December 7, 2010

White Dog looked at me when she heard AWD's bark to come in at the dog door. It was a relatively warm sunny day, midafternoon. Nuka has, for sometime now, gone OUT the dog door to take care of business or follow her brother or sisters or just to check out what is going on. She will NOT however, come back IN...unless she sees Steve sitting on the bedroom floor holding a treat. THEN she's through like a shot.

"I am not being a beast, if I let Nuka stay out there for awhile and hope that she gets tired of waiting and just comes in," I asked WD, the pack leader. White Dog shrugged but nodded at my suggestion. So we waited. And Nuka yipped, then paused, then yipped to remind us that she was STILL waiting...for 20 minutes. Finally I could not bear the guilt.

I went to the door but AWD was no where in sight and of course, could hear neither the door nor my call. Puff came running and pushed in past me. Seconds later, AWD rounded the corner of the house and came running when she saw me holding open the flap. Apparently she and SAWD had been hanging out together in Puff's outside "safe" place.

"Oh well," I said to White Dog. "She will get it someday, I hope." WD snorted, "Yeah right."

This is where this post was supposed to end but as White Dog and I sat typing this, we heard the dog door flap slap shut...and IN trotted...you guessed it...AWD! We looked at each other in amazement and said, "Really?"

Just to prove her new found talent, Nuka followed SAWD back outside. We heard her "I want to come in" yip followed by the door and her reappearance inside. We called her over and gave rewards and praise.

Now she is fixated and has gone in and out more than a dozen times...each time stopping to sniff my hand to see if there are more reward treats forthcoming. White Dog hid her smile of pride and went to lay on the couch after Nuka's third success..."All right, we GET it!" she mumbled.