In article ,
"Paul E. Schoen" wrote:

I've heard that it is a good idea to train your dog to growl or bark on cue,
and then stop barking on command. This gives the dog two options to choose
from, and thus does not suppress the signal when appropriate. Muttley has a
subdued "Wuff" that he uses when he first senses something he's not sure of,
and I thank him for the polite alert and check it out.

We teach our dogs to bark on command and to stop on command as well.


When the dog is alone in the house, s/he must use judgment and experience to
determine when to bark and provide a deterrent to would be thieves and other
miscreants. Of course some dogs are more protective than others, and they
may act differently when the owner is present but asleep, when awake, and
when absent.

Interesting observation. I hadn't thought about the difference in their
reaction when home/asleep versus home/awake versus gone. I fully expect
the dogs not to wake me up unless someone comes up to the house.

I've known so many dogs who bark at the moon, every passing neighbor,
every blowing leaf, and it's annoying especially when you subject your
neighbors to it. That's why I teach my dogs what is normal neighborhood
activity not to be concerned about or bark at, like someone walking
their dog down the street or a cat sitting in the driveway.

Someone approaching the house however is full speed ahead. THEN I
expect them to raise a ruckus until I've answered the door and
determined that the person is a friendly.


This also probably applies to other activities. When Muttley has chewed on
something that he was not supposed to, he has usually done it while I was
there. Sometimes I have given him food or a rawhide chew, and then left for
a few hours, and then returned to find he had not touched them, but waited
until my return.

Gypsy Rose would often wait for us to come home, too!


And, no, I don't want to trade Muttley for Dakota! SonOfDog is just being
silly.

Paul and Muttley

Yep, silly indeedy! I would not trade Dakota for ten million dollars,
literally.

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On 10/8/2010 7:42 PM, cshenk wrote:

We just finished a bit tonight. I layed down on the rug on my back and
patted my thigh in our 'come hither, heel' sort of way at Sammy. He came
over and layed down then I patted lower and he scootched down and
flipped over as the music came on. So here we are, swaying left to right
in time and i lift a leg (bracing other with knee up) and dang if Sammy
doesnt lift a leg! So I swap legs and he does! Pretty soon we are doing
flutter kicks. I raise an arm and he raises a foreleg!

You are a kook! Do you really have any pets at all? They still doing
your laundry too? ROFLOL!

In article ,
Char wrote:

You are a kook! Do you really have any pets at all? They still doing
your laundry too? ROFLOL!

Speaking of kooks, we were at the checkout counter of the grocery store
today. I was looking at the row of dog food bags they keep up front. I
tend to say what I'm thinking which can be off the wall. Out loud I
started wondering why anyone would name a dog food after a movie about a
dog who dies at the end and makes you cry, talking about the dog food
Old Yeller.

My husband started poking fun and calling me Edith for the off the wall
observation, sort of a private joke between us. The clerk actually
stopped working and looked at us with the oddest expression.

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