You know you’ve been a home-body when the simple act of putting on pants with a zipper or shoes that tie causes jubilation in your dog. It was a long winter here in Colorado. The snow started in October and remained fairly steady through just before Memorial Day. Thanks to three huge back-to-back storms around the end-of-year holidays, we had 7+ feet of snow on the ground at one point. Needless to say, we didn’t get out much since clearing our football-field-long driveway takes some doing. I didn’t realize how much my hermit status affected Lilly until the sound of a zipper begain causing chaos in the house.
It took me a while to realize what made her so happy, but she’d matched the sound of a zipper with going somewhere. I live in sweats at home, but I never wear them in public. Lilly figured that out.
It’s the same with shoes that tie.
I tend to flop around the house in slip-on shoes, unless we’re going to town.
As an experiment, I started putting my shoes on in the master bathroom, which is tucked in the corner way on end of the house. I untie them, put them on and tie them up as slowly as I can to mitigate sound. Yet, even if Lilly is at the other end of the house, she still comes running.
I know that part of her response is conditioning to my routine, but clearly her hearing is spot on, which makes me feel like a dolt, when I holler for her outside. And, from now on when she ignores a “Come,” I’m not buying it.
Lilly must notice all kinds of little habits I have. The latest one I discovered is that I must sigh heavily before I push away from my desk and get up. I sighed dramatically a few days ago, and Lilly came running. I had no plans to get out of my chair, but the sigh triggered her arrival.
So, while I struggle to find the tiniest patterns to predict Lilly’s reactions to the world, it seems she’s already cornered the market in studying mommy.
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