Ever since Sky was a 12 week old puppy, I have kept bells hanging on the door leading to outside so he could tell me when he needed to go potty. This worked well for us at the time. I was living in an apartment on the third floor (why I ever thought it was a good idea to have an Aussie puppy in an apartment is a whole other story!) and the bells were an excellent way for him to tell me he needed to go out even when I couldn't see the front door. After the newness of "hey I can make the door open" wore off he was super good about only ringing them when he needed to go potty.

Lyla, on the other hand, has been scared of the bells (and everything else) from day 1. After about 6 months, she got to the point where she would ring them when I make her, but she much prefers to just stand by the door and give me the stare down if she needs to go out. So really, for a long time the bells just didn't get rung much around the house which was perfectly fine with me.

I also have a cat. Her name is Izzy and she really is pretty personable and tolerant as far as cats go, but she is still sneaky, stuck up.. well, a cat. In fact, her nickname is "Pissy Cat" thanks to the 4 year old son of a friend of mine who once mispronounced her name, and I thought, well, she's a cat, she is kind of pissy sometimes, so it stuck.

My Pi... I mean Izzy cat has recently decided that the garage seems like a fun place to be. She tries to stealthily sneak into it every time I let the dogs in or out. Iz however, is not a stupid cat. She has noticed that every time that big, dumb dog makes those bells jingle, the door magically opens and the garage is in sight. So about a week ago, Izzy made it her mission to learn how the bells work. I kid you not, every time Sky goes near the door with the bells, Izzy is right there behind him, watching intently. Now remember, the cat has lived with the bells for close to two years now and never given them a second thought, not even to play with them.

And then three days ago it started.... Izzy rang the bells. I ignored it, but this behavior has evolved into a vicious cycle as Iz tries everything she can think of to act like the dogs do when they "make the door open." Every 2 minutes she walks up, rings the bells, looks at me and meows. If I ignore her, she reaches her paw up and rings again, and starts all over. This whole cycle can go on for about 30 minutes before she will give up and sulk. She does it several times a day.

The ringing behavior is markedly different than if she were playing with something "dangly." This a deliberate one swat to hear the noise, and then a look to see what the result will be. It really would be quite a fascinating look into animal psychology if it weren't so darned annoying. =)