Sadie has decided to add a new level of difficulty to #TongueOutTuesday. She’s managed to have her tongue out without ever letting go of her beloved squeaky ball!

Today Sadie and I decided to join in on the #TongueOut Tuesday fun. I thought it would be cute if I made “Say Aahhhh” a command for Sadie to open her mouth wide and maybe stick out her tongue, like she is doing in the picture above. Turns out Sadie is extremely stubborn about opening her mouth. I’d forgotten my troubles with getting Sadie to open her mouth on command during the early stages of teaching her to play catch, especially since she catches so well now. But when beginning to teach catch, or for the dog to simply open its mouth on command, you are supposed to hold some kind of food or treat above the dog’s mouth. The dog is supposed to automatically open its mouth to receive the food dangling before it. Unfortunately, Sadie reacts differently, as she does in most scenarios. Sadie takes food from humans in a very dainty manner, only opening her mouth a tiny bit so she can grip the very edge of the food with her teeth. Or sometimes she refuses to take the food altogether, until you place it on the floor in front of her. Either way she still won’t open her mouth enough to get my command idea to work. I’m thinking maybe if I catch her yawning enough I can try to put the command to that action, but I’ll need to time it just right. So “Say Aahhhh” is still a work in progress.