Leave It!

Having stayed at home these last two weekdays with a sick little Bear, I have gotten a bellyful of daytime tv. It was so bad at one point that I actually found myself watching "It's Me or the Dog" on AnimalPlanet.  Who knew AnimalPlanet aired such comedy?

The episode I caught was about a misbehaving canine (say it ain't so!) who expressed himself via gnawing on furniture, household appliances, and even the house itself.

So the trainer comes in and does her training thing, part of which is teaching the "leave it!" command to the dog.  Who, by the way named Carl, ruled the roost.  Just when it looked like he was gonna put his paw down about learning any silly rules from some British chippy, he actually obeyed the command.  The trainer informed the owners that Carl was not gnawing out of "separation anxiety" (there was a second non-gnawing sweet natured dog in the house too) but was doing so out of boredom.  All he had to learn was that his toys were for gnawing, Dog #2 and the house (with its contents) were not.

So after learning the new command, the trainer set up cameras and speakers in the house and had the owners leave.  Within 2 minutes of being left in the house, Carl ambles into the living room and starts gnawing on the coffee table.

As soon as he does, the trainer's voice booms out of the speakers: "LEAVE IT!!"

Carl stops gnawing. Lifts his head up and looks around.  I am totally not kidding when I say the look on his face was: "What the h---?"

Dog #2? He was laying on his bed nearby, just snoozing a little. With "LEAVE IT!" still rattling the rafters, Dog #2's rear end can be seen fishtailing out of the living room.

It was hilarious. Ah, daytime tv.

I think I mighta lost a couple of IQ points on that one.