Unlike the human members of the household, Rusty loves mornings.
When Rusty, Nellie and Gambit were separated at night, Rusty thought mornings were the best thing ever invented.
Better than food, better than squirrels, better than other dogs.
Every morning, when I went to let Rusty out of the kitchen, his front paws would be bouncing around. In the air, on the ground, alternating which paw hit the ground. He had a grand old time.
My husband taught him to channel that excitement by teaching him to give high fives.
Rusty loves to give high fives, and will dole out an unlimited number of high fives if he is in a great mood. Some days, he rivals the Todd.
He has even high fived Gambit in the face recently in a moment of happiness.
Eventually, he also learned how to give high tens and say “Woo!” with his paws. Remember the Woo Girls from How I Met Your Mother? That’s right, Rusty is a Woo Girl.
We now use Rusty’s excited paw motions and which ones he is willing to do as a tool to gauge his mood.
Unhappy or nervous: refusal to give high fives.
Happy: High fives
Really Happy: High tens
Thrilled: “Woo!”
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