Woofer Madness

The Challenges of Dog Ownership for the Self-Employed.

I think my dog is allergic to conference calls.

Let me rephrase that. My dog is most definitely allergic to lots of stuff. And even despite the allergy vaccine that the dogger is on, he still nibbles on his paws now that the pollen is thick enough to turn my blue car a sickly shade of green. Allergies don't cause him to bark, however, and bark he does whenever I have an important business call.

Yesterday he was calmer than he has been for a very long time. Mellow and restful, he hung out with me, hardly objecting at all to the occasional passersby outside our house that usually make him behave like a defender of a medieval castle wall (if we gave him boiling oil, he would pour it on bike-riding kids and unwary joggers). Later we went out to the field for a bit of frisbee. He subjected me to none of the hyperkinetic, noisy behavior that (in repeated doses) makes me absolutely crazy. I got a lot done yesterday, but it was preparatory work: organizing notes and impressions in order to do a big project more smoothly. I made no business calls yesterday.

Contrast that with today: he woofed at the neighbor's dog, went ballistic at the sight of the paper delivery man, and even spazzed out when I returned from teaching my private Yoga client early this morning. He has chased Dash a couple of times, ducked perversely when John and I have tried to pet him, and generally given the impression that today is going to be a challenging day. What is different? Well, today I have a conference call this afternoon. I am convinced he knows this.

It's just lucky that my client has a sense of humor and knows I work from home.

Posted: Thursday - April 28, 2005 at 08:58 AM | |