There Are Rules!

I am not saying we should misbehave, but we should look as if we are capable of doing it at any time. Oscar Wilde

We have Tommy, a five year old Beagle-border collie mix. Much different from the Lab we used to have. With a word, a gesture, a snap of the finger; he knows what to do.

Boarder collie? Well, we give him room and board. Border collie, because there are borders! You cannot do that. Patrol the perimeter of the yard. Guard the door. Do not go into the Forbidden Zone! ‘Bark, bark, bark’ –(stranger! In the house!)

So Tommy is a smart dog, not sure if it is the beagle or the collie. He will not sleep on the couch unless certain conditions are met.
1. No one is home
2. They have turned out the light and gone to bed.
a. Once they have gone to bed, if they come back in the room, they cannot see the dog.
3. If, and only if, there is a specific invite. (a hand, dropping to the couch cushion, can be correctly interpreted as a specific invite.)


Tommy will not cross the vinyl floor in the kitchen unless.
1. The doorbell rings.
2. A snack falls to the floor, within 3 feet of the door.
3. They have gone to bed.
4. The Mistress of the house is being too quiet. One must check on her.
5. The Master of the house has awoken, Tommy will now check to see if the Mistress is awake.

You can invite Tommy into the kitchen and he will not enter.

If you catch him on the wrong side of the Forbidden Zone, he will not cross back to his room until you are no longer watching.

He watches us. If we are not watching him, the rules change, borders move.
With a word, a gesture, a snap of the finger; he knows what to do.

We walk him every day. He waits for me each morning.
On weekends, when I sleep in, he checks on me.
Quietly. For he is nothing, if not stealthy.

Smart dogs are different.