I keep thinking that dogs are smarter than we give them credit for, and science keeps telling me I’m wrong. But I haven’t given up yet. Call it smart, or call it “clever,” but there’s something going on in the minds of “man’s best friend” that ain’t dumb.

To understand this story, you have to understand how “Stinky” fits into Callie’s life. Stinky is now one-half of a stuffed puppy. The original 100% stuffed puppy was one of Jamie’s (the heroine of “My Doggie Says…”) toys, but not a great favorite. Callie inherited Stinky when Jamie left us. Actually, that’s when Stinky got named “Stinky,” because that’s what our granddaughters call their security blankets — for good reason.

After some aggressive puppy chewing by Callie, Stinky lost her back half and had to be re-sewn by the local dressmaker. So Stinky is now the two-legged front half of a stuffed puppy. But Callie loves Stinky more than any other toy. She’s never very far away from Stinky, and she always seems to know where Stinky is.

Every evening, when it’s time to calm down and think about going to sleep, Callie runs to find Stinky. Then she very gently nibbles and sucks on it. Stinky is Callie’s pacifier. Sometimes, Callie brings Stinky to me. She ceremoniously presents Stinky to me, and then I give Stinky back to her, or we hold it together.

So here’s the deal (so to speak). Yesterday, I was sitting at my desk and Callie walked over and presented her feathery chest for some scratching. So, as I worked, I gave her chest a really vigorous scratching with my left hand. Then I said, “OK, Callie, I just have to work for a while.” Which Callie understands pretty well. So she walked away.

The next thing I new, Callie had returned with Stinky in her mouth. She presented Stinky to me, as she has other times, but this time, she wouldn’t take Stinky back. She insisted that I keep Stinky. She just stuck her chest feathers out again, saying, “Please scratch my chest some more!”

That rascal was bribing me. She gave me her most treasured possession, thinking the gift would induce me to scratch her chest some more.

Are dogs smart, or what?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 28th, 2009 at 12:05 pm and is filed under Appreciation, Callie, Dog Bonding, Relationships. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.