Our golden retriever was a wonderful dog. he made a good TV watching pillow for my two girls when they were young. Nugget wasn't allowed on the furniture. We never caught him there. However, the couch had a warm spot, dog hair and a drool spot on it. Nugget was on the floor. His eyebrows were working up and down saying, "not me. I wasn't on the couch."

At nursery school: Our supervisor raised big newfoundland dogs. She also taught dog obedience classes. At Christmas, she would bring one of her dogs to our nursery school, dressed up as Santa Claus. He had a Santa hat on and a red velvet blanket on his back, trimmed in white. Hannah, our supervisor, was demonstrating dog obedience to our students. Her other goal was to assure the children that this big dog was gentle. He would not bite them. The children sat in a circle on the floor. Hannah put a basket filled with cookies before her. She called her dog over. The dog came and sat. Hannah gave the command, "take it." The dog picked up the basket by the handle and walked around the circle. Each child was encouraged to take a cookie from the basket.

I thought this was a wonderful trick. My golden retriever is a natural for this trick. I bet Nugget can do this trick, too.

At home, I found an Easter basket. Melanie was in the bedroom. I was in the living room at the other end of the house. I placed the basket at my feet and called my dog. He came right away with the look,"Yea? What do you want?"

I picked up the basket, placed it in his mouth and gave the command, "take it". Nugget got the trick right away. He pranced around the room with the basket in his mouth. Next, Melanie called him. Nugget came to her, carrying the basket in his mouth. I called him. He brought the basket to me. This was fun. We all loved this trick, especially Nugget.

the next step was to put cookies in the basket. I put the basket at my feet and called the dog. He came and sat. I gave him the command,"take it."

So, Nugget reached down and ate the cookies.