dinner music for lucy

We have new neighbors. The husband loves old houses and the accompanying challenges. The wife is 'high maintenance' project also. They have a baby (a middle-school aged son has disappeared...maybe his real father lives in a better school district. I was sort of hoping he'd be a friend to Lucy) and TWO dogs.

One of those dogs, a young German shepherd, reminds me of the husband; the other ('BJ' -- the shepherd might have a name, but the owners don't need to use it), a Jack Russell terrier, reminds me of...hmm...let's see... Previously, there was a quiet dog the size of a small horse next door. Lucy loved him, and they never barked at each other. Once, when they mutually removed a fence panel and he got into our yard, she wouldn't let him leave and he was frantic and helpless. She IS a border collie, after all.

BJ is rather a challenge. When I let Lucy out for some backyard time, he begins his fence-running routine, which is punctuated by irritating bouncings off the fence. Lucy goes berserk. She's actually worn a path along the fence tracking the little demon. Both dogs are focussed and single-minded and just won't stop. This is a big problem! Lucy, who thinks of herself as basically a house dog, needs some quality backyard alone time in her own space. In the mornings, we come back from a walk around a few neighborhood blocks and Lucy, who will pee anywhere, needs to have some 'modesty time' to do her other business when we get back. She is a border collie (did I already say that???) and if there is a job to do (dog to corral), she will forget her own needs. In the evenings, she needs quality time to do her other business which fuels the morning business: she needs to eat. I can't feed her raw chicken in the house.

So, here's the new routine: At those times I would normally bring her into our backyard, I do so. BJ & the 'good shepherd' are already out and waiting. Aural mayhem ensues. I wait to see if they'll bring in the dog(s) (I know by now they won't); I let the barking continue for a minute, announce in a matter of fact voice, 'Well, we'll try again later, Lucy' and go inside with her. Repeat two or more times and, at that point, leave Lucy out to participate in fence running and noisy doggy conversation, until they get the point and bring in the little darling. There are two main drawbacks: one, this dance takes up a huge amount of my time and it's really irritating and totally not fair and sometimes they never bring the dog in, like this morning, so Lucy is 'holding it' all day. The other problem, I hate to admit, is Lucy herself.

It's a huge understatement to say she's emotionally and mentally complex. To complicate backyard matters further, she already has mixed feelings about being outside - truly has a phobia of being left out there (unless she's doing a job...)...and me 'getting away' (reference border collie). She actually keeps track of time of day and what I'm doing. For instance, when a piano student arrives, she heads for the back door and wants to go outside. Mom is safely occupied. When the last note is played and I'm up and about, she starts barking to be let in.

So, this evening, after a lot of work to 'clear the soundstage' so that Lucy can have free run of her yard, without distractions, finally the coast is clear: I put her out to eat, and then she insists on barking cuz she's left out there all alone and still will not focus on the business at hand. Back and forth. In and out. I'm exasperated. I want her to seize the opportunity. Hey - show the neighbors what quiet is!!! So, after playing some head games with her, I put her outside with her dinner again. And before she can audibly object, I sit in the darkness of the piano room...and softly play some Rachmaninoff. Something switches on (off?) in her brain. And she quietly goes about her feeding.

Ah.........