Advanced cockerchow trickery

No rolling over or shaking hands for us, thank you.

Zoe's latest tricks include:

(1) Running to the window and barking quite convincingly at nothing. Her
fake bark has improved somewhat, but the key is that she doesn't have to
convince Queenie, who to her credit got it in one -- only Max, who seems
lacking in the discernment department. Max barks his head off, Queenie
barks because Max is barking, neither one of them stops although Zoe
instantly falls silent, now the perfect dog, while the other two get in
trouble.

(2) Sitting down as if she needs to go out. This involves a complicated
facial expression that doesn't occur at any other time, so she is doing
it on purpose. I say "do you want to go out?" and the other dogs run to
the door, so I let them out. Zoe lies down. She is alone in the house
with me and can pretend those other dogs don't exist for a while.

shore...

That's similar to something Crow does. I have a loveseat in
the dining room that can fit at most three dogs, so if it's
full Crow comes to get me as if she needs to go out, I get
up and walk through the dining room en route to the outside
door, the dogs on the loveseat see me and jump off to
follow, and Crow jumps up on the now empty loveseat.

ceb...

You have to admire these clever ones. Although I also have a deep
appreciation for Queenie, who is utterly guileless. And Max, who simply
follows both me and his Queen everywhere.

I have to admire this high-level thinking, even as I am trying to correct
it. I take to heart, though, that she needs one-on-one time with me.

Any trickery going on in your neck of the woods?

Paula...

We have an evil chihuahua living next door. He likes to bark at the
fence whether anything is out there or not. The dogs aren't allowed
to hang out in the backyard, but they have a dog door to the upstairs
balcony. So Sammie has figured out that he can rush out the dog door
and bark down a piece of his mind at the little monster. Molly takes
her protection job seriously, so she rushes out there as well when
Sammie is out there barking, though she isn't as likely to be the
first one out to go bark at the chi. I tell them both to knock it off
and get back in the house. I noticed recently that Sammie has taken
to running out the dog door, yapping rapid fire, and then running in
the dog door and sitting there on the bedroom floor looking very
innocent and very cute. This is where I find him when I go in there
to tell them to come back in the house and leave the chi alone.
Apparently, he doesn't realize that I can tell the difference between
a mini poodle bark and a GSD bark and I know who started it. For a

ceb...

Oh yes, what is this all about? Getting the other dog/s in trouble, then
pretending to be all innocent? I guess it gets them some attention, but Zoe
can have attention anytime she wants it, for the most part. What is the
deal? What are they getting out of it?

dog who is all innocence and has never been out on the balcony getting
into trouble, he sure does try hard to get out the dog door when the
panel is slipped in to trap him inside the house.

We sometimes wonder what we did for entertainment before we got
Sammie. The other dogs seem really boring in comparison. He and
Molly are Mutt and Jeff type best friends, which is hilarious all on
its own. Not only does he not realize there is a difference between
their barks, he also has no idea that he is not a GSD in every other
way, except that he can magically fit under the bed while the other
dogs cannot.

Kathleen...

We have two dog beds in the living room and three dogs (female and male
BC, male JRT). Scully, the female BC, is by far the most adept at
tricking the guys into vacating her favorite spot.

If it's Zane (BC) she wants to move, she'll parade through the living
room carrying a tennis ball. He's developed enough self control not to
immediately leap up and take it away from her, so she's upped the ante.
Now she walks past him so he can see what she's got, then takes it and
drops it down the stairs. He goes for it every time and by the time he
gets back she's curled up on her bed.

Cooper (JRT) is easy. All she has to do is drop into a play bow and
gambol around a little. When he jumps up for a romp, she's got his spot.

If Zane is the odd man out he'll try to lure Scully off by getting her
tug out of the closet and dragging it past her. She just watches,
secure in the certain knowledge that he has no real interest in her tug
and will drop it within minutes. If Cooper gets shut out, he just looks
for the nearest lap. I've never seen him make a deliberate attempt to
shift either of the BCs.

Zane doesn't like to bark to be let in. Cooper has no such compunction,
however, and is quite good at getting immediate door service. If Zane's
ready to come in but nobody is noticing him standing silently, willing
the patio door open, he'll herd Cooper up onto the deck and use him as a
doorbell.

ceb...

I especially love this one -- rather than barking, he goes and gets the
barky dog? That's hilarious!