Thursday, February 19, 2009

Random Perk

For those of you who don't know me or anything about my Norwegian Elkhound, Bailey, I can tell you this post is dedicated to my 10-day escape from one of his most annoying neuroses.

Bailey is absolutely terrified by the beeping noises that sound from my oven - when I turn it on, when I adjust the temperature, when I set the timer (both adjusting the temperature and timer require several beeps unfortunately), when I turn it off. We're not talking about a mild cowering in the corner, oh no. Oven beeping brings about a full-on panic attack: uncontrollable shaking, loss of bladder control, extreme yelping and a strong desire to flee the house at all costs. He becomes obsessed with the door as if he can will it opened with his eyes. Any attempt to take him outside in this state runs a high risk of shoulder dislocation. It is beyond frustrating.

While I am guilty of exaggeration at times, the aforementioned description is not over-done. In fact - likely warranting an entirely separate post so I won't expand much here - in order to test my smoke alarms monthly I have to put Bailey outside in my car. Even one tiny low-battery beep turns Bailey into a vibrating freak show.

Enter oven-using vacation by way of dogsitting at a home with a quieter oven that has a dial for setting the temperature, and therefore doesn't require a beep per 5 degrees of heat! Hurrah!

I have been taking full advantage of said oven privileges. I baked home-made dog biscuits, I've made pizza several times, and I made mini brownie muffins (had a photo, wanted to include it, but blogger was not having it). It is really sad that I avoid foods/meals that require a standard oven because my dog is such a pansy. Doggie valium/prozac anyone?

1 comment:

Jeni said...

What a quirky guy! I'm glad you're taking advantage of stress-free oven usage. Don't get too used to it though!