Woof!

Okay, this is really cute. He's lying down a few rooms away, with a clear view of my at my desk. I can feel his eyes drilling into me, without even looking. But this is much, much more preferable than the alternative: barking every five seconds. I thought he'd learned that a bark would land him "outside" to "hurry up," but I was wrong. Now, barks might mean "toss my toy for me" or "I'd like to know what's inside that tupperware container on the counter." It happens so often that I think of him as the Little Boy Who Cried Wolf. Though that might leave me with an "accident" to deal with one of these days. Now I trust my judgement. Gosh, he "hurried up" only forty-five minutes ago, and the dog book says he should only need to do such things every few hours...

The other day he was barking because his water dish was empty - my fault - but I thought it was a bark of the "I'd like to know what's inside that tupperware container on the counter" variety. I only figured it out when he started barking AT the bathroom door and, when I opened it, he looked at the closed toilet like he'd just discovered King Tut's tomb. I filled his water bowls. Instead of thanking me - know what he did? He barked.

Now he's no longer being cute; he's barking at the vacuum cleaner. It's not on; it's just sitting there - a reminder that I need to clean up a few stray pine needles from the floor. I'll go do that now, then I'll put away the threat. Then he can bark at my shoes. Yay.