::A Geek in Korea::

A dog is a pretty close companion. Yoshi spends a lot of time with me and knows my quirks pretty well. In fact, he’s learned to do a few things I didn’t even need to teach him to do simply out of routine. Here are a few examples:

When I get up in the morning, I usually turn on the computer as surf the web for an hour before my wife gets up. She prepares something for breakfast. I get up earlier for some alone time, and usually I’m not that hungry. Yoshi just sits on my lap as I read the news. When my wife wakes up, I turn my office chair to face into the kitchen area to greet her. Yoshi knows this is going to happen, so he doesn’t jump off my lap unless she goes to feed him. However, if I turn the chair as he hears the shutdown music of the computer, he automatically jumps off my lap.

Usually when we let Yoshi off the veranda, he hops up on the couch for a nap. If we talk about food, or mention Yoshi, his ears will perk up. If we say, “ma ma“, which is a Korean baby word for food, he’ll jump right down and follow us around till he gets something to eat. He’ll do a little dance and follow us out to his dish.

When I take Yoshi for a walk, he’ll stand in one spot while I put the harness leash on him. Then, if I head towards the door and pause, he knows to sit in front of the computer while I unmount my mp3 player for podcasts on the walk. He also will wait at the elevator in the same place going up or down. When Yoshi and I walk, we take one of three courses. My watching my feet as we walk past different parts of the neighborhood, he knows if we are walking one place or another for the day.

When we return from the walk, he holds up each paw to be cleaned before returning to his dish for some water. He also knows to avoid the shoe area so he doesn’t get dirty. I’m not responsible for this bit, this is all my wife. She accuses me of having socks dirtier than Yoshi at times.

Yoshi knows the words “Up” “Down” in English, and “go get your ball” in Korean. He’s got a favorite toy, which is a noisy green alligator. When we say “Noisy!” in Korean, he usually doesn’t stop making it squeak. He’s not a perfect dog.

When I snap my fingers and point to the veranda, Yoshi stops what he is doing and goes outside. I can also snap and nod my head, and if it is night he’ll go out too. Only my wife can get him to follow the “come here” command however. She also gets him to shake hands more frequently.

Occasionally, when my wife gets ready for bed, he’ll just go out and sleep on his blanket without us even having to say anything. Other times he curls up on the couch and needs to be reminded to go out on the veranda to his pillow.

It’s pretty cool when a pet figures out something on it’s own. Most of the things he knows because we have a repetitive sort of lifestyle that doesn’t change.