Who's training whom?

The dog has some serious springs. Hathaway can jump more than 4 feet high. He can jump up to kiss my face when I'm standing. He can hurdle the end of my (now his) sleigh bed, and the children have encouraged him to jump onto the couch ... from behind. Yes, he leaps over the back of the couch and sticks the landing on the cushions.

But will he jump into the back of the SUV? Uh, no. Most of the time, he looks at me and sits down. Sometimes he thinks about jumping in, sniffs and then sits down. Sometimes he'll put a couple of paws up, sniff, then look at me as if to say, "Well, do you want to go to the park or not?"

And what do I do? I grab those meaty thighs and boost. I wanna go for a walk at the park!