alert. It’s possible that you can walk nicely without going off the reservation whenever you see another dog out for a walk.
Elsa: I can…with the right treat.
Sam: See, I’m doomed here.
As a parent, you wouldn’t show favoritism with your 2-legged children, but what are the rules regarding the 4-legged ones? Are the rules the same? Is it possible that dogs know the difference, especially the more ‘simple-minded’ ones?
Has Sam suddenly learned to count and is now calculating that Elsa is receiving more treats that he is? Should he be afforded the same number/same high value treats? He looks at me like I’m some sort of cretin with such a pitiful expression as to induce guilt. I swear that dog must have been a travel agent in a previous life since he is so successful at sending me on those guilt trips.
So where do you fall on this issue? Am I being a monster if I don’t treat him? Remember we’re dealing with a very simple mind and yet, I feel like maybe there’s some merit with his case. Do dogs understand the notion of equality?
Live, love, bark! 🐾
Those editorial meetings are so important! Especially if it’s about treats! They are very important in this house, too! I think I’m pretty fair in the dispensing…our oldest Husky needs a few extra to keep her blood sugar up, but I make sure when she gets them, they all get one, too. Or else I get stared down, and I cave…they get extra ones! 😉 Love the photo of you two! I’d give you both extra (but equal of course) treats, too!
Both are happy recipients of loads of treats.
Sam, I hear your bark.
Treats are often dispensed equally but I do tend to receive more; only because I need more stimulation. Treats are not only doglicious but provide me with a task; to hunt the treat, chew out the treat & sometime solve a treat puzzle.
The catsiblings Dot, Jerry Underfoot & dogsister Q do not require such stimulations. Cats provide their own fun & Q is simply happy to sleep in one of the many beds available to her.
With that said, if you are protesting unfairness in your home then I stand with you & bark, “More treats for Sam!”
Nose nudges,
CEO Olivia
Cricket would definitely have agreed with Sam on this one. I always tried to include her when Luke was getting more treats because of training, etc. But if she was outside playing ball? She didn’t care at all if Luke was getting training treats. She was just happy playing ball! Maybe Sam gets some other kind of special attention and doesn’t realize it? 🙂
He gets both…no wonder he’s such a happy boy!
I think it’s possible to love them differently. In my mind, they need different things at different times and the whole business of treating them equally often goes out the window in my house!
Just like an upright family.
I give my dogs way to many treats, John not so much.
Mom’s are such a soft touch. Most of the time. 😉
Just look at Sam in the photo. How can you not give him a treat? 😉
It is pretty hard. He is such a sweet boy.
We share 50-50 here at home but on walks, Bentley does get diversion treats so he doesn’t act a fool. If Pierre notices, he gets a treat too. They are so sensitive. LOL!
I am convinced they know how to count!
You know what they say … crime (or the lack of crime) pays 😉
Sounds like something Elsa would say!
I give extra treats to Black Tot, as she is getting on and is not as sharp as she used to be…apart from that it is even stevens all round.
No doubt she deserves every single bite. Sam is playing the age card with me. I think he’s going to win, too!
We are having a bit of the same problem here since the Momster started giving skinny Timber a bit of kibble at lunchtime. She thought she was tricking us but we KNEW. So now we each get a couple of Cheerios while Timber gets his kibble and life is good again:)-
Woos – Lightning and Misty (and skinny Timber)
The things we moms have to do with multiple dogs to keep the peace.
Well done … but I can also tell that you have your hands full.
If you only knew!
My 2 poodles know who got what and how many. I’ve tried treating one and not the other but the one who got less got anxious. I tried different and/or different sized treats but they knew and it took too long to deliver a treat. So they both get the same when they are both present. For training I give one a chewie and take the trainee to another room and close the door. They somehow know!
It’s quite remarkable that poodles can count, but I’m sure they can!
Mew mew mew oh Lady Monika mee finkss Sam an Elsa have you over thee purrverbial ‘barrel’!!
Mee finkss it should bee equal treetss butt you are rite they are meant to ree-ward good bee-haviour….so maybe you could pree-cut treetss fur Sam so hee gets thee same amount without eatin all of them…it iss sorta sneeky to cut thee treetss uppy butt if it helpss Sam feel luvved mee sayss go fur it!
LadyMum laffed out loud over thee DefCon 5 commint. Shee says mee used to bee DefCon 5 until about a year ago…..then when thee BIG ‘seizey’ happened out back to her mee went DefCon 5 all over again….
Mee not walk out durin Winter an onlee been walkin outside since March. An onlee out front so me onlee attainss DefCon 3, mew mew mew…
***nose rubsss*** Siddhartha Henry thee Kat who walks like a doggie =^,.^=
It really says something when you have to play head games with dogs! Worse yet, I think I’m losing.
Oh no Lady Monika…you mite have to start finkin like a doggie! LadyMum told mee shee has to fink like mee to understand why mee actss thee way mee does! Mew mew mew….
Xena gets way more treats than Lucy for the same reason that Elsa gets more than Sam. I always make sure that Lucy gets at least one treat, though, and it is usually at the end of the session. Sometimes also at the beginning. But at the end, I think Lucy feels like she got “treated” the same as Xena, maybe even better when I wait a couple of seconds and give only her the treat. Also, sometimes I will break them up and give Xena 3 parts and Lucy 1 part just to keep the peace. This is all, of course, in the context of trying to teach Xena something.
It makes me wonder who’s learning and what, around here. 😇
Great post! I admit to showing favoritism, but it usually involves jokes along the lines of “Why can’t you be good like your brother?” when one of my cats is naughty.
Bwahaha! Ok, that made me howl a bit!
🙂
OMD TOO FUNNY! Well, you will not like what I am going to say, but….when Dakota gets a bone, Cody gets a treat, if one gets a treat so does the other one……….(maybe that is why Dakota doesn’t always listen? BOL!!) If both of them are present, if one gets a treat, both do!
Sam is on board with that way of thinking 🤔
I’d say you could give him one every now and then just so he doesn’t feel left out, but I don’t think you have to give him one every single time she gets one.
Do they make placebo dog treats? Sam would never know he isn’t getting the real thing and his sister is…
Treats with my cats is done the old gladiator way. I stand at the other end of the kitchen and skip them along the floor and let them show me their catching and chasing skills. Did you know a cat’s paw can work like a catcher’s mitt?
Yes, you are a monster. Monster, monster, monster. I’ve long suspected this but now the truth is out. Tyrannical, one might say. No, Sam didn’t pay me to write this. Well, not much anyway.
Bwahaha! Knowing Sam, I’m not surprised…but still hanging my head in shame.
Our pets are geniuses with their own ways. I know cats can tell lies, they are jealous, they know what is the time. When we had two cats and they were running and jumping in the living room, I was in the kitchen and shouted to calm down. Suddenly I heard a flower pot falling on the floor and there were two cats looking out of the window, they didn’t know who did it.
For sure every pet owner has many stories, but back to your question, give treats to both at the same time, Sam and Elsa understand that.
I love the flower pot story! Taking them separately (at least for now) isn’t a good option so yes, I think both probably need a treat when they’re out walking together. *Sigh*
I definitely play favorites – sorry, Schooner. You’ll never be Choppy.
I think I have to agree with you on that one. No offense, Schooner. But Choppy IS the bomb!
Sam, let her have her treats. Imagine the Schadenfreude you’ll enjoy when Elsa gets so fat on those treats that she has to go see Jenny.
{Giggle} Luckily for little Miss Ninja, I cut back on her dinner bowl if she’s made a lot of progress.
Unless there is some serious training going on 1:1 both girls usually get rewarded. We call it doing nothing other than being in the right place at the right time. And if you’re Kali you come running to get in that right place whenever you hear a command or “good girl”. And sometimes if Kali hears us give Kloe a command, Kali performs the command herself- I guess that’s good muscle memory on her part. I think dogs are in the moment and don’t equate fairness or equity. Since Kali has become a bit portly I do however give her a much smaller treat when they are given out for being in the right place at the right time.
To combat weight gain, I’ve trimmed some kibble from the dinner bowls. Still I wonder about the tit-for-tat fairness and whether dogs comprehend equity.
No dogs here just cats. Hazel gets a med in a pill pocket which she loves. She’d love a whole meal of pill pockets. At first the two greys slunk around smelling but in the end they decided they’re not a big fan of pill pockets. All is good. For now.
Ha! Elsa would probably love a whole meal of pill pockets too since I make ours from peanut butter which she loves. So tell me, can cats count?
They can tell when they don’t get their fair share!
It continues to amaze me they are so tuned in to things like that!
Anipals can count. We all do here at the Hotel Thompson. As such, we get the same amount of treats. Now if a treat is given for reinforcement, mom *tries* to do it on the side so the others can’t see. Snorts – as if that works. We know. We know how many treats each of us get. Fairness for all is what I snort and oinks. XOXO – Bacon
Yeah I’m beginning to think you guys are real math whizzes. Nothing seems to get by either knucklehead.
Snorts and rolls with piggy laughter. XOXO – Bacon
That’s a good question. I’m sure that Sam sees Elsa getting treats and wonders why her and not him. But, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to give him one every time you give one to Elsa. Perhaps it would help if, every once in a while, you find a reason to give Sam a treat and not give Elsa one. Then they both learn that they shouldn’t expect a treat every time the other one gets one. I’m just glad Tippy is an only dog. I could see her experiencing this and figuring out that, in order to get treats she needs to go a little nuts on her walks. She’s pretty good at figuring these things out. When I was teaching her recall as a puppy, I’d let her get a certain distance and then call her back for a treat. It didn’t take her long before she’d go that distance, stop, turn around and look at me as if to say, “I’m ready. Time to call me back. I want my treat.” LOL
These dogs continue to prove they are smarter than they look! Sweet Tippy…I can just picture her turning around and checking in for the treat dispensing. Love it! 😍
OMD, I hear ya! I had the same problem when I was training Callie and Shadow. Being that Callie was the older one, she would look for hand-outs too. But, since she helped me with Shadow, she got rewards, too. When Ducky came along, I had to leave the Golden Girls upstairs while I worked with Ducky downstairs.
What you could do is have two size of treat. The larger one to to go to Elsa to continue to encourage the behavior you are trying to reinforce. The smaller treat can go to Sam to address his sense of injustice and restore the feeling of equality. Well, ok, it may not work but it’s worth a try.
Sam responds well to praise and I certainly shower him with it. Trying to sort through a bag of different sized treats while holding two leashes, possibly a waste bag makes me look like a juggling court jester. And rewarding Elsa immediately when she doesn’t go berserk might not happen in a timely fashion. I may just have to treat them both or feel guilty about Sam. *Sigh*
I sometimes think they are no dogs but a kind of special humans… they also know if a halved treat is not egg-sactly halved… even when you have your hand behind your back…
I’m thinking mathematical geniuses with super powers.