He (I know it was a he because the lady walking him told him, “Good boy!”) was a very small dachshund almost fully padded in a doggie winter coat.
The dog’s human lady companion and the leashed dog were slightly ahead of me on the sidewalk. I watched the little guy running by the lady’s side as he kept up with her fast walk, and I thought, “Gee, these short-legged dogs have to gallop when they’re supposed to be out for ‘walks.’ Must be exhausting.”
As I was thinking that, the little guy darted off the sidewalk onto the street using a fairly large space between two parked cars. “Good boy!” the lady cried out…and I’m going to take a brief pause here to mention how that “good boy!” or “good girl!” exhortation annoys me. (More later.)
Back to the little dachshund now standing in the street. The lady followed him, further cheering him on. “Oh, you’re going to do it now?! Good boy!” The dog looked at her for a second and then hopped back up onto the sidewalk, having done nothing. “Oh, all right,” she said, and they proceeded down the block as I passed them, laughing a little.
Next ample space between two parked cars, the dog darted out onto the street, again. Did he do “it” then? Not sure because I was too far away to see what happened.
Here’s the question: why would someone cheer on her dog to pee or poop? Like, that’s not what the dog does automatically? Maybe that little dachshund was as irritated as I was to hear “Good boy!” over and over again and had determined to train his human companion out of her habit. Excellent application of passive aggression.
Now I can say “Good boy!”