I love dogs, and one of my favorite things is to watch them interact with each other. It absolutely fascinates me. I have a Belgian Laekenois named Linda who is the most neurotic dog I have ever lived with. One of her neurotic issues is going out a door. She bursts out any door, whether it be a crate, the house, or our mud room. It drives me crazy! I have to hold her by the collar and walk her to the back door, otherwise she runs out with all four legs flailing, skittering and scraping herself across my hardwood floor, knocking over whoever is in her way. I can't tell you how much I have yelled, tried to re-train and with absolutely NO luck. She still acts this way.
Tonight I let her out to potty with my other dogs plus two dogs I am dog sitting. In her usual fashion, Linda went ripping out of her crate, feet everywhere, falling all over herself, and that is when out of nowhere I heard a growl and felt teeth graze the back of my leg. I went to correct the growling/snapping and then realized what was going on and stopped. Suddenly, Linda was back IN the crate, and hot on her heels was the little Boston Terrorist pictured above. Again Linda came rushing out at me, and again Toby (the Boston) sent her right back into the crate. This happened 4 times before the message was received and Linda finally WALKED out of the crate in a calm manner. For 9 months I have done everything but stand on my head attempting to teach Linda what Toby taught her in 5 minutes.
I love to watch the communication between a group of dogs. It is amazing to witness them communicate in a language that I don't speak and clearly the results they achieve are faster. Sadly, Toby will only be here with us for a week while his mommy is on vacation. Perhaps he will have to visit more often...
