Elsewhere

We talk to the dog quite a lot. Perhaps it is because we don't have children or perhaps it is because we talk to all animals like they are people.

Often when one of us gets home, we are greeted by a happy dog. This would be sentimental if she weren't interested in two things other than us: food & getting inside.

Missy Jo will stare at the door as if she can will it open. Often I mock her, "Haha, don't you wish you had thumbs? You wouldn't need me if you had them." She ignores me.

Once I heard Kevin ask her "What did you do today? Did you kill anyone? Are there body parts in the yard? You can tell me."

Unfortunately for us, she is not a good watch dog. The UPS & FedEx drivers invite her on their trucks to get treats. I'm sure this is the case for the power guy, the mailman, and anyone else who happens by.

Back-in-the-day we had Aussie, she was an Australian Shepherd & one smart dog. Smarter than us, for sure.

We talked to her just the same. She was more verbal than Missy. If you told her to lay down and she didn't want to, she would but she would certainly grumble about it. Kevin would ask her "You got something to say?" and she would bark/growl/mutter.

At the same time, we had a CRAZY neighbor. CRAZY. (before family lived here, but the label still applies) Frequent sheriff visits crazy. Oh, that's another good story...I'll tell it later...
One day after we left for work, the Drug Task Force and SWAT teams swarmed the neighbors house to attempt to capture the neighbor. We knew nothing about it until after the fact. When I talked to a deputy, he told me that the property had been under surveillance for six months. Surveillance. Holy sh*t.

It occurred to me a few days later. OMG, they must think we are INSANE with the amount of talking to the dog and goofiness that ensues around here. That gave us a good laugh, for sure.

Missy Jo knows words she really should. "Mocha" being the most important one to her. The word that most impresses me is "ELSEWHERE" as in "Go lay down ELSEWHERE." I've tried the entire sentence and just the word and maybe it's just the tone of my voice but she gets it. She doesn't like it but she gets it.