Here's an excerpt from the book we featured yesterday, Things Your Dog Doesn't Want To Know:
Let me make this simple. I'm in charge of the house-from getting people up every morning to announcing the meal-times, even reminding you to put out fresh water for the dog. Do you really think you control the kind of friends your teenage kids bring into the house after school? Really? Guess again.
I'm not sure you realize how much I do. Take, for example, the stove. It's dangerous. I know because one day I smelled something good and I put my paws up there, just to get a sniff. Instead I got burned. Conclusion? Stoves are hot. Very often you forget this. Every day I see you getting much too close. I've even seen you taking paper towels and wiping the top of it. That's why I bark at you in the kitchen. Not a lot, maybe a half hour or until I give up.
Same thing with closing the door. Ever since I was young, you've been yelling at everyone about that. (I won't name names, but apparently someone still runs out into the street and chases cars.) But every now and then you or one of the kids forgets this simple rule, usually in the evening when I'm tired and pretending to sleep.
Just last night you were in the front yard talking to the neighbor family -- with the door wide open. I had to drag myself off a pile of comfortable laundry and close the door with my own mouth. Then, just to make sure, I ran around the house, making sure all the other doors were closed too. I don't know how you got back in, but I think you learned a lesson.
Then there's the matter of the leash. Sometimes when we get to the park or the dog run, you let yourself off the leash and just roam around on your own. This is a little reckless, since one of us could easily jump a fence and start chasing cars. Sometimes I do that just to teach you not to get off the leash.
It's a lot of work, but I think I run a pretty tight house. Oh, and as for the friends I let your kids bring up to their rooms…I don't know about you, but I prefer the ones who sneak in the cigarettes and alcohol. They're cool.
I'm not sure you realize how much I do. Take, for example, the stove. It's dangerous. I know because one day I smelled something good and I put my paws up there, just to get a sniff. Instead I got burned. Conclusion? Stoves are hot. Very often you forget this. Every day I see you getting much too close. I've even seen you taking paper towels and wiping the top of it. That's why I bark at you in the kitchen. Not a lot, maybe a half hour or until I give up.
Same thing with closing the door. Ever since I was young, you've been yelling at everyone about that. (I won't name names, but apparently someone still runs out into the street and chases cars.) But every now and then you or one of the kids forgets this simple rule, usually in the evening when I'm tired and pretending to sleep.
Just last night you were in the front yard talking to the neighbor family -- with the door wide open. I had to drag myself off a pile of comfortable laundry and close the door with my own mouth. Then, just to make sure, I ran around the house, making sure all the other doors were closed too. I don't know how you got back in, but I think you learned a lesson.
Then there's the matter of the leash. Sometimes when we get to the park or the dog run, you let yourself off the leash and just roam around on your own. This is a little reckless, since one of us could easily jump a fence and start chasing cars. Sometimes I do that just to teach you not to get off the leash.
It's a lot of work, but I think I run a pretty tight house. Oh, and as for the friends I let your kids bring up to their rooms…I don't know about you, but I prefer the ones who sneak in the cigarettes and alcohol. They're cool.
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