Teaching the teacher...

I don’t care what anyone says – you can truly learn a great deal from your dog and last week I learned a valuable lesson from Dory.

Dory is probably the best dog I have ever had the pleasure of living with in the mornings, sure she loves to stick he large wet nose in my face and yes she likes to dawdle in the yard every so often but she is good about keeping out from underfoot as I race around trying to figure out what to wear and she never puts up a fuss when it is time to get in her crate.

As a matter of fact a several months ago I noticed that Dory was so in tune with our morning routine that often when I would go to call her to put her in the crate she would already be there curled up and sleeping.

After I realized this phenomenon, being the educator and researcher that I am, I decided to see what was it about our morning routine that trigger Dory to get up and go into her crate. Being the geek that I am I started logging our routine and when Dory went to her crate – yes, I know I need to get a life!

Anyhow, through observations and data collection I discovered Dory would go into her crate on her own 100% of the time if I put on my perfume and then brush my teeth. If I skip the perfume and just brush my teeth she goes into the crate 67% of the time AND if I put on my sneakers instead of dress shoes before brushing my teeth she only goes to her crate 10% of the time. Over our time together it is pretty clear to her that perfume means work and sneakers mean there is a good chance we are staying home or going somewhere together.

Okay, so now my readers know I am not only a nerd, but that I have way too much free time on my hands. Well the purpose of telling you all this is because on rare occasions Dory is so good and so quiet about getting in her crate that I forget to latch it before I leave, giving Dory free reign in the house while I am at work.

Well, while I was spending so much time researching why Dory goes in her crate I realized last week that what I should have been doing it teaching myself to always latch the crate when I go off to work.

I had purchased two bags of treats for Dory after obedience class last week and left them on the kitchen table when we got home. We spent the rest of the evening watching TV and then toddling off to bed. The next morning I got ready for work, Dory went to her crate and yes, being in a hurry, I rushed out without latching the crate.
I arrived home midday to Dory sheepishly looking at me while standing in the middle of the kitchen. At first glance there was nothing amiss in the house – then I started seeing bits of plastic and low and behold – Dory had eaten over 30 ounces of dog treats and proceeded to throw up the partially digested food in every corner in every room.
I couldn’t get mad at her – it was my fault for not paying attention. So while I was spending time analyzing Dory’s behavior what I should have been doing is modifying my own. As I began cleaning the floors Dory took to her bed with the mother of all tummy aches and now in an effort to train myself I now have posted a sign by the backdoor “Latch the Crate”!!

LESSON LEARNED! Well done Professor Dory!