As I've shared before, I have a dog. Again, he is the cutest dog in America. Something that I find interesting when I'm spooning him by force on a weekend afternoon as we watch "The Dog Whisperer" or "It's Me or the Dog" off the DVR because, let's be honest, anyone can record foreign films or enlightening documentaries, but watching pet shows requires the brain power of an elementary schooler- what I find interesting in all of that is seeing what weird phobias some dogs have about novel household items. And I think it's funny to catalog what is and isn't shocking/fascinating/terrifying to my dog because of exposure or total absence. I've seen dogs on those shows who are freaked out by the television. My dog is more likely to be nervous if the TV is off. I've seen dogs that are afraid of the vacuum cleaner, and by golly if a vacuum ever finds its way into my house I'm sure it will shock and awe Woody the Dog in much the same way that he was growling this morning at his first introduction- and mind you we've been sharing a home since September- to the iron.
So today when I was at a staff meeting, and my boss seemed to be looking down the table to the general area where my office mates and I were sitting, and he started to say, "Great job..." I felt as I imagine Woody would if I introduced a beef liver couch into our house (and, well, his birthday is coming up). I sat up taller, my face took on a smile, and I felt my heart race with the newness of this praise- it was the human equivalent of wagging my tail and standing on my hind legs to get a better look. "Great job," the big boss said, now looking unambiguously in our direction, "On getting all those chairs out last night." Great job on getting all those chairs out last night. Great job lifting some chairs from one place and setting them down in another. Great job using your arms and also your feet not to mention your hands and eyes, guys. Ugh. Woof.
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