Whatever Works

When Kyle and Rex arrived at the dog park on Saturday morning, Drew and Lucky were already waiting. Rex and Lucky sniffed noses to say hello, then Kyle made Rex sit. Lucky pranced and pulled on his leash. He wanted to play.

“Did you bring any treats with you?” Kyle asked.

“Yep, a whole bag,” Drew said, pulling a bag out of his pocket. “But I don’t know if they’ll help at all. Training Lucky might be hopeless. Every time he went near the trash last night, I told him, ‘No!’ but he still dragged garbage all over the kitchen.”

“Well, we can’t teach him to be a perfect dog in a week,” Kyle said. “But we can teach him how to behave a little better.”

“I don’t know,” Drew said. He still didn’t look convinced.

“Training a dog isn’t easy,” Kyle said. “You’ll have to be tough, and it’ll take a lot of time. So we’ll have to cheat a little.”

“What do you mean?” Drew asked.

“Your parents won’t care why Lucky stops chewing stuff and playing with trash as long as he stops, right?” Kyle said.

Drew nodded. “Right. They just want me to take some responsibility for him. But how do I get him to leave the trash alone?”

“Simple,” Kyle said. “Just make sure you take the trash out every night and put an empty bag in the kitchen can. Lucky can’t scatter trash if there isn’t any.”

“That’s genius!” Drew exclaimed.

“I don’t know about that,” Kyle said with a laugh. “I just know from experience. That’s what I had to do with Rex.”

“What about chewing?” Drew asked. “I read online that using hot sauce works.”

“It works on table legs,” Kyle said. “I had to use it on ours when Rex was a puppy. But if Lucky is chewing on shoes, it might not be a good idea. Your parents probably don’t want to put their feet in hot-sauce shoes.”

“Ugh, no!” Drew made a face.

“Lucky needs some chew toys,” Kyle said.

“We got him some,” Drew said. “But he likes shoes and books better.”

“Then you can’t leave anything lying around,” Kyle said. “If Lucky can’t reach it, he can’t chew it.”

Drew scratched Lucky behind the ears. “What about coming when he’s called?” he asked. “I can’t do that for him.”

“No, we have to trick him,” Kyle said. He took a ball and a treat out of his backpack. Then he took Rex off his leash and threw the ball. “Go get it, Rex!”

Rex immediately raced to fetch the ball. Drew had a hard time holding Lucky back. He wanted to go after Rex.

“Here, boy!” Kyle yelled as Rex ran back.

The yellow Lab ran back to Kyle, sat down, and dropped the ball at his feet. Kyle checked to make sure Lucky was watching. Then he gave Rex a treat.

Lucky whined.

“You’ll get one, too, Lucky,” Kyle said. “You just have to earn it. Ready to try, Drew?”

“I guess,” Drew said. “But Lucky won’t bring the ball back. He’ll just run around with it.”

“Not if Rex has the ball,” Kyle explained. “Lucky will follow him. Just keep calling for him to come to you. And give him a treat when he gets to you.”

“Okay,” Drew said. He unclipped Lucky’s leash, and Kyle threw the ball. Both dogs took off after it. Lucky got to the ball first. He picked it up and started running in a big circle around the park.

“Now what?” Drew asked, sounding frustrated.

“Keep yelling ‘come!’ and hold out the treat,” Kyle said.

“Come, Lucky! Come here, boy!” Drew hollered.

Rex and Lucky ran and jumped for several minutes before Lucky saw the treat in Drew’s hand. He immediately dropped the ball and ran to get it.

Drew fed him the treat. “Good boy!” he said happily.

Rex grabbed the ball and brought it to Kyle. He liked treats, but he liked playing fetch more.

“Let’s try this again. Ready, Rex?” Kyle said.

This time, Kyle threw the ball. Rex grabbed it and ran straight back. Lucky chased after him, just like Kyle had hoped.

“Come, Lucky!” Drew yelled. “Come!”

Lucky started to run past, but as soon as he saw the treat in Drew’s hand he turned and raced back to his owner.

“Make a big fuss petting him, too,” Kyle said. “That way he’ll know you’re happy with what he did.”

The boys stayed at the dog park and worked with the dogs for almost an hour. Rex had a great time playing fetch with Kyle. Lucky only came straight back to Drew half the time, but it was better than the day before. The spaniel was a lot smarter than Drew realized.

But success didn’t just depend on Lucky. The dog’s fate depended on Drew, too.