September 21, 2014

Monday Mischief: What a Friend We Have in Cheeses

Last year I posted "Does the Gardener Taste Like Chicken?", which included a lot of very blurry pics, like the one below, of Rita going ballistic when our gardener comes over. 
"Hey, you!! Get outta my yard!"
I've tried many different things to keep her calm when he comes. Frosty Paws, all kinds of different treats, playing music (apparently it doesn't always calm the savage beast), etc. But I have finally found something that makes her go from this:

To this:

Yeah, it's cheese, or a reasonable facsimile thereof. It's the Kong "Easy Treat" in the bacon and cheese flavor.

I know this stuff isn't great for her, so I only squeeze a teeny bit in her mouth and let her lick the spout for as long as she'll stay quiet. Then when she starts to get too concerned with what's going on outside again, another little squirt. 

Luckily he only comes every other week!

You can't really tell from the sound in the video, but he's actually using one of his power tools as I'm filming this - which usually makes her extra crazy.  This stuff is definitely a great find!

Gotta be sure to stay stocked up on the spray cheese. Hopefully eventually she learns Gardener = spray cheese, and she'll just be calm while he comes. We'll see...


Do you ever have to try to calm a salvage beast? What works for you?

Thanks to Snoopy’s Dog Blog, Alfie’s Blog, and My Brown Newfies for hosting Monday Mischief! (And a special shout-out to Leroy over at My Brown Newfies - get better, buddy!! We're all pulling for you!)

39 comments:

  1. When the dog mom like cheese, so does the dog. Or in my case, all the pets! Maybe I need to get them their own so they stop trying to have bites of mine!!! :)

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    1. We LOVE cheese at our house. Our kitchen motto is "don't be shy with the cheese."

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  2. we love cheese too but have never tried kong cheese
    retro rover

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  3. Our doorbell doesn't ring often, but when it does, there is a frenzy of three dogs and cat bro Bert at the door. Usually, 1-2 of us have to go outside via the back door before Mom opens the front door. The exception is the UPS or mailman who doesn't interest us at all anymore since they come often. We are just a mess when fun humans come by.

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    1. Rita barks when the doorbell rings, but only folks coming in our back yard make her leap (AND bark) like a mad thing!

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  4. Oh we so would love a lick of that squeeze cheese. I bark when ever someone is outside so that is pretty much every day. Have a marvellous Monday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  5. That Kong treat stuff made me think of the canned cheese sold for humans. Can ya still buy that?!

    All of the pack go crazy when there is someone at the door but calm in a few minutes.

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    1. I have no idea if you can still buy that canned cheese. Wasn't that stuff disgusting?!

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  6. Well our dumb momma didn't even nose about this stuff, hers uses velvetta to hid all our pills when we are sick...like we don't really know they are in there...geeze louise.
    stella rose

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    1. Get Gus to drive you to the store and get some, Stella Rose!

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  7. LOL...Great find indeed. That's probably the best part of having a food motivated dog. Oh..the gardener....LOOK Food!!

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    1. And the worst thing about the food motivation is keeping the weight down! So trying hard to only give her a tiny bit!

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  8. My guys like to eat whipped cream in the same manner. They come running any time they hear the can being used!

    The doorbell drives both boys wild, but they give up pretty quickly.

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    1. My friend says her cats do the same! This Kong thing is silent, but I kinda wish it made a noise, cuz I'm sure she'd come running when she heard it.

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  9. LOL Jeffie thinks Rita has you very well trained!

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  10. LOL...Kongs are the best for food motivated dog!

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    1. I need to try stuffing her Kong. Made the mistake of stuffing it with peanut butter once - but that was before we released she'd gone off peanut butter. (Won't touch the stuff now!) What a mess to clean up!

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    2. Kongs come really clean in the dishwasher!

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  11. Kongs are great toys - Harley loves cheese but cheese don't like Harley - Phew.....

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    1. I'm not sure there's any actual cheese in this thing though... :)

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  12. Gardener = spray cheese = happiness ;)

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  13. LOL dogs will do anything for cheese. My post today is about Freighter and cheese. :) But seriously, that Canine Calm spray that I received in one of the boxes that I reviewed really works. Whatever essential oils are in it just seems to calm them if they get worked up.

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    1. So funny that we both posted about cheese. I'll have to look for that Canine Calm! Might work well for her in the car - she gets anxious on long road trips.

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  14. That's an awesome solution! Great Job! :D I should try that with my reactive girl!

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    1. I kinda wish I could carry a can with us every time we go on a walk!

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  15. I sometimes buy squeeze cheese for my dogs. They love it!

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  16. Replies
    1. It's really amazing how good she was being. Ah, the power of cheese!

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  17. Replies
    1. Hahaha. You never know - maybe you should try it on Reg, too.

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  18. Your title cracked me up, Jackie, very creative! Luke's trainer is always telling us that we need to use high value treats for his training. We like to keep him on healthy treats, but still, you've gotta do what you've gotta do, right? As long as things that aren't the healthiest are kept in moderation, I think that's fine. Luke barks a lot too, and I'm going to keep this in mind for him.

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    1. Yeah, I think everything we used up until now was not high value enough (cuz I was trying to do the healthy stuff). Think I might also try turkey hot dogs.

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