The Other Coast by Adrian Raeside for December 02, 2024

Raise the roof.

Try a little elbow nudge.

Yes doggie it no polite to barks. You shoulda quietly bites him.

When nature calls—you gotta answer!

Well, what was he supposed to do, text you?

When it was bedtime, I would loudly announce “Insurance pee”. Our little Corgi would immediately jump up and head for the door. She died 5 years ago, still miss her.

Is this a rerun or just something that happens a lot?

Elmo, my beagle, would lift and drop the blinds on the back patio door when he wanted to go out. We eventually changed those doors to a type that had enclosed blinds. I hung a bell on that door nob so he could let us know when he wanted out. He adapted seamlessly.

People often asked me how I trained him to do that and I would say that Elmo was the one who trained us. He would never scratch at a door. If he wanted to go through any other door, he would thump his nose on the door until he got someone’s attention. Dogs noses are sensitive so that must have been painful for him. There were times when he rang the patio doorbell and the ran to another door but not often. It amazed me how smart that little beagle was.

Next time lick his arm.

Cold nose on the underarm might have worked already.