Man vs. Poodle

I'm pretty sure I am smarter than my poodle, Rowena. Unfortunately she has the advantage that her entire life revolves around me, so she has 24 hours a day in which to think of ways to outsmart me, while I can only devote a few minutes at a time to teasing and befuddling her. So the human vs. canine battle of wits isn't as lopsided as one might think.

She's lately become quite attached to the blanket I gave her to sleep on. Now if she sees me walking towards it she'll rush ahead of me to plop down on it before I take it away. This means, of course, that there is a challenge afoot.

Some things I've done to her blanket when she doesn't get to it in time:

• Rolled it up and tied string around it. She managed to slide the string off and unroll it.
• Put it under the coffee table. She will sleep on the floor next to it, stick her head under it to at least be touching it, but she won't move her blanket (moving things is not something she's allowed to do. She's actually a really well-trained dog, so our battles of wits are within the context of her training.)
• Rolled it up and put one end of it under the leg of the couch: She used it as a pillow.
• Made it into a tent. She wouldn't sleep under it, but tried to lean against it, which knocked it down, and she had her blanket back.
• Put it under a mat. She didn't mind this at all.
• Any time I put it out of reach she doesn't try and grab it. Good dog. I'll not do that anymore.

Most of the time I'll just drape it over her like a shroud, usually she won't even make an effort to creep out from under it. If I had tried that with my cat she'd have been across the room, halfway up the wall and ready to jump down at me in a dive bomb attack in the time it takes the dog to get that 'oh dear, what now?' look.
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