Reverse Psychology for Dogs Pt. 1
Okay...My first post...some real thoughts before I get stupid.
My nephew lives with me in my humble, rundown shack that I call home.
He has a dog named 'Oy.' Don't ask.
Oy is a good dog....doesn't chew things up...doesn't use my house for a bathroom...and comes when you call him....most of the time.
But he is insane.
Oy has a real problem, getting along with others. Humans...he likes them just fine. Unless they are riding by on bicycle or if it's a group of kids. Then he just explodes. Barks like a little maniac. Until you think he's going to give himself a stroke. Seriously.
But, as friendly as Oy is, he hates other animals. All of them. Doesn't matter if it's a dog, bird, cat, fish...you get the idea. All animals great and small. If Noah had put Oy on his Ark, there would have been real problems.
But he likes people. He likes them a lot. So much that when he sees you for the first two dozen times...he jumps around like a little idiot that has just been rescued from a deserted island after ten years.of isolation. He's that happy to see anybody. He's that way with everybody with two feet.
Unless you have wings.
Fortunately, none of my friends do.
So...
I have friends over from time to time. Not a lot but it happens. Dominic, whom I have been good friends with for about twenty years or so, comes by occasionally. Oy is just now getting used to the fact that Dominic is someone Oy will see from time to time. So they're okay.
Now their visits go something like this:
Dominic walks into the house. Oy goes nuts. For about thirty seconds.
Dominic says, 'Oy! Quit it.' And Oy usually does. But he keeps his eyes on Dominic just in case.
They're fairly cool.
But it wasn't always that way. I won't go into the dirty details, but it wasn't pretty and it wasn't for a short period of time. Suffice to say, we threw Oy outside as soon as we could catch him.
I have another friend. Stephanie. She hasn't been here much. But she has been twice in the last two days. She's only been here one other time.
When Oy saw her the first time...he went completely bonkers. Stephanie likes to say that's because he's hasn't been around many, in fact, any female like people. Which is a bald faced lie. He has been around my mother some. But I get the joke. Tee hee.
So anyway.
Stephanie comes over last night to have supper with us. I am getting ready to tackle Oy and put him in a headlock the minute she knocks on the door. Because contrary to what many dogs may think, some people may not like being jumped on and sniffed at like they are a nice piece of meat. I believe this is true for Stephanie as well.
So the dreaded moment comes. Stephanie knocks on the door. And Oy does what he has trained himself to do. Run to the door and dance around like his ass is on fire.
With the appropriate amount of dread, I open the door. I am ready to grab, kick and/or yell at Oy for what I am sure will be some rude behavior beyond the likes of which anyone has ever seen.
And that's when it happened.
Oy ran toward Stephanie and...
"Hey Oy!" Stephanies squeals with delight. And is just as excited to see him as he is to see her.
Oy stops dead in his tracks and so do I. This wasn't expected at all. Oy lets Stephanie pet him with enthusiaism that he is not used to and I have a revelation.
Stephanie just used reverse psychology on a dog. And it worked.
She had been here once before and was witness to an ass showing the likes of which only Oy is capable of..and remembered it.
After her boisterous greeting, Stephanie walks into the house and Oy followed her. He was still excited, but he didn't jump on her. Not once. He jumped onto the couch next to her, but he never violated her personal space. I don't know if he was afraid of her or if he was in love with her. He had never had that greeting and he was obviously at a loss.
But it worked. And she did it again tonight. And he did too. She's already got him trained. In just three visits.
But I guess that's what woman do best.
Train guys.
And Oy is definitely one of the guys.
My nephew lives with me in my humble, rundown shack that I call home.
He has a dog named 'Oy.' Don't ask.
Oy is a good dog....doesn't chew things up...doesn't use my house for a bathroom...and comes when you call him....most of the time.
But he is insane.
Oy has a real problem, getting along with others. Humans...he likes them just fine. Unless they are riding by on bicycle or if it's a group of kids. Then he just explodes. Barks like a little maniac. Until you think he's going to give himself a stroke. Seriously.
But, as friendly as Oy is, he hates other animals. All of them. Doesn't matter if it's a dog, bird, cat, fish...you get the idea. All animals great and small. If Noah had put Oy on his Ark, there would have been real problems.
But he likes people. He likes them a lot. So much that when he sees you for the first two dozen times...he jumps around like a little idiot that has just been rescued from a deserted island after ten years.of isolation. He's that happy to see anybody. He's that way with everybody with two feet.
Unless you have wings.
Fortunately, none of my friends do.
So...
I have friends over from time to time. Not a lot but it happens. Dominic, whom I have been good friends with for about twenty years or so, comes by occasionally. Oy is just now getting used to the fact that Dominic is someone Oy will see from time to time. So they're okay.
Now their visits go something like this:
Dominic walks into the house. Oy goes nuts. For about thirty seconds.
Dominic says, 'Oy! Quit it.' And Oy usually does. But he keeps his eyes on Dominic just in case.
They're fairly cool.
But it wasn't always that way. I won't go into the dirty details, but it wasn't pretty and it wasn't for a short period of time. Suffice to say, we threw Oy outside as soon as we could catch him.
I have another friend. Stephanie. She hasn't been here much. But she has been twice in the last two days. She's only been here one other time.
When Oy saw her the first time...he went completely bonkers. Stephanie likes to say that's because he's hasn't been around many, in fact, any female like people. Which is a bald faced lie. He has been around my mother some. But I get the joke. Tee hee.
So anyway.
Stephanie comes over last night to have supper with us. I am getting ready to tackle Oy and put him in a headlock the minute she knocks on the door. Because contrary to what many dogs may think, some people may not like being jumped on and sniffed at like they are a nice piece of meat. I believe this is true for Stephanie as well.
So the dreaded moment comes. Stephanie knocks on the door. And Oy does what he has trained himself to do. Run to the door and dance around like his ass is on fire.
With the appropriate amount of dread, I open the door. I am ready to grab, kick and/or yell at Oy for what I am sure will be some rude behavior beyond the likes of which anyone has ever seen.
And that's when it happened.
Oy ran toward Stephanie and...
"Hey Oy!" Stephanies squeals with delight. And is just as excited to see him as he is to see her.
Oy stops dead in his tracks and so do I. This wasn't expected at all. Oy lets Stephanie pet him with enthusiaism that he is not used to and I have a revelation.
Stephanie just used reverse psychology on a dog. And it worked.
She had been here once before and was witness to an ass showing the likes of which only Oy is capable of..and remembered it.
After her boisterous greeting, Stephanie walks into the house and Oy followed her. He was still excited, but he didn't jump on her. Not once. He jumped onto the couch next to her, but he never violated her personal space. I don't know if he was afraid of her or if he was in love with her. He had never had that greeting and he was obviously at a loss.
But it worked. And she did it again tonight. And he did too. She's already got him trained. In just three visits.
But I guess that's what woman do best.
Train guys.
And Oy is definitely one of the guys.
posted by Bill | 9:48 PM
|
2 comments
