I believe that Otto has the mental capability of someone who is somewhere between the 4 year old donut eating toddler and the 25 year old drug dealer on the corner in front of our previous residence in Chicago whom Otto hated. Otto is very clever.
On more then one occasion, I have yelled to my husband , "Did you see that?" (referring to the latest news on the television) only to have Otto come sliding into the room with full hackles up growling and doing his version of "roar, ahroar, roar yor roar"...some sort of unintelligible Anatolian babble meaning "I Am Gonna Mess You All Up -Who Ever You Are ...Even If You Are Not There ....Bring It On, I'm a Big Bad Dog, Bring It On!"...followed by a yawn and a quick retreat back to his couch.... This happens no less than 4 times a day in some form or another...Maybe Otto understands tones, maybe he understands words. I believe he has a clear understanding of most things I say, he is just selective in how he reacts to them.
Over the last two weeks, we have come home around 10:00 pm to find our 10 year old arthritic lab standing at full attention by the door and Otto, still paws up in the bed, or worse, with a dazed look as if I awakened him from his couch coma.
Maybe this sleepy little town has made Otto complacent. Maybe Otto knows that it's me coming home and that he need not get OFF THE BED or OFF THE COUCH to investigate, still it seems to me that it is his job to GET THE HECK UP at least and investigate ANY sounds...at least to LOOK ALIVE AT THE DOOR!
As soon as the weather warms up, I am going to park the car down the street and come around the property knocking on the windows....that's right, I am to have a test of our emergency broadcast system. I hope for his sake that he as least gets off the couch to investigate....
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I have my first anatolian also but I'm told they know the day to day routine. Human scents come out of the car, although, that may only work if he was trying to find you. My dogs, Anatolian and Golden Retriever both, know when my husband gets home; and I think that his car and my neighbors car sound exactly alike!
Anyway, my guess is, he knows the routine and knows exactly the way you come in the house. I would hope that he would bark like heck if he didn't hear your car and you did something different while coming in the house.
Our Anatolians live outside for the most part, though any one may have house privileges for the day or night.
Used to be that when I came home from work in my car, pull up to the easement... the horses would go charging around excitedly, tails over their backs, nostrils flaring (Arabian horse fanfare).
All my Anatolians would be at the gate to greet me. Two of the ASDs, a grandma and her grandson were 'woo woo woo' dogs... and would shape their lips into woo greetings as I came to the gate and would speak (James would confirm they were wooing at me). The other ASDs just wagged their tails, sometimes spinning the tails in faster or slower circles. (sometimes we had between four and seven ASD at different times)
In contrast... My husband coming home would result in the horses looking up from their grass -- maybe. And maybe one of the dogs, Aslan in particular if Aslan wasn't working with me that day, would go to the gate to greet him and lean on him in greeting. The other dogs would be nowhere to be seen at first look, especially if in the heat of our summers. The grandma dog that would woo woo woo when she saw me, would just be laying down where ever she happened to be. James would say, "Hi Bertha" to the apparently sleeping girl, as he walked by and maybe one brow would raise to indicate she heard him and the very tip of her saber curved tail would wiggle.
The generation of Anatolians I have now are not vocal at all when either of us get home (I currently have three ASD). They all go to the gate to greet both of us, whether we come home separately or together.
I think it's a blend of personalities and pack behavior that has given us our experiences. I do kind of miss the excited soft and low woo woo woos I used to get. :)
Incidently, it was the woo woo grandmother that would tend to sing when there were ambulances, fire trucks going by. The others would join her sometimes. After she passed on after 13 years, the others just as suddenly stopped singing to sirens.
Oh my goodness, I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. Your stories about Otto are wonderful!
I just love your blog! You are doing a wonderful job with all your stories. I had to laugh reading this one because my group of 4 ASDs do the same thing. Just tonight I was watching the dog show and they were all passed out sleeping and I heard the ASD come on and I ran out to the other room to catch a look at it. Well, when I took off running they all jumped up and hackles raised and all 4 bolted to the side door barking up a storm and half on them ran outside. They done it when I've said some certain things too or when I've yelled something.
I did test my one girl the one night like you mentioned doing. I didn't know what she would do. I came home and came up to the door outside. I had left the side door open so she could go in and out the dog door if she needed. She never came out when I got home so that made me curious. I knew she was standing right inside the door since I could see her shadow but she was dead quiet. It was dark outside so she didn't know who I was approaching the door. I decided to test her and I started pounding on the door really hard like I wasn't friendly. She suddenly went into full blown barking and growling but still had not come out the door. She stayed inside the house to protect it. I called out to her to let her know it was me before I went inside. Now if it would have been an intruder I don't think they would have made it in the door.
Keep up the good work on your blogs. I'm really enjoying them and get good laughs because I can relate. I love the stories!
Otto knows it's you. He hears your car down the block, wags his tail in greeting, and continues to snooze.
My first two Pyrs never seemed to even notice when I drove up and parked in the carport. They were working dogs, with 15 acres to guard. But a car pulling up seemed like a big deal to me, like they should at least notice.
Then one day I came home in a rental car. As I slowed I heard barking. By the time I got out of the car, there were two huge white bullets charging my direction, making an incredible noise. I stood at the gate talking to them, and they started to calm down, but still looked at me suspiciously. It wasn't until I thought they were calm enough to allow it, and I stuck a hand out for them to smell that they relaxed and went into a rather sheepish greeting mode.
They knew my cars - both of them - and knew it was me coming home, so they didn't need to alert. My sheep also knew my car sounds. A neighbor said they always headed towards the barn when my car turned onto the road, still 1/4 mile from the house.
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