I’m not a fan of recreational barkers, so it is a good thing that Miss Brown is a fairly quiet dog. Indoors, she only barks for good reason, and even then, it’s just one or two warning barks. When she barks outside, it’s always because she’s seen another dog or a critter. When that happens, I give her one bark. On the second, I tell her to hush. If there is a third, I immediately bring her inside. The intended lesson is that recreational barking is not in her best interests, if she wants to remain outdoors.
Well, yesterday afternoon, Harriet was hanging out on the patio, basking in the sun. I was sitting inside the door, on the couch, binding a book, when I heard her make her little let-me-in “Yip.” I was in the middle of a stitch, so I didn’t look up immediately, but I thought it was odd that she’d be wanting back inside so soon. She usually basks for an hour or so when the weather is good. When I let her in, I saw that one of my neighbors was out with his two Pugs.
Somehow, Harriet seems to have taken the “recreational barking is Not Allowed” rule and turned it into the “I’d better go inside if there are other dogs out” rule. I’m okay with that, I think, but it’s not exactly the lesson I was trying to teach her.
red paper boat 