Smart Puppies!
Marc (whose blog is back after what, if email traffic is an indicator, seemed to be a hella bad work week) sent me this article about the intelligence of dogs and their ability to count. This is pretty cool news, but something I always suspected. As the owner of two pups, I have seen, Buddy, the more dominant one, get extremely frustrated (to the tune of whining and jumping on the cat) if he notices Bailey gets more treats than he does.
[WARNING: Dog stories to follow]
Because I am easily amused, I have done my own “scientific” work on this counting front with popcorn. It is a common game in the get donkey! household to hold competitions over how many consecutive kernels of popcorn each dog can catch. As one dog is getting his “turn”, I have noticed that the other guy watches intently. So say Bailey hits six in a row and then drops one. It then becomes Buddy’s turn. Now Buddy is a little spastic at times, so he only catches 4. However, he doesn’t cede his turn to Bailey. Rather he will push Bailey (who outweighs him by some 40 pounds) aside and demand his other two pieces. Smart dog.
Both dogs are also quite intuitive (and manipulative). As most pup parents do, we often resort to spelling special words (e.g., “T-R-E-A-T” and “W-A-L-K”) that, if uttered aloud, will result in 150-pounds of canine tornado whirling about the house in excitement. At least we used to. I think Buddy has figured out how to spell “treat”. Now we have to spell “B-I-S-C-U-I-T” which he has not figured out… yet.
They also quickly catch onto certain nonverbal cues. For instance, if my wife walks into the family room wearing a ball cap (which is something she rarely does), they both figure out that it’s walk time. Furthermore if I come into the family room and put on my “work shoes” Buddy goes and stands by his crate and Bailey stands by the pantry both awaiting their farewell biscuit. If I come into the room and put on my running shoes, look out! It’s walk time!
Okay, I’ll knock it off with the dog stories now.
I love dog stories. More more more!
Comment by Devra | 8/1/2002
I used to have a dog….
Comment by TC MITS | 8/1/2002