This old dog is learning some new tricks

Everybody say "Happy Birthday!" to Chester! Today, he turns 6 years old. That's even more than a whole paw!

He has gotten entitled in his old age. Lately, he has started straight up asking for treats. Seriously. He walks right up to the closet where we store them, and he impatiently waits. If we don't pay him attention, he rudely scratches the door and shifts his weight to make sure we know that his focus is on the door. Oh-ho no, sir. Not gunna fly in my house, Mr. Mess.

I figured that if he thinks he deserves these treats, he's going to have to earn them, by golly. So this week, we started practicing playing dead. It's one of the tricks we never fully attempted, because he got so confused between it and rollover. But look how great he is doing after only a few days! He's such a smart dog!

Take a look at the birthday boy performing all of his tricks just for you! (He still hesitates a little at the "Bang!" but he's figuring it out.)

Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?? Six seems pretty old to me, and he's obviously a champ. Now, we just need to get him over his phobia of us touching his paws, so he can learn to "shake." (Every time we try, he slowly pulls his paw back with a confused look on his face, as if he's clearly offended by our audacity to grab it.) If we can tackle that challenge, who knows? We may eventually even move on to Jesse level tricks!

Happy Birthday, sweet boy! You're the best gosh darn dog in all the land!