I've been spending this past week outside, working on a long-term backyard project. Making good progress, I might add, but that's not the point of this post.
BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK!
The owner tells his dog, "Lucky, that's our neighbor!" and I say, soto voce, "That's not MY neighbor. I didn't pay for her!" For reference, I've been her neighbor for her entire doggy life.
The dog doesn't understand English. She only understands sounds, and it suddenly occurs to me: he just spoke to that dog in a caressing voice (meant to appease me, no doubt), which immediately rewarded Lucky for her behaviour.
I started listening to what was going on next door:
BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK!
"Lucky! Inside!" Reward for barking at me: she gets to be with her humans, her toys, her food, air conditioning/heat (depending on the season).
BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK!
"Lucky! Look what I've got!!" Reward for barking at me: a toy or a game!
I doubt that dog has ever learned the meaning of "NO!"
That fucking dog has been trained her entire life to bark at me.
...neighbors had an ignored dachshund; they screamed at it occasionally, would take it inside when the dachs got hysterical. So I’d go out to my driveway, call out, “Bark, Dog, BARK!” Of course it did, they’d take it inside, & we’d have a nice time w/ kids & friends in our backyard. *snicker*
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