Well, either I'm not a good dog trainer OR Joey is stranger than most dogs.
Or both.
I've been trying to teach him to come when called. I've tried using several techniques. This morning after Joey and Rock went out, I called them to come in. They always eat breakfast when they come in the first time in the morning so it's not normally any problem at all to get them in. They're generally just waiting to come eat! So I was trying to get them to connect being called to coming in. Okay. So as soon as I called, Rocky raced right in. Joey? Well, he was on his way in, but when I called him, he stopped . . . sat down . . . and just looked at me. I kept calling him for a few seconds but he didn't move, so I just closed the door. He immediately started barking like he does when he wants in. Since he hadn't come when I called him, I didn't open the door again until he got quiet. Then I opened the door and called him again. He was running back and forth when I opened the door, and when I called him . . . yep - he sat back down and just looked at me again. I closed the door. He barked. He got quiet. I opened it and called and this time he actually turned his back and sat down looking the other way! I closed the door. He barked. After a few more attempts, I finally I decided to MAKE him come in since I needed to get to therapy, so I opened the door to go out and grab him. But the moment I took the first two steps toward him, the boy jumped up and raced past me into the house and straight into his crate! Sigh. You know what? I think that boy probably knows exactly what it means when I call him. He's just PLAYING with me. I think he just may be brighter than I give him credit for.
Once Rocky and Joey were inside eating, I put Boo out and went to get my coffee ready to go. When I looked back out the french doors Boo was backing up across the patio just outside the porch. What the heck??? Dogs don't normally back up for no good reason. When I opened the door, I heard a really LOUD meowing -- MUCH louder than any of the cats out there on the porch are capable of. When I got to the porch door I saw that the garage cat was meowing at the top of her lungs and walking toward Boo, and he --- the SAME dog who was up for adoption because he killed a bunch of goats ---- was backing away from her just as fast as he could go without taking his eyes off of her! Hilarious! When he saw me open the door the boy RACED back into the house! And the cat? Well, her food bowls were empty out there in the garage, and when that happens she always turns into a real b. tch! She usually goes under the house and over to our bedroom and meows at the top of her lungs directly underneath the bed or the bathroom until someone goes out and fills the bowls. Since no one was in the bedroom area at the time and Boo was handy, she apparently decided to harass him instead. That cat is absolutely fearless! When Joey runs out to the truck to go to therapy, she often runs out in front of him and he has to either stop or jump over her. I really really hope she knows the difference between dogs who will put up with her and those who might attack!
I'll tell you what, I know that all animals are individuals in the same sense that people are unique. But a few of those we have at the moment are a whole lot more unique that any I've had in decades!
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