He's figured out that when he goes into his litterbox and makes the "I'm going to the bathroom" noise (moving around the litter pellets, shuffling around and coming back out), that he gets a treat just the same as when he actually outputs. Mother has caught on to the trick even when he presumptuously comes out of the litterbox and sits like a pro, waiting for the bit for his imaginary feat. I've only known of one other dog who has caught onto the possibility of faking a pee for a cookie. Swanky=specialness.

Swanky never willingly relinquishes objects, be they toys or stolen items. He'd much rather taunt you with it and dare you to take it from him. This is, perhaps, the highlight of his daily routine. Our next goal is to teach him the fetch game, which implies that he give up possession of one object in exchange for another. While we throw one object, we name the behavior he's doing at that moment, "go get it". When he's picking the object up, "take it". When he's coming back to us to get the other object that we are squeaking or bouncing, we say, "come!". And when he drops the one he has in his mouth, even if for but a millisecond, we say, "drop it" and immediately throw the other ball/squeaker/whatever. So the fetch game becomes an outlet for extra energy, while teaching him the names of very important behaviors (the come command being the most important). 2 birds with one stone, as they say...

Swanky has gotten to the great level of automatically sitting and automatically laying down when he sees a treat. Mom's poker friends have been doing her practicing for her. I am all for this. Sometimes one needs a break from being on top of the dog, you've just got to make sure your poker friends are practicing correctly and not rewarding him for stealing underwear and toilet paper. The apartment has a brand new rug in the livingroom and The Big "S" is now loving laying on it whatever chance he gets.

His separation anxiety has gotten increasingly better and he just happened to be showcased in a HUGE New York newspaper with his owner in an article about real estate and interest rates!