Raising Citizen Canine

Overheard...and another muddy dog experience

"Don't. Eat. Mom's. Shoes." That's what I hear as I sit upstairs at my computer. Lloyd is downstairs with Dieter, who, in addition to trying to eat my shoes, is helping Lloyd repair the threshold of the back door. He's a big help, that dog is.

It's fun to eavesdrop and overhear some of the conversations going on downstairs.

Right now Dieter is playing with his favorite squeaky toy. It's great because it makes two different sounds, so he can be doubly annoying. And it's really loud. No, wait, it's gotten pretty quiet, which usually means he's up to something devious...and I was right, because I just heard: "Hey, hey, hey. Get OVER here."

There are several well-worn phrases that tend to emanate from downstairs:

Ow, ow, ow--Dieter's less mouthy than he was (he's now getting his adult teeth) but he loves to gnaw on his people
NO--said many times during the day in varying degrees of volume
What are you doing? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?--the dog's not deaf, but Lloyd must think so
Put it down--Dieter's a thief when it comes to all things paper, as well as shoes, socks, gloves (pretty much whatever strikes his fancy)
Bring me that--said after "put it down" hasn't worked
Do you want a time out?--pretty self explanatory (also used after "put it down" and "bring me that" have failed)
Do you want to go in your house?--also pretty self explanatory
Good boy--in spite of all my kvetching, I know he does want to please, is a smart guy, and a quick study

And now for the muddy dog experience. I was trimming a pfitzer and I thought Lloyd was on the other side of the yard with Dieter. Dieter would trot over to say hi every so often. But then came the ominous silence. After calling Dieter's name numerous times, and being ignored (perhaps this is something he's learned from the cats) I went over to investigate.

This is the sight that greeted me.