5.28.2013

May 28, 2013

White Dog is sometimes too smart and leaves me feeling like I am dealing with a really sharp lawyer who always manages to find a loophole in the rules.

The White Dog Army and I have been practicing limits to group bark fests. I want the Army to do its job to protect our family but sometimes they get wound up and can't seem to turn off the song once they get started. So we have been working on the new command, "Enough!" which means you have had an opportunity to express yourself, now please stop.

And we have a new house rule: You can only bark as long as you can see what you are barking at. In other words you can be heard by the bike rider but once the bike is out of your line of sight you must stop. Every pup seems to be slowly getting the hang of the new rule...except White Dog, the exception finder.

White Dog barks as a person or objects enters her view from the watching chair at the front window. Then when they are past the frame of the window from that perspective, she climbs on the BACK of the chair and presses her body and face against the glass so she has a broader view in tha direction and can thus, continue according to the rules, barking.

Today she discovered a second loophole as the WDA sang its daily song to the mailman. The mailman disappears for only a brief moment while he drops mail at Becks and Daisy's house, then if she is fast enough, reappears at the side window next to the couch as he delivers to the back unit of Becks duplex building. Barking can continue longer!

Plus the entire WDA has already figured out that if they are patient, the letter carrier crosses the street and returns to their line of sight as he makes his way back to his truck which he usually parks at the edge of our property. That allows for an entirely legal round two of mailman singing!

I find myself thinking trying to think through every possible scenario when planning new rules and commands but find that an order like "No barking except for five seconds at the window unless it is some one at the door in which case you may continue for another 5 seconds except if it is dad or Michael and you know they are coming in and you can greet them inside..." somehow lacks the immediacy that is needed for effective training. Some days I feel like I should maybe stick with trying to maintain order only in the sock drawer...Eskie order is hard work!

8 comments:

♥♥ The OP Pack ♥♥ said...

She sure is a sharp pup. Mom says she is glad we aren't big barkers. Lightning is the only one who can really get going,and it is usually when a neighbor dog is out and he wants to play with that dog.

On the other hand, it is nice to have a built-in alert system just in case of an emergency:)

Woos - Phantom, Thunder, Ciara, and Lightning

Jo's World said...

Stella has a few little quirks like her friend Siku! She barks for the mailman who comes to the front door, then she wants me to open the storm door, so she can pick up the scents out there. The view is sooo much better than our fenced in backyard!

Girls, you are sometimes too smart for your own good!

Cheers,

Jo

meowmeowmans said...

Wow, White Dog sure is clever! And it sounds like the whole WDA has figured out the "loophole" in the new rule, too. I can only imagine the ruckus, but your post really made me smile. :)

Random Felines said...

take it from us cats, rules are MEANT to be broken (or at least severely bent)

haopee said...

LOL. That sounds like a tough dilemma. I also use Enough when a bark-a-thon commences... But it seems that Chooey's innate nature dictates that she's destined to bark at anything and EVERYTHING. While other dogs follow "Enough". Chooey even barks louder.

Brian's Home Blog said...

Chasing loopholes sounds like fun to me!

bbes tribe said...

thanks fur stopping by to visit even tho we seem to be missing a lot anymore. That word "enough" is one our Mom uses too. Seems we been working on that for a long time. Mom thinks we are making progress....but we are not so sure.. One thing I can bark though is that people think twice before coming up our stairs.
Wags
Ernie and the pack

KB said...

It's tough to teach pups not to bark at "invaders". We have a "thank you" command, which means "thank you for telling us about the invader but now you can stop". If they come to us when we say "thank you", they get a treat.

However, we don't have your scenario, except when we have a worker come to our land who appears, disappears, and reappears. Usually, the first couple of reappearances make the barking re-start... and we just re-do the "thank you" routine.

Hmm, not sure how to deal with a lawyer like WD! She might bring an injunction against you :)