Our Killer Recall

Since you asked -- the secret to our "Killer Recall" is practice, practice, practice. 

Did I mention that we practice this a LOT?

Many years ago, someone told me that if your dog sits, stays and comes on cue, most people will think they are very well trained indeed.  As I've been doing dog sports - I've concluded that sit, stay and come are also the foundation behaviors for everything we do. 

At least they are the way I approach them.  I do want to say that I didn't invent any of this stuff.  This is just how I think of it and how I've put it together.

Sit is such a basic behavior, that we take it for granted.  Its the first behavior that Gimme learned pays well.  She thinks she invented sitting to demand stuff - its her default behavior.  Over time, I've made it a "required" behavior to get whatever she wants.  I don't cue the sit,  I basically stand there and look stupid.  I let her figure out for herself each time how to get something, so she thinks its always her idea and thus is very motivated to sit.  She's always a bit stunned when it doesn't work (which puts it on a variable schedule of reinforcement - the most durable behaviors of all) and she redoubles her efforts.

Gimme sits to go outside, come inside, get treats, get meals, get out of a crate, get out of the car, have a ball/toy thrown, initiate training - really everything.  Gimme thinks she is training me, absolutely not the other way around.  She thinks I'm not entirely bright, so its her full time job to get me adequately trained.  You should hear her expound on what it will take to get me ready for our rally debut in August.

The other really important aspect of sit that many people miss is what a great barometer it is for where a dog is mentally.  If you train cued sits (as opposed to default-offered sits) so they are nearly instantaneous (or at least very fast)... then you can use the time it takes a dog to sit (dispatch) as a gauge of how much distraction or duress the dog may be experiencing.  If I cue a sit and Gimme is slow to respond, I know she's distracted or stressed.   Then I can take measures to reduce the distraction/stress and work through it incrementally.  If she doesn't respond at all to the sit cue, then I know she is over-threshold and its my job to get her out of that situation immediately and make plans to train through it strategically, another time.

Stay is just one form of impulse control.  Its probably the most immediately useful form for us, but there are so many behaviors that require impulse control.  A dog without impulse control is often pinging off the walls, as they bounce from one impulse to another.  I taught Gimme a number of impulse control exercises long before I ever broached a formal stay.  Honestly, a default sit is the first impulse control exercise - since it requires the dog to control whatever impulse might seem the immediate answer to getting what they want and choose to sit instead. 

Gimme learned the Eye Contact Game, Doggie Zen, Mine and Leave It, and Waiting For A Release to eat.  Other than mine and leave it, these are all exercises without a cue - so again its up to Gimme to figure out how to win whatever goodie is at paw. 

• I teach the Eye Contact Game the way Chris Bach teaches it - without a cue other than the formal stance that tells her the game is afoot.  The first thing Gimme had to learn was to look away from my hand and the treat it contained.  Then she learned to look at my face, then into my eyes.  We added duration and distraction.  The beauty of the Eye Contact Game is that you can play it anywhere and anytime and the number of distractions you can add is limitless.  If your dog can't play the simple Eye Contact Game in a noisy or distracting environment - they won't be able to do their best weave pole performance either (so why practice sub-standard poles, eh).
• Doggie Zen taught Gimme another valuable lesson - "You have to give it up to get it, Grasshopper".  Mugging me (no matter how cutely it was done by climbing up on the couch and shinnying down my arm) will not get you the treat.  Pulling away (giving it up) will get it.  Over time this became harder and harder.  At one point I would lay the treat literally between her paws while she was laying down, so it was just inches from her lips and she ignored it for the multiple treats she knew I would give her.
• Mine and Leave It are both the first cued impulse control behaviors that Gimme learned.  Mine means "this is mine and not yours".  Leave it means "even though you found it, its still not yours."  Both are taught as an extension of Doggie Zen as well as being part of life skills that are taught as life goes on..
• Waiting for release to eat was probably the most difficult exercise for Gimme.  Dalmatians are verrrrry food motivated, so it took a lot for her little baby brain to wrap around the idea that your bowl, filled with raw chicken necks and sitting on the floor in front of you, is still not yours.  When I started this, the rule was if she was putting her paws on the counter or bouncing around like a maniac - the food dish didn't move.  After she settled down a little I'd lift the bowl and start to turn to put it down, which often set her off again and the bowl got set back on the counter.  Once I could lift the bowl up and turn toward her while she kept all four on the floor - then I rushed it to the floor.  So we started with just the minimum of what the final goal was and I rushed the bowl down to give her a reward for her efforts.  Over a two week period, I gradually increased the difficulty until she had to sit while the bowl was set on the floor in front of her - then she learned "okay" releasing her to eat.  I've kept this up all along and now when I set her bowl down, I stand up wash and dry my hands, pick up all the meal fixin's and put them away, gather up M&M's dishes and walk out the kitchen door before poking my head back in and saying "okay". 

Since I had already taught her so much impulse control stuff, on the day I started teaching a formal stay - it went very quickly.  Two 3-minute sessions was all it took for her to clearly understand what that "wait" word means.  And frankly, much of the three minutes was being released and getting reset.  We've continued our stay work, adding distraction and duration.  Sometimes I go to her to give her a payoff, and other times she has to come to me.  Often the distraction is part of the release "okay", which is also a form of recall, since she has to come to me to get the payoff; many of those releases to me come right by delectable food on the floor. 

Come has been something we worked on from the very first day and continue to work on every day.  We really don't often do formal recall training as such, its just worked into our daily life together.  I take great care to make sure it pays well and often, and that it rarely results in the end of fun.  Usually it just means come and get a treat and then go back to what you are doing.  Sometimes it means come have fun with me. 

The crucial elements have been to protect the value of the cue, classically condition it at every opportunity, pay well and practice, practice, practice.  So what have we done and what are the important things I keep in mind all the time?

• First Gimme learned her name in what I call bathroom recalls (bathrooms are boring and small, so you are surely THE most interesting thing going).  I'd say her name and stick a treat in her mouth - without requiring a response from her.  She learned quickly that hearing that special word meant good things and very soon was glued to me.  We did 100 bathroom recalls each day for five days (20 at a time).
• Its important to protect the good association to hearing her name - I try to never use it to scold or stop her from doing something.  I admit that it sometimes slips out... but I'm as careful as I can humanly be. 
• Next we did living room recalls, again 100 per day for five days.  At this point, I'd call her name, give her a treat for coming to me and then toss a treat (saying "get it) to reset her for the next recall.  Again, 20 reps at a time. 
• Meanwhile, I was already walking her in some carefully selected off-leash environments.  They were selected based on safety.  Gimme and I walked a lot and she got random recalls, which were heavily reinforced and then she was encouraged to go back to exploring.  I used a balance of recalls and free time, since her tendency early on was to glue to me and I didn't want her to be sticky.  We did more recalls later as she showed her confidence.
• It was important to me that she always go back to play after a recall on our walks, so that we were setting up the idea that coming to Mom was a great opportunity to get a reward before going back to exploring.  Coming to Mom is not the loss of good things.
• She also got treats for checking in voluntarily (initially treats every time, later random treats).  On those times I saw her coming toward me to check in, I called her name - using that opportunity to strengthen the association.
• Also, because she had so much structured safe freedom early on, its never been important enough to her, that she was reluctant to give it up.  She always knows there will be more free walks.  Likewise she's always happy to get in the car after our walks.
• When I was able to arrange play dates with suitable dogs, we did recalls there too... cookies and back to play with your playmates. 
• We've done group recalls at home where she gets treats with Michael and Meaggi getting their treats too. 
• I use her name to recall her when she is already coming to me for anything that she wants.  I know when she wants a snuggle, is getting ready to climb on the couch, any time she is following me around... any of these can be used as an informal recall opportunity.  This is classical conditioning at its finest.
• I use her name to recall her for a good game of tug a couple times a day. 
• When Gimme started getting more independent on our free walks, then I started playing hide-and-go-seek with her.  If she went out of sight, I hid.  If she clearly wasn't keeping an eye on me, I hid.  Behind trees, bushes, stumps.  Laying down in a depression in the ground or in tall grass.  When she finds me, I say her name and give her a treat and a hug.  This isn't really formally associated with a recall, so much as it strengthens her desire to be with me and certainly encourages her to keep an eye on me.  I admit anymore I almost never get hidden, because she watches me so carefully. 
• If I know she is distracted and likely to have difficulty responding to my recall, I pair it with running away (call and run away simultaneously), using my motion to strengthen the cue.  Because she so wants to be with her Mom that ensures success. 
• Sometimes when I call her, I run away as she heads toward me - so that it is part of the game, part of the reward.  She loves to play with Mom and a good game of chase is fun.
• When I'm working in the yard, I call her randomly for treats.  Sometimes its because I have a ball or a stick to throw.
• I use peanut butter from the small containers I carry or the toothpaste tube to reward her best recalls.  Other times I use less-valuable rewards.  I try not to over-use the peanut butter (thus devaluing it).  Other times I may use other valuable rewards.  So even though every recall is rewarded, its still on a variable system of rewards because the rewards change.
• I've taught Gimme to recall on hearing her name.  In an emergency other people might need to call her and not know that, and I myself sometimes use other words.  So, I have paired other likely recall cues with her name recall cue.  Essentially she has several recall cues.
• I practice success.
• On a slow day, Gimme gets 50 recalls a day.  Did I mention that we practice this a LOT.

So, sooner or later there comes the day when the dog doesn't recall.  With Gimme this happened going to the car.  One day at around six months she decided it was time to explore down the alley.  I live on a busy street, so not coming when called is potentially dangerous.  Naturally, she was skittering around just out of reach and my blood pressure was going up by the moment.  After the first time this happened, she got walked to the car on leash every day for a week.  Then about two weeks later it happened again and another week on leash.  Then any time she was off leash going to the car it happened.  I have to admit I felt anger: partly a reaction to the danger of this behavior, but there was also a sense of betrayal that my best buddy who is the center of my life was being "flagrantly disobedient".

Then one day a little voice in my ear said - "okay Madam Dog Trainer - what would you tell your students?"   What would I tell them?  Train - don't complain.  Set yourself up for success.  Use management to ensure safety and to prevent practicing what you don't want.  So that's what I did. 

I bought two more jars of peanut butter -- I know I've mentioned that Gimme loves peanut butter.  We already had a jar in the car - which she gets a finger-full into her bone when she gets in her crate.  I taught her a super recall cue "p-butter" which means she gets to lick a gob right out of the top of the jar.  I placed one jar of the peanut butter in the carport where I could pick it up on the way to the car and get the lid open where she'd smell it and be reminded of that potential.  She already knew peanut butter was in the car, having gotten it several times a day all her life with me, but the allure of exploring was too enticing.  So adding the smell upped the ante and helped her focus (ensuring success).  I had another jar stuck in a tree in the yard, so I could use it randomly to reward her best recalls in the yard.  I cut apart a set of daily pill minders to make small containers to carry peanut butter with me everywhere we went.  I set aside a couple dedicated training sessions to train going to the car - so I wasn't rushed by trying to get to work or somewhere else.  We trained and trained and trained. 

I rarely use the p-butter cue, but I know I have it.  I occasionally train the p-butter cue to keep it fresh and she is practically acrobatic in turning back to me when she hears it - its very high value to Gimme. 

In other situations when she fails to respond to a recall, I calmly walk up to her and put her on leash and then we spend a few minutes practicing loose leash walking.  I can be calm because I KNOW she will come if I need to use the p-butter cue.  This is not a punishment and there is no element of punishment.  We just train something else for a couple minutes and then she gets to go off lead again.  After that, she always responds beautifully to the recall cue, even though we didn't directly train the recall again.  I think any training helps her to refocus on her Mom. 

I was talking to someone recently about my idea that sit, stay and come are the foundation behaviors for everything we do.  Her immediate question was - "What about attention?"  While I haven't really trained specifically for attention, it is the by-product of all this other training. 

Here's a cute picture of Gimme when she was responding to one of her first recalls when out walking free.  Is there anything more beautiful?

Note the ears... I call this her flying recall, because it looks like she is about to take off...

Gimme and the Bad Man

We've found a place near home where we can go for some of our short off-lead walks.  Its a trail that I used to use years ago, but has since been improved.  Where we park is in the middle, so up and back to both ends is a 90 minute walk. 

Because its improved, and it connects with an old improved bike trail that runs through the city, there are a LOT of cyclists using it now.  Consequently we get a bunch of recall practice with every walk.  Gimme needs to be near me whenever there are cyclists going by so they aren't faced with trying to dodge a dog that may move unpredictably.  Dodging dogs leads to biking accidents. 

Fortunately the one thing I've done very well with Gimme is to establish a killer recall.  On each walk I get many compliments on her recall, and her beauty, of course.  Interestingly, I've called her so many times, that she is just starting to see the bikers and then turn toward me and see if I call her.  I expect she will start coming in on her own, which would be great.

Because the weather is warming up, I've started walking her in the morning so I can take her home before I go to work - just too warm to have her stay in the car.  As a result, I'm starting to see more homeless people in the area, as they come out of their camping areas in the woods nearby.  Mostly they've been fine, but recently we ran into a man that was behaving very weird.  Gimme was walking ahead of me and still thirty feet away from him when he started behaving threateningly toward her - which of course made certain that she was fixated on him.  Since he was being so spooky, that basically pushed her over threshold and she couldn't even hear me calling her.  Meanwhile he's yelling at me that he's going to kill her and beat me up if I didn't get her away from him (she was 15ft from him, but barking).  She was so worried, there was no way even when I was right next to her that she was going to turn her back on him to come to me...   She was unwilling to turn her back on him until he was about forty feet away.

Gimme didn't act inappropriately - he started menacing her before she even started to pay any attention to him, but an even better response would have been to come to me automatically.  I like her friendliness, but when someone acts odd, she should return to me.  So that's something we'll be working on. 

The guy was obviously whacked.  And while there are a fair number of people using that path - I see about ten during my one hour walk... I could be in a lot of trouble before someone wandered along to come to my aid.  In all my years of being out and about alone, I've never run into someone that spooked me - until now. So went to Cabela's and bought a pepper spray device that will clip on my pants.  

I recommend that anyone who is out and about walking alone carry some "personal protection."  There are several different ones - many small enough to conveniently carry and reasonably priced.  Clearly I've been ignoring that kind of advice for many years -- you can one-up me by heeding that advice.

Rally Graduate

Gimme graduated from her first rally class and did a good job.  We had a couple problems on the first run-through on graduation night because of a wardrobe malfunction.  Gimme was in season at the time and had to wear drawers - and they sagged.  After we got them all tucked up, she did a great job.

Gimme thought her name should have gone first on the certificate, after all, she did all the hard work, whilst all I did is wander around and try to keep my two left feet out of her way.

We have formally set a goal to enter her in rally at the Puget Sound Dalmatian Club specialty on August 26th.  That'll be a nice way to start her performance career - among all her Dalmatian peers.

Gimme thinks she's going to have to train me a LOT to get me ready in time.  She's happy to be out of season so she can concentrate on getting me ready.

Growing Up Gimme

In honor of her 8 month birthday, here is a short time line in pictures of Gimme...  (she provided her own commentary)

At eight weeks after the romantic rendevous, I was already stunning. 

I may only be one day old... but I'd already made a name for myself.  That's me toward the back with the pretty pink ribbon.

Naturally, at three days, I was already my mother's favorite.

I'm only ten days old here, but you can already see what a beauty I will become.  That's me, the first one to the left of the pile.

I've just turned four weeks and am enjoying my first picnic. 

Here's another picture of me at four weeks.  Again, its me on the left.  Those three little dots on the back of my head will later grow together to become a perfectly formed heart.

It's probably a surprise to most people, but even a beauty like me doesn't always want to have her picture taken.  I may only be one month old, but I'm not shy about expressing my opinions.

At this age (again 1 month) I have far too much to do to be standing around taking pretty girl pictures.  By the way, if you look carefully, you can see where those three dots are growing together and already starting to form a heart.

Here I am at seven weeks and you can already see what an elegant and powerful personage I will become. 

At eight weeks I'm already a babe.  If you look along this side of me, there are at least three more hearts.  Mom has since found another heart, a snowman and M. Mouse. 

Sometimes you just have to take charge of the situation...

Naturally when you are this good looking, this young, its easy to fall into the habit of admiring yourself.  Only two months and one week old and already gorgeous. 

Tana says I've always stopped to admire myself in mirrors.  Mom always sits us by the mirror at rally class so I can have something beautiful to look at.

My Mom's ability to stack me properly leaves a lot to be desired.  (two and a half months)  Fortunately my inner beauty shines through anyway. 









It was dang cold out when we took this picture.  I'm three and a half months old, but I'm not a dummy.  You'll note that mom is all bundled up in a big thick coat and all I get to wear is that little collar.

No, I did not lose my tail when I turned five months old.  Sometimes it just wags too fast to be captured on film...

I am six and a half months old and getting more elegant by the day.

I still like to pose for people - I get on the dogwalk in the front yard and strike a pose whenever there is someone walking by.  I just know they want to admire me.





And here I am in all my glory.  Let me just close by saying...
               "It's all about the attitude."

8 Months



We Could Go For Miles and Miles...

And we often do...  Gimme and I walk a lot on the Fort Lewis training areas.  They are wonderful places to let her get off leash and be a dog.  She really loves it and I'm sure it contributes a lot to how fit and agile she is.  Here's a photo essay from a recent day on area 23...

There are hills... 

 And flat areas...

That seem to stretch on for miles and miles

This area is an underground petroleum pipeline.

This spot in particular, I call the "hill from hell."

I'll let you guess why...

Gimme is fond of surveying the furthest reaches of her domain...

She also loves to run with wild abandon...

This plant is popularly called "skunk cabbage", because it smells like a cross between skunk and cooked cabbage.

I usually smell skunk cabbage LONG before I see them - their odor does travel on the breeze. 

This is the time of year when skunk cabbage makes its appearance in the many wetland areas...

Gimme loves to snoop around the edges.  She's even getting braver about getting her toes wet on occasion. 

I doubt she'll ever take up swimming.  So, I guess there's no dock diving title in our future...

Passing through this area was really a pleasant end to our walk...

Wish I had it in my back yard...

Upon closer inspection, in some places you could see beds of snow flowers... called that because they look like patches of snow from a distance.  They have no leaves.











Gimme found this lovely bunch of wild daffodils right at the end of our walk... just a couple dozen yards from the car.  She's a wonderful walking buddy who never misses a thing.  I would have missed them entirely.





A Horse is a Horse, Of Course

Gimme has done really well in her training - which is, of course, to be expected with such a smart girl.  This is a picture of her at Rally class.  If you look carefully, you can see the glimmer and sparkle from her halo.  <g>  She'd do better if her person was a bit more adept. 

I did learn during this class that I'm going to have to revamp our cue system (and the sooner the better).  Since I'll be training her for freestyle at the same time as rally/obedience... if I use the same behavior - at the least I have to give it a different name.  I found during this week's class, that when she came in to "front", she kept wanting to spin and back into "under", which we'd been working on.  While incredibly cute - it won't be particularly helpful in obedience and rally. 

Of course, Michele Pouliet made the point that you need to train positions for freestyle different anyway, since you almost never want them sitting.  So once I retrain that way, the confusion should clear up, methinks...

Despite my efforts to have Gimme get used to horses when she was very little... she has since decided they are evil devil spawn that are not to be trusted.  I think the real problem is that she mostly sees them while we are out walking - where they seem to suddenly appear out of nowhere (lots of woods and paths that come from both sides).  After being surprised by having them appear from wherever they lurk, they are actually 100 yards away, and having her react poorly, we have been putting a special effort into getting her used to them.  You'd think 100 yards would be far enough for them to not be threatening, but I think Gimme thinks that the whole 100+ acres per training area is all hers. 

I'd been using lots of treats, but it didn't seem to really be working.  Then someone suggested (for something else) that I get one of those tubes that hikers put peanut butter into for traveling (you can buy them at sporting goods stores).  I was going to look for one, but then saw at the seminar that someone had made one out of a toothpaste tube and a hair barrette.  Since I was near the end of a tube and already had barrettes, I made one too.

Its easy to make and they can easily be opened for refilling.  Empty out that toothpaste tube and trim away the crimped edge.  I actually had two tubes that were near the end, so I selected the one with the flip top (don't want to worry about keeping track of a screw top).  Open up the tube and clean it out thoroughly (I found a tooth brush worked well) both in the tube and near the place where the paste will come out.  Then fill it about two-thirds full with your reward of choice (I used a butter knife to fill it).  Carefully fold over about a quarter inch of the open end.  You may have to fold in one corner if the barrette isn't wide enough.  Place the barrette on it.  I like the kind that snap closed; you squeeze the sides on one end to open it.   

Our reward of choice is peanut butter.  Gimme loves peanut butter better than anything else.  That's why her recall is so good, because most of the time it is rewarded with peanut butter.  You could really use anything soft - like baby food meats or cream cheese.  One of the advantages to peanut butter is that it doesn't have to be refrigerated between uses.  But, of course, you'll want to go with what works for your dog.

I hold the tube in my hand, with my thumb holding the snap lid up out of the way, and I gently squeeze as needed.  The great advantage to this is that you can really prolong the experience, getting a lot of mileage for your counter-conditioning time.

We recently ran into a lady with a grey horse she was unloading from the trailer.  My friend walked up and asked her if we could bring Gimme closer and do some training.  Fortunately the horse folk that we run into on the training areas are, for the most part, very willing to indulge my training requests.  I'm sure they'd like to have my dog comfortable with the horses (and quietly not-barking) as much as I would. 

Anyway we stood there chatting while the horse hung out a few feet from Gimme.  Mostly she was intent on sucking as much peanut butter from the tube as she could get.  She was clearly aware of the horse and I watched Gimme very carefully to let her set the tone of how long, how close, etc.  Toward the end the horse was close enough to reach out and sniff Gimme.  She momentarily turned her head from the tube to see what that was and then calmly went back to her priority mission.  I considered that a HUGE SUCCESS and squeezed hard to give her a big glob of peanut butter.  Then we ended the session and walked away.

Someday, if I can scare up a horse resource, I'd like to train for a road trial title.  Naturally, its essential that Gimme be very comfortable with horses.  Now that we've found a way to use peanut butter -- I see that as a very realistic possibility...

Our Busy-ness...

I don't know why I'm still surprised by how smart Gimme is... but some of the things she does just astound me.

Recently I decided to INTRODUCE the "under" position, where she stands between my legs facing forward with me - for our future in freestyle. I emphasize introduce, because its usually a slow process for that position - at least it has been with my others and other dogs I've seen being taught to do it. In no time she was completely comfortable in the under position and so we quickly played with doing a figure-8 between/around my legs. It was really fun.

Then she just "invented" the cutest move. She was sitting at front, staring at me and I was trying to free-shape something else. Apparently she wasn't done playing with the under, and did a spin on her hieney, while scootching toward me and ended up in under position. Of course, I jack-potted the dickens out of it, so got it several more times. Actually that's a pretty advanced move - so I know she wasn't the first to invent it. It just amazes me that she figured it out on her own.

A couple weekends back, I went to two obedience seminars. The first was a 4 hour Denise Fenzi workshop, where I took 5 pages of notes. Then there was two days of Michele Pouliet, where I took 15 pages. I learned so much I hardly know where to start. Sure am glad I hadn't done much with the retrieve as I really like what Michele showed us. I also learned tons from other exhibitors, since I had a million questions.

The really big news is that Gimme did soooooo well when I took her in the building. I was able to get her in three times a day: before the seminar started, during lunch and after the day ended. I set up her soft side crate and used it to practice the Relaxation Protocol. Gimme did sooooo well on that - much more than the limited practice I'd done deserves. I do think it helped that we had practiced RP in that crate - so she knew what to expect and how to win treats.

She also did well with general attention. She was, of course, highly distracted by all the people and dogs and general activity and newness.... but then after a short while, using what I learned from Ursula, I was able to help her get through it and get some responsiveness to cues she already knew. Sunday she was only distracted by people and/or dogs when they got within about 15 feet. She might watch them if they were moving around at a distance, but didn't feel the need to respond - watching them with interest and calmly. Our last session after the end Sunday, we actually had a very short training session and she invented something new... its like a get in... I don't think I can use it in obedience, since it includes a serious lean on my leg (she's practically resting her head on my knee with me standing), but I may be able to build on it to get her backing around me. I know I've said this before, but she is soooo smmmmarrrrht.

This is huge progress for her since she was a whiny fussing wild child at the seminar in February, so much so that it was very distracting for other participants, so I could only expose her during breaks. Of course she's two months older now, but I also think the work I've done and my new understanding of how to get her brain in gear makes a big difference.

The funny thing was that in the hotel - she was quite pleased with the fact that we had a second bed. Both nights she spent the majority of the time laying sprawled diagonally across the bed and really effectively taking up the whole thing. (boy how I wish I had a picture of that) The first night she slept there all night. The second night she started there but crawled in with me when it got colder. That Sunday night she was quite disappointed to realize that Serta failed to make their delivery while we were gone. She walked in the bedroom and looked around as if to say, "there's something missing here." Every night since, she walks in the bedroom, stops in the doorway and then sighs. Sadly for her, my bedroom is too small for a second bed.

Also she just thought up another fast one. I have a bell hanging on the front door so she can tell me when she wants to go out. She rang it earlier and when I got in the living room I found her waiting at the door to the kitchen. So apparently she now thinks its the bell for her servant to come running. Not! I made her go outside anyway... the stinker...