A Dog Named Cheese

Bosco is a rascal.

Getting Bosco indoors so we can leave the house proves difficult. He picks up clues that we will soon be driving away and leaving him alone with his sister. At the last moment he decides to go outside to pee. He's holding all the cards and he knows it.

Calling out "Bos - Co!" to get him back inside may or may not work. I never knew why this dog who understands scores of words and phrases would not grasp the most basic of commands. When we whisper the word Cheese, for example, he charges into the kitchen looking for a small pinch of cheddar. The joke is that maybe he actually thinks his name is Cheese.

I figured this out just the other day. Bosco can follow relatively complex directions. If I tell him, "Bosco, get in the house.", he rushes right inside without hesitation. So why does his so-called call name fail to rouse him?

When I say his name he must be waiting for more information.

"Bos -co!"

"Yes, my name is Bosco, what do you want?"

"Bosco, get in the house"

"Sure, why didn't you say so?"

It's that simple.