I was trying to train our chiweenie Venus (Picture Below) to stop lunging at other dogs on walks.
She's crazy food-motivated, so I brought treats and rewarded her every time she stayed calm near another dog.
Worked great.
For about five minutes.
Then she figured out the game.
Now she stops every 20 yards, plops down, and just stares at me like "pay up." She reverse-engineered my entire system in one walk.
Anyway, just thought it was funny how quickly behavior changes when the reward structure is obvious.
Also reminded me I'm definitely not smarter than my dog.
Anyone else have pets that are way too clever for their own good?
Would love to see photos if you've got them.