Bazinga's Birds

You have all heard the old saying "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." We all have our times when we see something we want, and forget about what we already have. I know I have had that problem myself. I would get fixated on something I thought I just had to have and forget that I already had everything I needed. When I would finally snap out of it I would rationalize it to myself by thinking, "I'm only human." However, I recently have noticed behavior that proves, to me at least, that the bird in the hand syndrome does not only effect humans.

Bazinga, my ever faithful friend is a greedy little fellow. He shares his toys, he doesn't scarf down the food in his bowl the second you put it in, but he is greedy. Maybe greedy isn't the right way to put it.

 Perhaps it is more.... I don't know.

Here's the story... (don't worry, it's not very long)

Bazinga like any dog, loves his treats. I give him a treat when we come in from outside. I make him do a trick for it, give it to him and go on my way. Every once in a while I'll grab an extra treat and have him work on a few tricks. Nothing extravagant, just sit, stay, lay, and "reach for the sky," (which is just sitting up with his front paws in the air.) I'm not one to teach a bunch of tricks, I just want him to listen when I tell him to do something.

Last week, I had him do a trick, and gave him his treat. He took it in his normal thrilled, excited, and exuberant way. You'd swear he was starving. He started chewing on it, and saw that I had another treat in my hand. I told him to sit again. This is what surprised me, he spit out the first, like it was black liquorish, and fixated on the treat in my hand. It was a different kind of treat, so I thought maybe he just liked that type better.

Yesterday, I had two treats again, this time the same kind, and he spit out the first one again and waited for the second one.   I haven't had a lot of dogs in my life, but we did have Wickett for eleven years and I don't remember him doing that. His take on the "bird in the hand" was, "gulp down the bird you have and capture the two in the bush."  If I had more than one treat he would swallow the first whole if he thought he had a chance at a second treat. Which I think is the norm for dogs.

Bazinga gives up what he has in hopes of something better. Is that normal for dogs? I have no idea. When he does spit out his first treat, I pick it up and make him do a new trick for it. He thinks he's getting three treats, I get him to practice an extra command. I think that's a win win. So, I guess, in a way, he gets to have all three birds in his mind.