saintfan

Used to have two Dogs...Elvis and Willie. Elvis was older...Willie the young punk. Elvis dug himself a hole in the flower bed and liked to lay there and watch the world go by. Willie was always running, hopping, tongue hanging out, yapping...very hyper.

So one day Elvis is laying in his hole and here comes Willie. Yapping, twirling, tongue wagging. I was watching from the porch. I could tell Elvis was annoyed, but Willie kept on keeping on.

So Elvis eventually gets fully annoyed and stands up slowly, stretches, and looks around. He stood there for a minute or so...developing his plan. And it was a good plan...

He walks about 10 feet from his comfy hole, Willie bounding around, excited and bothersome. Elvis slowly and purposefully leans down and picks up a stick. Of course Willie goes for it immediately, and of course Elvis knew he would. So Elvis, playing his game to perfection, doesn't want to make it obvious. He turns his head, first one way then the other, preventing Willie from gaining the stick.

After a minute or two of this and no more - once Elvis had convinced Willie that the stick was something worth having, he turned and tilted his head just enough to allow Willie to get the end of it in his mouth. Willie growled. Elvis resisted, but not too much. Just enough...

To finish the ruse, Elvis allowed the stick to slip from his grasp. Willie, glorious in victory, spins and spits and hauls off with the stick around the corner of the house.

Elvis, glorious in his own victory, meandered back to his hole, assumed his position, and went to sleep.

My grandpa and I used to sit on his porch and just watch the dogs. We've had several over the years of course. They think. They reason. Some are leaders and some are followers. Some are very smart. Others are pretty dumb. They are very much like people.

The smartest dog I ever knew, my Blue Heeler named Rocker, passed away last year on my birthday. He was SO smart. You could just see it in his eyes. He was a reincarnated devious 40 year old Texan, probably from the 50s era. Nobody will ever convince me otherwise. That dog was amazing in so many ways. So devious. So thoughtful. So jealous. So demanding that he was people too. I could tell a thousand stories over the decade that I knew and loved him. The only things that rate higher are my kids, and nothing and nobody else is remotely close. I miss my Rocker. My Fat Boy. My "Big Man".

Dogs, in my opinion, are amazingly underrated. Many are simply brilliant. If they had thumbs humans would be in trouble. LOL

NOVA | How Smart Are Dogs?

C'mon Man...

Saint_LB

That was a great story, SF...I could just see it in my head the way you described it. Thanks for sharing. Dogs are very smart indeed.

Your story about Elvis reminded me of a cat I once owned. She made a trip with me and my brother-in-law from the Gulf Coast to Los Angeles. Her name was Elvira. It wasn't until we took her to the vet one day after we got to the West Coast that we found out Elvira was a boy...so we renamed him Elvis.

Sorry to here about Rocker. My dog Rocky from the story was a Husky we got after we lost our first male, Max. After 10 years he developed bone cancer and eventually passed. He was a great dog, too.

Whether you think you can or think you can't...you're right!