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Sunday, August 16, 2009

Pet Voyeurs

I'm sure that most people with pets can relate to the following scenario. Nature calls and you go to the bathroom to relieve yourself. Since you're in the privacy of your own home, you don't bother closing the door. While you're sitting there, one of your dogs or cats comes in to get some attention. Shortly thereafter the others follow. Before you know it you have a small audience as you take care of your business.

In our house it's not uncommon to have these voyeurs watching us. I've had both dogs and a cat or two standing in front of me at one time. This event is obviously entertaining to the pets, as just prior to this they were off doing their own thing. For some unknown reason, a human using the bathroom is fascinating to them and a signal to come watch. There you are, doing your thing, and a pet comes up for attention. Not exactly your thought at the moment, but you learn to deal with it.

To me this is a mixture of amusement and annoyance. Do I really want a gathering of animals while I'm sitting on the toilet? No, not really. And I don't understand why they can be uninterested in us until we actually go in there, when suddenly they feel the need to figure out what we're doing. I do have to shake my head and laugh a bit, especially when several of them come up at the same time. In our house my wife and I have learned to live with it and tolerate it.

Ah, the idiosyncrasies of pets!