Giant Laundry Monsters

Alright, while we love the new washer and dryer, the dogs are apparently petrified of them and will not go back into the corner where we keep their food and, more importantly, their water.

Uulaq has been drinking from the toilets exclusively for about a week. (Yes, we put the lid down,. but she knows how to push it up and jam her head inside to drink. Luckily, we're pretty good at remembering to flush.) Rukh creeps back there, all crouched and stretched out, nabs a few pieces of food or a quick slurp of water and then dashes back into the kitchen in a flurry of laid-back ears and scrabbling nails.

We have been unable to lure Uulaq into the laundry room, even with promises of biscuits and treats. I'm not sure what happened. Their food and water were beside the old washer and dryer for years without any problems. The new ones are quieter, but they are taller. They are the same color. Perhaps the corner is now too...deep, or something.

We've decided on a tough-love approach, and are closing the bathroom doors and leaving the water where it is supposed to be and banking on her getting thirsty enough to brave the Giant Laundry Monsters. We've been careful to make sure they are not on when we leave, and all the doors are shut and nothing will beep or clang. She can creep in there at her leisure. Hopefully before she gets all dehydrated.

Of course, dogs have strange and unpredictable fears about stuff. About a year ago, Rukh developed a pathological fear of the grass in the backyard and would not go out on it. He'd skirt the grass, walking in the flower beds or against the fence. We thought he may have been stung by a bee he stepped on, but we never saw any evidence of that. In the past, the beasties have decided that vacuums, plastic bags, my hat, brooms, and at least one of their toys was Verifiablyl Scary. At least to dogs. They're awfully weird.