Fenced In

(photo: "This is bullshit," says Vito sporting his new PetSafe collar.)

Vito's reign of unwelcome bumrushes has come to an abrupt end. Carl from PetSafe arrived today, installing our invisible fence and kicking Vito's re-education into high gear. Carl was no stranger to pugs, telling us he'd just installed a fence for a family with six pugs on the Vineyard. However, he'd never seen a pug quite like Vito. "Man! His neck is like a funnel," said Carl as he tried to adjust the PetSafe collar. As we began the initial training this evening, Carl assured us each dog's learning is very primal and Pavlovian and has nothing to do with intelligence. He told us the training should take about 10 days but I think Vito is already catching on. I even spotted James praising him by the shed for his good work. No longer will we have to worry about Vito getting squashed by a landscaper's speeding pick-up truck, or be forced to apologize to runners who've been traumatized by Vito's ambushes. We thanked Carl for his wisdom as he pulled out of our driveway. Minutes later, I logged onto the Commonwealth of Mass's sex offender registry to make sure Carl wasn't on it.