As my wife and I sat in the living room this afternoon, I casually mentioned to her that I’m thinking about taking our 10-year-old Chihuahua, Sam, out for a walk.
Immediately, Sam shot off the couch, where he had been sleeping, and raced to the front door.
“Whoa!,” I said to Paula. “It’s like he’s monitoring our conversation and waiting for certain code words.”
Sam’s reaction is like that of the Echo Dot we have in our bedroom that might not react to anything for months, but responds the instant you say” ‘Alexa, what’s the temperature outside.’ “
Meanwhile, Sam impatiently snorted and pawed the door as we continued to talk. Of course, I then had to find my shoes and the leash and a ‘doggie bag,’ to clean up after the dog.
By the time I collected everything, Sam was running in a circle and barking in the foyer.
All of which reminded me of an episode of the old Andy Griffith show where a visitor to Mayberry is impatiently pacing on Andy’s front porch as Barney and Andy are spending a lazy afternoon.
Barney says he’s going to go home, take a nap, then over to Thelma Lou’s to watch a bit of television.
But he never moves. Instead, he repeats his intentions about three times before the visitor has had enough and yells at him to ‘just do it!’ You can watch the hilarious scene from ‘Man in a Hurry’ below:
Finally, I found my shoes, the doggie bag and the leash, which I managed to clip on to the restless Chihuahua.
Out the door we went.
The episode has repeated itself in our home countless times over the years. It shows there’s more to this 9-pound canine than meets the eye.
He’s always listening for the magic words. Careful what you say.
Jim Stafford's BlogOKC 