Earning his keep

Our dog Tyson has a thing for paper and tissues. I'm not sure what it is, but he loves to raid the wastepaper basket when we're forgetful enough to leave the bathroom door open. I can't even count the number of used Kleenexes he has eaten in his lifespan!

This being the case, Tyson is very active on walks after a fair bit of snow has melted away, uncovering various paper-litter type treasures. As we walk down the street he and I both keep a keen eye out for any potential targets - he tries to make a dive for them and my job is to pre-empt him either verbally by giving the command "off" or my tugging on his leash. When I fail and he has gotten ahold of his bounty, *sometimes* I can get him to spit it out by saying "out", but if it's particularly good, it's basically a lost cause at this point and I just tell him that he's a "bad dog".

The other evening we were out for our evening walk, which just happened to be after a major thaw. As usual Tyson was snuffling the ground for interesting treats and I saw that he was fiddling around with what looked like a piece of paper. I said "out" and he dropped it (mustn't have been particularly tasty). I stepped closer to inspect what he had been intrigued with and it was a $20 bill! One good thing about Tyson is that he is half golden retriever, so he is very gentle with his mouth. The bill was in perfect condition (save for being a completely soaked, so we pocketed it and brought it home to dry out).

Good doggy!