The first few times it happened, we really didn’t notice. Then, we realized she did it every time! You will recall the history of Pavlov’s dogs. He theorized that reflexes could be conditioned….that is, that one could stimulate an automatic response to something by associating it with something else.
He of course, used dogs. He rang a bell everytime they were fed. Presentation of food stimulated the dogs to salivate. Eventually, they began to salivate in response to hearing the bell, even if food was not presented.
In Ursula’s case (the big brown dog…), the stimulus is purely 21st century! It is our habit to sit upstairs after work, while we watch tv and I surf my laptop. At bedtime….it is all shut down. Tv is turned off and laptop is shut down….as Microsoft Windows plays its little logoff theme.
At the sound of that theme, Ursula, who has been lying quietly in a corner, dozing, leaps to her feat and heads toward the stairs…
….it’s obviously bedtime, and she leads us to the bedroom.
…..I said it before: you CAN teach an old dog new tricks!
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