I think my all-time favorite television show has got to be Frasier. The writing, cast, and especially the well-trained JRTs, Eddie and in later episodes, Enzo, made it a fabulous comedy series. I still haven’t watched all the episodes, and came across this one a couple days ago and have watched it four times already. It’s Frasier‘s Happy New Year episode of the millennium, and JRT Eddie had a couple of fabulous moments in the plot that were laugh-out-loud pleasures. (Can you imagine that was 14 years ago!)
Besides enjoying the behaviors of Eddie via his talented dog trainer, Mathilde DeCagny, here’s something to look for at the end of the episode: social facilitation. Social facilitation is the spurring on of stereotypical behaviors by one and all. So, for example, if one dog runs out the door to chase a squirrel up a tree, then others may follow the lead and do the same. Social facilitation is a follow-the-leader game and we humans can even influence social facilitation in other species, as you’ll see a script-savvy example of at the conclusion of this episode. Though Eddie chooses not to join in on the social facilitation fun per the script, who knows? Maybe if he were given the option in real life, Moose (Eddie) would have.
The episode is on some on-line streaming services and it’s called RDWRER.
By Helen Verte
Certified Pet Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed, Certified Trick Dog Instructor
Extreme Fan of the television sitcom, Frasier
