Like unto a dog
Trump got told to sit the fuck down yesterday. Got told it and had to take it.
New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan was wrapping up a contentious hour of debate with lawyers on both sides Friday afternoon, when he clarified that a contempt hearing—where he might punish Trump for repeatedly ignoring a gag order and continuing to publicly speak threateningly about witnesses and jurors—would commence Tuesday morning.
But just as the judge neared the end of his sentence, Trump abruptly stood up—apparently thinking the day was over. Immediately, Merchan turned his face to the former president and said in a firm voice: “Sir, can you please have a seat.”
His long, black robes dangled from beneath his right hand as he waved it down, like a man addressing his dog.
Or a woman addressing her dog for that matter. When I’m nannying my dear friend Cooper I often have to add the Downward Facing Hand because he’s playing dumb.
Cooper never has a tantrum about it though. He’s not a tantrum kind of guy.
Trump went and plopped straight back down into his maroon leather chair at the defense table—and remained for another minute, fuming as the judge gathered his paperwork and strolled toward his chambers.
As the judge exited the courtroom, Trump shot up and made straight for the back, furious. He looked straight toward the wooden double doors in back, ignoring reporters in the pews and clicking his tongue as he approached the EXIT sign.
How dignified.
But surely he was happy that the judge called him “sir”.
If he’s well trained, you could probably use just the DFH to get him to sit. Dogs actually respond better to hand signals than verbal cues. It always impresses people when I run my doberman through a series of tricks with only hand signals.
Sadly he’s not well trained.
Welp, nothing to be done, then.
Haha it was always the Upward Pointy Finger for my dog to sit. He went blind in July, and the whole avenue of visual communication has been shut down. Not ideal for a dog that’s a) stubborn and b) a bit thick, if we’re honest. Of course, this doesn’t stop me from waving and pointing in an attempt to herd him in the right direction, so I guess point a and b apply to us both.
catwhisperer: Upward here, too, but more like the Italian gesture.
For those who haven’t trained dogs, the reason it’s usually an upward hand gesture for “sit” and a downward one for “lie down” is that the gesture begins as a lure. You use a treat to bring the dog’s nose up, which they can only do so well before they have to sit. You lure the “down” in a similar way, bringing the treat to the floor where the dog has to get down in order to get the treat.
Aww now that has reminded me of how my dog struggled with “down”. He would sit fine, but then following the treat down resulted in the bum going up. I had to sit him at the top of the stairs and then move the treat down to the next step, and then he would lie down to try and reach it. I would have abandoned the whole thing but he needed to learn it for his puppy classes, and he was already the dog who got the zoomies during recall training. Those were the days!
I feel you. My dobie, now eight, still can’t manage a decent recall, even in the house. Especially not if he’s holding one of my socks. If he gets out, there’s nothing to do but chase him down half the block while he checks his pee-mail.
I had to turn his tendency to keep his butt in the air into a “bow” before I could train the “down”.
The zoomies! I’ve been watching Dalscone Farm videos ever since the Fiona rescue, and they feature a lot of lambs and kids getting the zoomies.
I really enjoy watching my cats get the zoomies. I have one cat who rarely gets the zoomies, until the other cat pesters her by using her as a speed bump over and over. Then the chase starts.
Zoomies are good. More Zoomies for the People.
Not a dog, but I give you the classic Kitten vs Apples:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5cNeEiaUoc