19 Inches of Stubborn

This morning, when I came downstairs to let the dog out, my mom cautioned me to watch him go outside. She said that he did not want to use his dog door last night.

This did not quite make sense to me. Why would Snickers not go outside this morning? He obviously needed to empty his bladder. I shrugged and obeyed my mother, like a good 40+ year old. I re-opened the door into the garage to watch my dog use his dog door to the outside. Sure enough, Snickers stopped in his tracks when he got to the opening.

"Go on. Go outside," I commanded.

Snickers looked at me, ears perked up. He turned, walked to his door again, sniffed at the plastic flap, then turned back to me. My bare feet hit the cold concrete of the garage.

"What's the matter?" I asked my expressive Rat Terrier. "Go outside." I pointed to the dog door as I walked toward it.

Snickers looked like he wanted to do as he was told. Clearly, after sleeping all night he definitely needed to go outside, but he would not step through his door! His body language was really very clear. He was not going through that dog door. Walking in the obstinate creature's direction, I sighed. This 19 inch tall animal is so stubborn sometimes. I decided to just let him out the people door.

I opened it to a wall of snow, easily three feet high.

Snickers was very happy when I let him onto the front porch to use a post. Poor puppy. Do you suppose he was holding his bladder all night long?