That dog is nuts!

We came home one night and walked into the kitchen to find our Terrier staring into an alcove under the worktop. Normally she will just give us a cursory sniff when we walk in and then settle down to see what's going to happen next, so were were intrigued about what on earth was going on. Any attempts to investigate were greeted with a bit of "territorial ownership" (or whatever jargon fits these days). She was very agitated if we tried to go near and growled. So we did what any sensible person would do in this situation, walked away and called her to us. No response - so we ignored her, better to make nothing of it, rather than increase any anxiety.

We pottered around elsewhere in the house for a minute or two and then called again from another room. Curiosity got the better of her, so she came out to see what treat we might have in store for her. I was then able to go and see what the fuss was about. I had been the culprit - some fallout from a lunchtime chicken sandwich had made it's way into the kitchen towel alcove, right next to a step stool that she's never been too happy about. She had no doubt spent the afternoon eyeing the morsel of chicken, while being scared to go and get it from next to the dreaded stool. When we came in she was torn between wanting us to get it out and goodness knows what else going through her mind.

The upshot of this was that it was a providentially fraught situation which, because of the Dog Listener approach, we were able to resolve without any escalation, shouting, physical restraint or confrontation. The fact is that a dog may seem to exhibit strange behaviour, but there is always a good reason for everything they do. It's up to us to realise that and that it may not always be obvious to us, but it's perfectly logical to them!