Catkins

 

When Whip first came here she never barked.  It was a week or two before she finally got around to uttering a sound.   I remember praising her because part of a dog's job is to alert me when there is something amiss.   Whip now sits by the window and barks at deer, the under-the-deck resident rabbit, the harrier flying too close to the house, etc.  All of that I can live w/.  Might be annoying when she does it in the night but I can usually tell if she means business and I should get up and investigate or if it's just a coyote hunting in the meadow.  (I check the cats and if they remain asleep it isn't anything urgent.)  My issue is she hasn't learned to differentiate between the barking of dogs on TV and the real thing.  She'll go frenzied through the house looking for the German Shepards on Hogan's Heros.  I tell her enough and she quiets but continues little under-her-breath ruffs.  Maybe I should just mute the TV and go w/ closed caption.  Not such a bad idea.