Sit...Stay...Beg(69)
She did, getting another treat.
“The treat is key,” he told the class. “But you have to have their eyes. If you don’t have a dog’s eyes, you don’t have a dog.” He produced another squeaky toy, squeezed it, and threw it hard and far. Half the dogs there went after it, including Lola, making all the trainers react, and that noise threw Lindy again. But Garrett ordered her to stay, and she did.#p#分页标题#e#
He rewarded her with a treat and a head scratch. “Now, get your dogs, everyone, and let’s do a round of practicing.”
He came over to Jessie, draping a casual arm around her that made her feel…not casual. Downright butterfly-ish, if she had to admit it, which she wouldn’t.
“You’re pretty good at that,” she said, walking with him toward Lola.
“Not good enough.”
She gave him a questioning look. “That dog didn’t move when you told her to stay.”
He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Didn’t work on getting you to stay in bed this morning.”
“You didn’t have my eyes.” But she looked up at him now, as directly as Lindy had.
“No kidding. Your boss was a level-five distraction, which, if you stick around today, you’ll learn is the biggest challenge for a dog.”
“A level-five distraction? What are the levels?”
Lola circled Jessie’s legs, trying to get in between the two of them, making them laugh at how openly jealous she was of Garrett.
“Level one is something simple,” he told her. “Like a noise. Level two is a toy. A toy that makes noise is higher, a level three. Level four is a person, intensified by how well they know that person. And five? Can you guess?”
“Food?”
“Exactly. Something that they need and crave and are instinctively bred to fight to get. If you can throw a steak down in front of a dog and they stay, you’ve earned your stripes.”
“Did you hear that, Lola?” she asked. “You’d love a steak, wouldn’t you, girl?”
Lola panted and sat, paws on the ground, looking up.
“She sure knows how to sit,” Garrett said. “And she can probably go all the way to level five, though I’ve never tested her. You want to try?”
“Of course.”
He handed her one of his endless supply of squeaky toys, which she realized came from a pouch hanging from his waist. “Here you go.”
“You know, I never thought I’d be having romantic fantasies about a man who wears squeaky toys on his belt.”
He winked at her. “You should see what I keep in my nightstand drawer.”
Laughing at that, she turned to Lola. “Stay.” She tossed the toy, and the dog looked at it, jerked a little, but then looked right back at Jessie and stayed where she was. “Good girl!”
Garrett gave Jessie a treat from another bag. “You have to give this to her, really fast.”
She did and won a look of undying affection.
“Try it again,” he said. “Louder and farther.”
“Stay,” she ordered, squeezing the heck out of the toy and tossing it a good ten feet. Lola flinched. “Stay,” Jessie repeated.
She flinched again, but didn’t take a step.
“Reward with love this time,” Garrett said softly.
“Good girl,” Jessie exclaimed, hugging Lola’s head and adding a kiss just because she had to.
“As we know, this one’s been trained.” Garrett glanced around to see the others in various states of sit and stay. “Let’s see if she knows this one.” He crouched down and held up his hand. “High five, Lola.”
She stared at him.
“Let me try,” Jessie said. “High five, Lola.” Nothing. “So there’s something our little Mensa candidate can’t do. Can you teach her?”
“You can.”
“Okay. How?”
“Get on your knees in front of her, hold up this treat, but tell her to stay. We already know she will. Hold her eyes the whole time.”#p#分页标题#e#
“Oh yeah. You have the eyes, you have the dog.” She looked right into Lola’s deep-brown eyes, her whole chest exploding with love for the creature. “Stay, Lola.”
She did, and then Garrett told her to lightly tap one of Lola’s front paws. After a few seconds, Lola instinctively lifted her other foot to paw at the treat. “High five!” Garrett said. “Give her the treat.”
Lola took it, ate, and they tried again.
On the fourth time, all Jessie had to say was, “High five,” with no treat, and Lola lifted her paw, making Jessie delighted down to her toes.