Tricks and Treats, Part I

         The first trick I ever learned was “Jump!”

           Both my Cousin Luna (Yorkie) and my Cousin Ellie (Havanese) know this trick. Their people stand in tree pose – aren’t you impressed by my reference to yoga? With one foot firmly planted on the opposite.  inner calf, our people’s legs form an open triangle, just big enough for little guys like us to leap through. Ta da!

          It didn’t take me long to master the trick. We didn’t even need a YouTube video for this one. It’s my first, my easiest, and maybe my most impressive trick, the one we always save for company.

          “Jump!” She says, and I take a running start at Her Vrksasana.

          Trouble is, sometimes Her balance is not so good. Sometimes, as I’m in mid-approach, she teeters from Vrksasana and winds up in Tadasana (which is mountain pose for you uninitiated.) There’s no getting a “ta da” when she’s in Tadasana, Then I can’t “jump!” and I don’t get a treat, which hardly seems fair.

          My workaround is another crowdpleaser: Roll over.

          I like “roll over” because her Tadasana poses no impediment to my “ta da” and my treat!