Fetch

One piece of advice a veteran schnauzer owner had was "Always keep one step ahead of your schnauzer. They are very smart dogs, so if you're not careful, they will out-wit you."

With Danny, I think we've long lost that battle. During dinner, he is leashed to his corner which overlooks the stairs heading to the basement. We leave him with some toys so he doesn't get bored.

However, our friend has turned it into a far bigger entertainment than we anticipated. It began with him nicely chewing his toy and then with a flick of his head, he would toss it just out of his reach. He would then put up a huge show of trying to get it back, before launching into a series of desperate yelps. This would result in one of us stopping dinner and getting his toy for him.

In another 5 minutes of so, he would do it again.

Annoying as that was, he soon devised an advanced level to his game. This time, he would toss the toy on the stairs, and watch it crash and bang its way down. Then, his tail stump still twitching, he would turn to us, "Did ya see that?! I need it back now, please." If we ignored him, the whining and yelping would start.

One evening, while I was on my third trip downstairs, my brother commented that he was teaching me to fetch. I froze, turned around and headed back up the stairs without his ball. I ignored Danny's excited "Did ya get it?" face and went back to my dinner.

He's so not training me!