I have a confession to make. I am a manipulator...and even worse, I use food to control those I am manipulating. Any good parenting manual will condemn the use of food as a reward to reinforce the behavior that you want in your child. My kids never caved to these techniques, but my dogs do! Boy do they ever ! I like to think that it is my charming, magnetic appeal that makes them follow me like the pied-piper, but truth be told, it is the fannypack full of treats that keeps them tethered to my side. Knowing that random reinforcement creates the best adhesive, I surprise them with goodies at the least likely moments. Even as they adventure off on their own, they keep one ear cocked my direction to hear my yodeling cry, "T-R-E-A-T!" Instant response...what power I feel at that manipulative moment!! It is the same rush that the ice cream truck man must feel when his tinkling song flushes unseen kids out of the bushes at a dead run. "Popsicles!"

A few observations about how these treats are received...there is the hovering group that refuses to wander far from my magic pouch, missing out on a greater adventure for fear of not being the first to get their treat. Then there's the demanding ones that try to trip me as they bark out their orders for a snack stop...(how dare them try to manipulate me!) Mostly they make me mad, less likely to want to give them something for their bold insistence. My favorites are the true adventurers who, despite their love of the goodies, trust me to give them their just due and waste no time or energy worrying about it, or trying to force me to fork it out. I WANT to reward them! All this made me think of how I receive things from others...or more importantly, from God. Which group do I fall in? Which one do you?

One last note. The other day I was trying to split a treat in two and decided to use my teeth. (Alright, I admit it was a dumb idea). Instead of breaking, it crumbled in my mouth, leaving me with a pile of disgusting sawdust that was absolutely the most tasteless thing ever to assail my palate. This is the treat that brings them running from all directions?! At that moment I lost all respect for the dogs I so easily manipulate! Now I understand why eating old dog poop is a gourmet meal to them...it's gotta beat this sawdust stuff!