If I want to go across to the macolet I cannot leave Tikva loose in the bungalow as she would go straight into my bedroom and rummage under the pillows for tissues, leaving "confetti" all over the place. So I unclip her tether and clip her onto the leash that is fitted to the same thing on the wall that the end of her tether is clipped onto. All I have to say is "come bubba" and whatever she has been doing she stops and comes straight to the door, knowing that I am going out. Two tiny biscuits [about half the size of my little finger, if that] and two tiny treats, which she does not try to take or ask for, ready for her as I close the door once I have gone out. She still does not come to get them so I just put them on the doormat inside the door before I close it - and not a peep from her. Yes she is pleased to see me when I come in but no mad excitement, unless she can smell bananas in my bag...! Tikva is so unlike Pereg in this respect who also could not be left loose - mainly in case she had a seizure and could hurt herself if I was not around. She always knew when I was going out as I take my computer specs off and put on a pair of bifocals and she used to hate me going out, getting through the doorway and having to be gently pushed back in so I could close the door. And she would cry until I had gotten to the pavement. She could hear my chair as I was coming back as soon as I got to the top of the ramp, although my chair is almost silent, and she would start barking with excitement as if she could not wait for me to get back in. Tikki is very much like Pereg was in so many ways, but this "come bubba" makes it so much easier for me to go out. And yet she has the Doxie stubbornness whereas Pereg was much more easy-going, and at coming up to 17 months old she is still very puppy-ish.
