Sharing Bad Habits



Sharing bad habits is what Suzanne calls it.

I call it helping your friends.

What are friends for if you don’t share the things you have learned that they don’t know?

 

Take Ayra . . . Please!
No, just kidding. Mostly kidding. 

When Ayra  moved in with me, she had a lot to learn.

She didn't know how to beg at the table.

She would just lay in her dog bed quietly and politely, while people ate at the table.

What was she thinking?

If she's not sitting by the table staring at them, drilling into their souls with her eyes, how will they remember she's there? How will they know to save her something? Humans can be very forgetful. You have to remind them you're there, so they will save you some food.

When Ayra’s human saw what she had learned, he muttered something about sharing bad habits. Really, I am only trying to help Ayra make good choices.


Treat Magic

I also made sure she understood how treats work.

If I am out in the yard, wandering around having a good sniff and Suzanne expects me to come in the first time she calls me, there had better be a treat.

Of course, sometimes I pretend I was too far away from the door to hear her the first time. And sometimes she says I don’t need a treat “every time.”

But at bedtime there had better be a treat. It is the last chance to eat until morning and that is a very long time!

Ayra did not know any of this, but I taught her. 

And her human started muttering again.

But Ayra is much happier now that she knows these things.

Arya sharing bad habits

Arya taught me a few things, too.


For example I didn't know that it was okay to bark when people walk past my fence.

Especially if those people have a dog with them.

I used to only bark at certain dogs, ones I really didn't like. And my human wasn't very happy about that, so I didn't do it very often.

But Arya does it, so I decided it's okay for me to do. Now it is my human that is muttering about sharing bad habits.

Being Supportive

Sometimes when Arya is outside and I am in the house, I see her running back and forth along the fence.

So I bark to be supportive.

Suzanne thinks this is a very bad idea. Something about "loud."

I really don't know what Suzanne's problem is. I am a beagle and beagles support their pack, loudly.

She said we are a family. But apparently being supportive of a family member is “too loud.”

I will keep at it, because I know that one day, Suzanne will appreciate it. Or she will learn to wear ear plugs. I don't know, that is a human problem. I have my own beagle problems. 

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