My lucky friend John Bolinger has a dog door…I am very very very envious, but if I had a dog door, in my house, in DC, the only animals that would come in would be the terrier-size rats. In DC today, it seems that everyone is morosing about 9/11, and the police presence on every street corner, re: guarding against car bombs, has made urban DC almost whispery-quiet, like the white noise spell DC falls under when the Super Bowl is on TV. This blog needs John’s levity today…Please enjoy this dog-door story on 9/10. Annie
My West Highland White Terrier Dudley was more than twelve weeks old and continuing to make progress in his quest to discover everything in the universe, which meant basically the house and garden. The sun room with its ceramic floor was his principal residence during the day, where I installed an electric pet door leading to the dog run outside. It took five minutes for Dudley to figure out that the pet door was his passage to the great outdoors. Wearing a magnetized sensor on his collar, Duds has merely to approach the door to make it slide open and remain so for almost half a minute. The door has meant a huge improvement in Dudley’s use of the dog run outside for his sanitary business, but of course, he has no idea exactly what makes the door open just for him. All he knows is that he has THE POWER. There are times when he actually seems to be playing with the door just to watch it go up and down.
Riggs our cat appears to enjoy watching Dudley open and close that little door. In fact, Riggs has developed a new respect for Dudley’s “magical ” powers. Riggs has deduced that when Dudley is near that door, it opens for him. A couple of times, Riggs has followed Duds out to the dog run only to learn that there is no way out to the big city, because there is a bonnet feature all around the fence that will not allow even climbing animals to enter the space or to leave it. Though Riggs has been neutered, we haven’t had the heart to let him know. He still enjoys the illusion that he is a “man about town” and that he is still capable of a night of hedonistic pleasure with all those lovely female cats in the big city. Sorry,Riggs. He has learned that going out to the dog run is no big deal, because his travels end at the gate. Now it’s as though there is really no percentage in following Dudley out the pet door. Riggs simply lies nearby in a bored sort of way to watch Dudley’s exit as if to say, “Ah, there he goes again to that dull and roofless room out there. Think I’ll stay here and nap.” Any previous interest in a partnership in crime between the two has faded, at least for Riggs.
Dudley is now able to go outside into that safe, enclosed but open space whenever he wishes. This is a major step in his training, one that has certainly made my life much easier. Now if I could just discourage Duds from eating books. I know they are probably high fiber, but really, he has chew toys all over the place, and my copy of GOOD DOG, BAD DOG is still missing, except for a chewed corner of the dust jacket.
