Naughty, Naughty Doggie

A recent photo of two members of my household that are both cute and naughty.  I have a true and hilarious story about naughty #2...the dog named Ranger.  

Andy and I have recently had a discussion about getting Ranger's barking problem under control.  It's especially troublesome when people approach our front door or when we are outside and he is not.  It's just excessive, loud and high pitched that really grates on one's nerves.  I am sure our neighbors agree.  They are just too nice to say anything.  

Tonight I was out on our front lawn with Grant, when you could hear Ranger's continuous, annoying bark while he was still inside.  So, I said, "Let's go take Ranger with us to *Naughty Dogs R Us and get one of those Citronella bark collars.  I'm an willing to try anything to get this under control."  I thought we probably should take Ranger along, so we could get the right sized collar, which I knew would be a challenge.  

When we entered *Naughty Dogs R Us, I instructed Madison to hold Ranger tight on his leash as to not give him any freedom to jump up on people or any other dogs that would be in the store.  Ranger loves other dogs, but generally, they don't like him due to his aggressive nature.  Maybe he has ADHD for dogs?   That would be my guess.  I do know, my dog does not play well with others.  

Anyway, Madison had Ranger and I had Grant by the hand and we just rounded the corner where they sell collars and Ranger quickly found a display of raw hide bones in a huge cardboard box and he lifts his leg and wizzes on the display to "mark his territory".  Madison quickly points it out to me and I gasp and say...give that dog to me and (Madison) quickly clean it up before anyone notices.  *Naughty Dogs R Us does provide paper towels and bags to clean up dog messes.  However, he's wizzed on cardboard, so that's a little difficult to fix.  I said, "Madison, let's quickly find an employee who can direct us to the barking collars."  I wanted to get in and out before anything else goes awry.  Shopping with Ranger is about the same as shopping with Grant during a temper tantrum...best to get out of the store quickly! 

I found a nice man who directed me to this locked cabinet a couple isles over to the bark collars.  They are around $100, so that's why they are under lock and key.  By now, I have Ranger very close to me, so as to not get into anymore mischief.  I was even proud of myself when I told him to sit and he listened to my command.  The employee was showing me the three kinds of collars when...you won't believe this....Ranger lifts his leg AGAIN and pees right in front of the employee on a display of plastic covered dog bed covers.  Now, I couldn't ignore this incident and apologized profusely.  I even asked if I needed to purchase the product.  Heaven knows, I would have made me pay for it.  The very nice gentleman, kindly said, "Oh, don't worry about it.  It happens all the time."  Then he adds...."In fact, we just passed a center display where another dog did the same thing."  I just didn't have the heart to tell him that was my dog too!  

Let's just say... I couldn't get out of there fast enough with my bark collar purchase and Ranger will NEVER be allowed to go back again.  

*Name changed to protect myself from incriminating evidence of dog urine.