Good Phone Lines?

I was told this as a true story.

A woman called the phone company to check her phone line. It seems that her daughter complained that she had to ring her mother's phone many times before she would finally answer. The mother said she only heard it ring 1 to 2 times before she answered.

The repair person (politically correct) knew something was up when the mother said she felt her dog was psychic. The dog would start barking just before the phone would ring. He found that someone (politically correct not to accuse) had disconnected the phone ground line and used it to tie off the dog's chain to his metal collar.

Apparently when the call came in, the dog would see the >90 volts DC, but was not a good enough ground to allow the ring. That occurred when he urinated and made a good ground.