Playing Nice

Hello all, this is Billa, and let me just say, Tug looks mighty funny in his plastic cone. He is super pathetic and mopes around the house when he has to wear it. He is doing much better now, he seems to like things around here pretty well. Mom had to spank him last night because he tried to take my bone and I didn't want him to have it, and then he chased me around trying to bite me to take it away and it wasn't very nice. Anyway, he got in trouble and this is him pouting in his cone. Mom spent some time giving him kisses later and I got jealous, but I guess that's okay because he was feeling pretty sad that he got in trouble. 

Now, on to my exciting story of today! In light of the events of last night, I have decided it is my job, my duty, my obligation as a good sister, to teach Tug how to play nicely. 

Step One: Find favorite toy and make sure to let everyone know how special it is. This is me with one of my favorites, Mr. Green Dinosaur, and this is how I make sure to show it is mine and that I love it - I stick my side tooth out. Mom always tells me, "PUT THAT TOOTH BACK IN YOUR MOUTH YOUNG LADY" which is silly because I like to show my beautiful teeth off, especially to my favorite toys!

Step Two: Take toy to mom or dad. This is best done when they are busy doing something else. Even better is if they already have something in their lap or hands. Put the toy in their lap so they know you want to play. If they push it away or tell you they don't want to play right now, pick up the toy and put it in their lap again. This is especially effective when mom is reading one of her big books or dad is playing with that control thing with the tv - put the toy directly on top of whatever they have in their hands. This is how to let them know you are serious about playing. If you keep putting it on top of their hands they will eventually throw it for you!

Step Three: Get very excited when mom or dad picks the toy up. You have to be entirely on your guard because you never know when or where they will throw the toy. So make sure you keep your eyes directly on the toy at all times. 

See what a good teacher I am? There we are, waiting on mom to throw the toy (I did steps 1-3 on my own and then let Tug jump in on this step since he is still learning)

Step Four: When mom or dad takes the toy and winds back to throw, run in the direction that it looks like they will throw. Be sure to turn around in time to see where they actually throw it. They have a tendency to be tricky and act like they will throw it one way and then they will actually throw it somewhere totally different. But it always helps to start your run for the toy early.

Step Five: Race me to see who gets the toy first. I will always win this battle, but you can always try to take the toy away from me. But please, Tug, no biting, and no being mean like you were last night. This is called tug of war. We can pull the toy back and forth and see who is stronger. But you have to be nice and only pull on the toy and not be mean to me when you do this. Also, please don't pull so hard that Mr. Green Dinosaur breaks. 

I taught him so well! Look at how nice he is playing with me!!

After our lesson, Tug took Mr. Green Dinosaur. I tried to take it back, but he thought that since he got it away from me, he should get to play with it.

I guess I will let him play with Mr. Green Dinosaur for a little while since he did so well in our playing lesson today. I like teaching him how to play since I like to play so much and I think he likes it too - he just has to learn how to play nice.