Tag Archives: looking at things from a dog’s point of view

Our New ‘Brand’

email from Bill Lites

Everyone on TV has a ‘brand,’ a title that describes in a nutshell who they are – like, “Chief Cook & Bottle Washer for the White House.”

My husband and I never realized that in trying to work from home, and later, when we both retired, our ‘brand’ would change from titles such as “Computer Analyst”, “Self-Employed EDI Specialist,” and “Installer and Fixer of all things Mechanical or Electronic,” for my husband; and “Public School Teacher,” “Owner/Teacher of my Reading Clinic,” “Administrative Assistant,” “Medical Transcriptionist/Bookkeeper,” and “Owner/Artist of Creative Artworks” website for me to “DOGGIE DOOR OPENERS.”

Sometimes the two doggies go outside together, sometimes separately. We humans get a good bit of exercise daily answering our dogs’ signals they want to go out, or barking at the door when they want to come in. There have been times when I’m interrupted so many times trying to write a blog post that I have to stop and read over the post again and again after losing my train of thought.

Amber’s signals that she wants to go out vary from

  • showing up beside you suddenly with a happy look on her face, to
  • nuzzling us to get our attention. (If this results in an absent pat while we’re obviously concentrating elsewhere, she escalates to
  • putting her nose in your armpit and throwing your arm in the air, or
  • letting out the bark from Hell that causes men and women to shoot straight up in the air saying colorful things

Molly comes over and quietly puts her head on my lap.

  • If that doesn’t work, she puts her face up in the air and tries to growl fiercely, or
  • she’ll sit beside the door, hoping a human shows up.

The doggies bark at the door to come back in, but they do not connect the barking and opening of the door with actions of humans. We have proved this because they will be outside with us while we’re working in the yard. They’ll go to the front door, across the yard from me, or into the garage and bark at the door. They KNOW I’m outside with them. If they connected the action to ME, they would come over to me and roust me. You can almost see the gears turning, aggravated because the door doesn’t open until I go in…

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Filed under Amazing Animals, Family