I often get questions on how I manage to score so many wonderful treasures on our walks. There are actually five methods I use – and each one availed itself today!
Before we get started, let me show you the first – and to my mind, best – treasure of the day:
A beautiful sunrise! It set the tone for all the treasures to come!
Now, I’ve already covered the first tactic – which is distraction – in my earlier post about our trip to PetSMart. You can get the details at this link. This morning, I used the distraction technique to get a slice of pepperoni pizza while my brother was trying to untangle my leash. This is the method I use the most, but then my brother is so easily distracted that it’s almost like taking candy from a puppy. You may not be so fortunate with your brother or sister, so let’s discuss some other tactics.
Another good way get some nice treasures is to be nonchalant right before going for the prize. This morning, I was just walking past some shrubs – or so my brother thought. Actually, there was a baby back rib bone under the plants and I had already seen it out of my perennial vision. So, I played it very calm and collected, then boom! Ribs for breakfast!
The opposite technique also works well. Be chalant, if that’s the right term. Maybe Hyperchalant is an even better word. Sometimes, you just need to exert all your strength to reach the prize! For example, this morning there were two grilled chicken breasts is a container, just sitting there on the pavement! There was nothing to distract my brother with and I didn’t have time to act disinterested: we would be passing it by in a matter of seconds! So, it was time to take decisive action. I calculated exactly where I would have to grab the container to open it up, figured out how best to bite into the chicken breasts to swallow them the quickest, took a deep breath, and charged!
This container tastes just like chicken!
As you can see, the chicken breasts were gone before my brother had time to grab his iPhone. Success!
The next technique is to look for treasures in unexpected places. This morning, I smelled some French fries that were up in a planter. We don’t have any video of that, but here’s some stock footage of me back at The Wharf a couple of weeks ago:
Going Portrait
There is an element of surprise to this method. In this example, I’m almost always in landscape orientation, so I went portrait! Unexpectedly! Works like a charm!
My last tip is to take a view toward the long game. This morning, near the beginning of our walk, I saw a carton of mini Nilla wafers. I knew I wanted to be able to take those back home as the treasure of the day, but I also knew there would be plenty of other treasures in the meantime. So, I decided to just be patient and wait – and make sure that we came back by them on the way home. That was the easy part! My brother is really well trained on following directions.
Vanilla wafers – to go!
Well, I hope these tips help you to find the treasures you are looking for! The best thing is that some of the best treasures – like sunrises – don’t require any special skills at all!