Saturday, April 30, 2011

HA! Fooled Ya!

I have a confession to make; I lie to my dog to get him out of the car.
A lot of times, once Ray gets comfortable in the backseat of the car, he doesn't want to get out. And since, most of the time, Ray makes himself instantly comfortable in the backseat of the car, I have a problem when we arrive at our destination (unless we are going to the lake or the dogpark). So this is mainly an issue when we go to 'school' (daycare) or arrive home.
I think I've said before that Ray recognizes certain words: hungry, eat, dinner, treat, Moonie, walk, Murphy, Marva. But I don't think I've said that one word above all others gets Ray's interest, and that word is Izzy.
Izzy is Rachel's cat. When Rachel and Josh and Murphy and Turkish and Izzy all lived in Marva's basement, Ray and I were constant visitors. We would pick up or drop off Murphy from daycare or bring her over here to play, so we were there a lot. Ray and I would always stay and have a cozy chat with Marva while we stood on the landing of her split level. And while we were chatting, Izzy would always come through for a visit.
Izzy is totally unafraid of dogs. Rachel says it's because Izzy is stupid. I think it's because Izzy knows he can take out any dog stupid enough to get close to him. So while Marva and I would chat, Izzy would come trotting up from the basement and walk through Ray's legs and under his belly or even right under his nose, on the way upstairs. And every single time Ray would go berserk. When Izzy would reach the upstairs he would come over to me (we were, at this point, eye level) and I would talk to him and pet him. So Ray learned Izzy's name.
So now, when I want to get Ray out of the car, I say "Hi, Izzy!" or "Look Ray, it's Izzy!" and every time Ray falls for it. He gets right to his feet and jumps down out of the car all excited, looking around for his friend. I feel kind of bad fooling my dog like this and I know he'll catch on eventually. But for now, I'll use whatever trick it takes to get that lazy hound out of the backseat of my car.


  1. you are so mean! Izzy says "Meow"

  2. Us parents of humans also "lie". Don't feel guilty, sometimes you have to do what ever works:)

  3. Conor has to be blackmailed to go out for his last wee of the evening by the surreptitious sound of the doggie biccy tin being opened......otherwise he would happily stay put !

  4. Well, I'm very glad I'm not the only person who uses trickery and deceit to get my dog to do what's necessary.
    Liars of the world UNITE!