Lest there be any doubt about which is the more intelligent species, let me explain to you how Blue trained me without my ever noticing. I put Blue out in the yard. Blue barks at someone or something threatening that’s going by…oh, say a butterfly or a baby carriage…and I jump up and make her come in because she forgets to stop barking and it quickly gets annoying. I mean, it’s one thing to alert me to danger. But it’s just pathetic when ten minutes later she’s still barking, the initial cause of her barking having long past. She seems to put herself in some kind of trance and while the barking slows down, it never quite stops. Which is even more annoying because just when you think it’s over, she barks again. Today, I heard her start barking and immediately jumped up and went to the door. There she was at her usually place at the fence but she wasn’t looking out. She was looking at the door. I stood there a moment before opening it and watched her very carefully eye the door, then turn her attention to the deserted street and bark again, then turn back to watch the door. The minute I opened it, she bounded in. Hmmmm….methinks she has this figured out. If she just barks at the back door I yell at her to enjoy the beautiful weather while it holds. But if she barks at the fence and even looks like she’s about to go into one of her trances, I let her in.
And the dogs shall inherit the earth…for so long as there is one human being around slow enough to be suckered into their game.