Odie on the Couch

You know that this *is* Odie's motorhome, right? After all, we are Odie's Roadies. He owns the place. He is allowed anywhere except the bed. And, if it were up to me, he'd probably be allowed there. But, Jim said no. And, I have discovered he was right. There are times that Odie gets wet and maybe even muddy. You don't want him to jump on the bed in that condition! But, the couch. That's his home. We actually took out the couch when we first got the RV to make way for the filing cabinets and my computer workstation. But the little bit of couch-like space that is left is definitely Odie's home. He's discovered that this is one place he won't get accidentally stepped on. When he's in someone else's house he automatically assumes that their couches are fair game as well. Usually it's not a problem - he's a pretty clean little guy - but, since we're staying here for a while and it was very wet and rainy, we decided to train him to stay off the couches. This was not going to be easy. He believes he has a right to lay on a couch. He would jump up and we would push him off onto the floor. He'd jump up again with no comprehension why we just pushed him off. We'd push him off again. He'd look at us as if to say, "Stop that!" Like we were the ones that didn't understand. He wanted to get on the couch. When we started catching him in mid-leap and swatting him back down like a tennis ball, he started to get the message. "Oh, you don't want me on the couch. Is that why you brought my bed in here?" He started lying in his bed and didn't get back on the couch! Whaddaya know, you *can* teach an old dog new tricks. I was so proud! He is my perfect poodle! We'd see him eyeing the couch longingly and all we had to do was say "No!" and he'd slink off to his bed. What a good boy! Yesterday we got Odie groomed. So, not only was he my "Perfect Poodle", but he also looked and smelled nice. We got home and fixed some lunch. I was just looking around the room and was shocked to see my perfect-poodle-who-didn't-get-on-couches sleeping as content as could be. on the couch I shouted at him, expecting an obedient, "oops, sorry" and an immediate jump down from the couch. It didn't happen. Oh well, maybe he's not as smart as I thought. Jim must be right, he's just a "Practically Perfect Poodle". He did reluctantly get down from the couch, but his look was not obedient, it was more disgusted. He rolled his eyes and grumbled, "Come on ... I know you only wanted me off the couch because I'd get it dirty. I'm clean now dummy!" p.s. you can check out Odie's Blog to see what he thinks about it.