A Party Trick for Pats

Heather Lee
3 min readJan 26, 2023

Just like people, dogs have their perks. Some dogs go through the garbage. Other dogs will play catch for hours and never tire. Your dog’s perk…well, it’s a little weird. You could actually describe it as a party trick. What goes through Chloe’s mind and forces her to come to you every time you…sing.

Yep, that’s right — singing. It’s like the call of the wild. She has to answer it.

A brown and copper hound dog with her tongue part way out sticks her nose through a missing window of a door.
Photo taken by Daughter

I See Stars from Mean Girls: The Musical

You sing this while washing the dishes. You step to the right to set a glass in the drying rack. You step back and right onto Chloe who has magically appeared to get her pats.

· Gently stroking, petting, and talking to dogs can reduce their anxiety and fear levels. –Hartford Courant

Into The Unknown from Frozen 2 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

You step out to retrieve Chloe. Unfortunately, Chloe is all the way at the edge of your property dragging the broken lead behind her. Without any thought, you instantly sing the siren call from the beginning of Into The Unknown. Chloe’s head shoots up from whatever she was nosing into on the ground. She races to the door. It’s pats time!

· On average, you should give your dog at least 1 to 2 hours of dedicated attention time every day. –Pawshake Blog

I hate my life by Theory of a Dead Man

Why are you the only one who takes out the garbage? There are more people in the house than just you. You turn up Theory of a Dead Man on the Alexa. You carry the bag outside. When you open the door to come back in, there’s Chloe. In opposition of the blaring music, she sits calmly and quietly for pats. You’re pretty sure she knows that this time she is not the only one who needs these pats.

Research has shown that just petting a dog lowers a person’s stress hormone cortisol. –John Hopkins Medicine

The Oscar Meyer bologna song from the Oscar Meyer old commercial

Just to test your theory regarding Chloe’s need to answer any singing, while lying on the couch you sing this song. You sing it badly, off key, and don’t spell bologna correctly. It doesn’t matter. Chloe shows up from around the corner and trots over. Her tail is wagging. Pats, please, Mom.

· When you pet or play with your dog, both your level and your dog’s level of oxytocin goes up. –Country Living

I’m Yours by Jason Mraz

This is the one song for which you know all of the words. For a long time, it was your theme song so, of course, you sang it all of the time. In fact, you have sung it so often that all it takes is the opening few notes and Chloe is already looking for you. She knows this song equals singing which in turn equals pats.

· “…{Theo} was scratching behind {Skinner the dog’s} ears. Ooohh, that felt good. He was fine. Doggy Xanax.” –The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore

Photo taken by Daughter

Final Pats — er, I mean, Thoughts

You will never know what compels Chloe to show up any time a song bursts from your soul. It is just an action with an interesting consequence in your life now. Thank goodness Chloe recognizes it is good therapy for both of you.

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Heather Lee
Heather Lee

Written by Heather Lee

One white cane in a sighted world

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