Out
the door it goes.
Football.
Giant
candy corn.
Bird.
Dog
toys. All of them dog toys. As if an important and necessary part
of the routine, when the back door is opened, the dog sprints
out with a toy in her mouth.
In
an offbeat full circle of closure, they never return but they
always return. The key twist being that the toys never come back
into the house in quite the way you would expect them to return.
A
dog leaves with a candy corn and returns with a ball. It may be
hours, days or weeks before the candy corn returns, but eventually
something else is heading into the yard to be left and back comes
the candy corn.
To
watch it play out is essentially like having a seat at one of
the strangest boomerang throws you’ll ever see. The best description
I can give in comparison is a song being performed as a round.
You know the drill, one person starts, and before that person
finishes another person begins, and so on until everyone ends.
In the case of our yard, the candy corn goes out and a bird comes
back, then a football goes out and the candy corn comes back.
And
the question I have is simple: Why?
Years
ago, Terry and I had two Labradors, and they had the run of the
house. At one time, we had decided that we needed to keep them
off the bed when we weren’t home, and we tried to set up some
obstacles to block their path.
It
didn’t work.
Night
after night we’d come home and find the bed still warm. A laundry
hamper nearby was knocked over. The hamper was always knocked
over. The evidence was pretty clear. Rather than letting them
continue to do things that might cause damage, we gave up and
opened the route to the bed again.
For
a few weeks after, every day we would come home and find the laundry
hamper knocked over. Even on the other side of the bedroom, it
was as if they had some internal checklist for naptime. Go upstairs.
(Check.) Knock over hamper. (Check.) Get on bed. (Check.) Wiggle
around to get comfortable and enjoy the afternoon. (Check and
check.)
What
creates these routines? How do these habits come about? (Why do
they love playing tag with the hamper?)
When
we go out to the car, we know we need to keys to get inside. That’s
why we go to the counter, grab the keys, and then head outside.
What is it about a giant candy corn or knocking over a hamper
that becomes part of heading outside or taking nap on the bed?
It’s not like they need to open the vehicle to move it when we’ve
already opened the door. They don’t need to move the car to get
a clear run onto the bed.
Maybe
it’s just a security blanket of sorts. Built over time as the
way it should be. A routine I don’t understand but perfectly sensible
to them, much like any peculiarity any of us might have about
things like brushing teeth and putting on socks. If they’re going
to go out, they need a toy. If they’re going to nap, everything
should be in its place.
(And
I wouldn’t have it any other way.)