No, its not what you think.
I work at home, and I have a dog. She’s pretty much a lump most of the day, except of course when an analyst calls, at which point phantom bad guys appear outside of the door. This happens like clockwork destroying any sense of professionalism I try to have when speaking on the phone. She then loses her mind and barks like someone is trying to steal our house.
Top of the list in terms of barking veracity are the Fed-Ex/UPS delivery guys. She can hear these trucks leaving the loading dock 100 miles away, and knows when they are going to drive on our street. Next are sirens, which is funny as she stands on her hind legs and howls like a wolf, I still chuckle. Then there are the “garbage stealers” who come once a week and take our valuable discards along with the neighbor’s trash. Finally, the kids come home from school happy as clams about mid afternoon and yell and scream. This is good for a maintenance bark or two, nothing like UPS.
How do animals have this kind of timing? I dunno, it’s like kids who can embarrass you at the most inappropriate times with the things the can say.
I’ve had pets all my life….dogs, cats, fish, frogs and some other gross/slimey creatures I found on the way home from school. I love my dog, even if she doesn’t have the best sense of timing. I have an aquarium full of fish, they don’t make as much noise when I get phone calls, but then they don’t love me back or lick my face as much as my dog.
Delusions of Adequacy 
You know I’m a sucker for the pet portraits! This is a good one!
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timing, as always, is everything 😉 my cat is usually pretty good, except for morning calls when she’s a bit more active, in which case speakerphone/mute are handy to stop her from knocking pictures over, rolling her little balls with bells in them, etc.
i know another work from home analyst, however, whose cat has trained them to be fed. noticing that meowing when their owner was on the phone got them food, they now meow whenever the phone rings 😉
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What a coincidence. Our family dog died last fall — 17 1/2 years old.
We’ve been toying with the idea of getting another, but can’t really settle on a breed.
(Our five-year-old is less discriminating — he just wants a dog!)
Can you tell us some more about boxers. Good with kids? Do they shed, chew, dig, etc.?
Thanks.
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A boxer is a very lively dog who loves people and children. she has been a great dog. sorry to hear about kmart, but give me a call and i’ll tell you all about her.
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