No Self Control

Does a dog have any self control? That’s a good question and I’m not sure if I know the answer.

Let’s examine food in relation to self control. I’m pretty well-behaved, so they tell me. I’ve seen other dogs constantly scrounging for food and I don’t do that. I would if I could, but the scrounger has been trained out of me by my family. Another training technique they used was making me wait for my meals. Oh, the sweet torture! Shoes on the Floor would give me the command to sit, put food in my bowl and make me wait about fifteen excruciating seconds (full of drool, need and want) before saying the magic word, “Okay.”

I guess that training has set me up to behave pretty well around food. Doesn’t mean I’m not opportunistic… read on, my sisters.

A-Dog used to do a lot of baking B.C. and I was not much interested in the end result. Although that chocolate smell is dee-vine! In the baking process, sometimes it makes sense to bring butter to room temperature, which means it needs to sit out for a couple hours. And in that couple hours, I may catch a whiff of said butter about 1,874 times. I don’t think it’s a question of self control when there is torture involved.

The score? Scout the Dog 2 — Sticks of Butter 0.

Then there was the Onion Kulcha – oy! Unfortunately, onions are toxic for dogs. But I am a self-confessed bread hound. Love the stuff. I find it hard to resist under regular circumstances, but the fragrant Indian bread, makes my nose dance. Left unattended, I made that flat loaf all mine. The confusion and panic that ensued may have been funny, if not for the call to Doggie Poison Control and the words induce vomiting. I’ll spare you the details, but “better in than out” has a whole new meaning for me now.

I guess from these examples of behavior that self control is a human trait and we dogs still rely on instinct. Makes us charming and disarming, yes? And that photo above? I had just eaten a sandwich off the counter. Will they never learn?