Sometimes I just call her snout

Lizzy usually drives me crazy in the morning. For about the first two or three hours she is constantly wanting out. Then back in. And out again. And back in. Out. In. Out. In.

You get the idea.

Or do you?

Sometimes (actually, most times) she goes out for only a few seconds before she scratches at the door wanting in again. Then, after I let her in, she stares at her treat jar. Then looks up at me. Back at the treat jar. Up at me. And so on.

I can do one of two things:

A) give her a treat and be done with it, even though she didn't DO anything deserving of a treat

B) walk away and ignore her

There are negatives to each of these choices at this point. Because if I give in and just give her a treat for stepping out onto the deck, she will continuously bark to go out...ALL...MORNING....LONG.

"Oh BOY! I go outside. I get treat! I go outside. I get treat!"

And I'm rewarding annoying behavior.

However, if I ignore her, she'll follow me around and bark at me until I give in.

Or, if I'm sitting at the desk (which is what I do in the morning before the gym), she'll get up in my face and poke me in the cheek with her snout.

I'll look at her and she'll back up, prancing around, ears perked up. And this will go on and on.

If she still isn't successful at getting a treat out of me, guess what she does?

Stands at the door and barks to go out again.

And it starts ALL over.

Finally, she'll get tired of the game and go lay down.

Then she is pretty mellow for most of the day.

Until the girls get home from school.

Then something clicks in her brain:

ANNOY MODE ON

And she usually steals whatever she can that will warrant a chase

to save whatever it is from her destructive jaws.

"oh BOY! I'm getting attention! I'm getting attention!"

Below is Lizzy's "spot" by the front window. Her spot changed slightly when I rearranged the furniture a few weeks ago.

The couch used to be angled, and she had full access to the window, where she could bark endlessly at passers by and wind and what have you.

I thought it was much more aesthetically pleasing to move the couch under the window. The room looks way more comfortable now. And there was the added bonus that the couch would block the window, hence stopping Lizzy from going crazy over any outside movement and slobbering all over the glass.

She still goes crazy, it's just that now, she jumps all over the couch. Still the barking. Still the slobbering. But more of it ends up on the couch than the window.

I'm not sure that's an improvement.

Our window is a bay window so the couch isn't perfectly flush with the wall, which means there is a gap behind it. One time, Andreas came up behind Lizzy during one of her barking frenzies and it spooked her. She fell over the back of the couch. I didn't see it but I imagined it to be quite hilarious.

Then I imagined it probably hurt her.

Then I imagined it to be quite hilarious again.

I was recording Eden trying to get Lizzy to roll over last night. It was entertaining.

She was so covered in fur and slobber when it was all over I couldn't tell which one was Lizzy.

Dogs and kids......never a dull moment.