Teacher's Pet

 
Last week, I got a big scare.  You see, I get kind of excited when the doorbell or the phone rings.  Then I bark and bark.  And Dad can't talk on the phone.  He sometimes has to go outside so he can hear.  When that happens, he gets grumpy and he puts me in my cage and won't talk to me.  And that makes Mom grumpy, too.  She said, "If this continues, I'm going to have to get rid of one of you." 

Well, I didn't want Dad to go away and have to live somewhere else, so, I took Mom and we went to talk to my Vet, Dr. Julie Bartz at the DC Ranch Animal Hospital.  She said to have Brad Jaffe from Dogological help us.  So we did.

He came over and the first thing he said is that dogs are smart problem solvers.  (I knew that already)  And that dogs could figure out how to get what we want, so it was up to Mom and Dad to figure out how to use that to get what they want.  I was sitting quietly on my mat, 'cuz Mom had told me to stay there while they were talking, but I got interested and got up to go listen closer.  Brad made Mom put me outside!  So I used my noggin to figure out that I would still be inside if I hadn't gotten off the mat.  So when they let me come in, I stayed on the mat like I was supposed to.  Brad said I was really smart 'cuz I picked it up so quickly.  He's smart too.

I learned something else from that, too.  I'll tell you about that later.

After that, Brad showed Mom and Dad, how I could let them know that someone was at the door when the bell rang, but I had to be Quiet as soon as they said instead of barking and barking and barking.  This is me being Quiet.   I'm a good student!  Brad says so.

 



We practiced a little, then went to bed.  When I got up the next morning, I realized that I had learned a second thing from Brad.  So when Mom fed me and left the door open so I could go out and "do my morning constitution"--that's what my grandfather calls it. (I don't really have a grandfather, but if I did, I know he would call it that.).  But I was smart.  I figured if I went out the door, someone might come and close it behind me, like Brad did yesterday, and then I wouldn't be inside where I wanted to be.  So I used my noggin again and didn't go out at all!

When Mom figured out what I was doing, she just laughed.  She said, I guess we have to figure out some other thing to do when you aren't behaving!  So last night when I forgot and started to get off my mat during their dinner, she grabbed my collar and started toward the bedroom.  Uh, oh, I thought, she's going to lock me in there.  So I squirmed out of her reach and went back and flopped hard on my mat.  I won't leave, I promise.

 

 

Love,

 

Guinness,  R.D.S.