When a dog is too "smart"...

I'll admit, I can't say I've ever really understood what some people meant when they talk about how some dogs are too smart for their owners.  I'm sure a lot of them are and can be, but what did that mean exactly?

I think I finally get it.

First of all, what I've noticed about Clyde is that sometimes he only needs to do something once or twice and he gets it.  You give him one, he'll take two and if you don't realize it, he's going with it from then on.

So let's think back to his bad habit of scratching at the back door to be let in.  I would like to say, he's stopped, for the most part. I did comment that I didn't know what would happen if we left him sitting there too long.  I figured he would try to scratch again.  Which, he did, does and will, if he feels he's been waiting too long.

Everything's been cool, not too bad, he hasn't really been scratching.  Then one evening, I hear him scratch again, almost as soon as he got to the door.  What?  He hadn't been doing that.  I ignored him and waited a bit for him to get up, come back and sit again.  Then I got up and opened the door for him.

Over the next week or so, I began realizing that Clyde almost never scratched at the door during the day, when it was just me at home (I ignore any scratching).  But in the evening, when B was home, he would come straight to the door and jump up and scratch!  What was up with that??

One morning, I heard him scratch at the door and moments later, I heard B open the door to let him in.  I realized what was probably happening.  I'm assuming in one incident, Clyde was waiting particularly long and decided to scratch.  B, probably almost immediately, walked straight to the door and stood there (we have a glass door Clyde can see through).  Clyde, in response to B standing at the door, sat down and got let in.

To re-iterate, Clyde picks things up right away.  I'm assuming this happened a second time, where B responded to his scratches by instantly appearing at the door, Clyde sits, and gets let in.  I'm not sure how many times B did this before I realized what was happening and told him to stop, but we did go through another short period where Clyde would come to the door and scratch a bunch of times before giving up (again, this only happened when B was around).

I can see how this would be a perfect example of why so many dogs (like Clyde) get turned into the shelters because their owners don't understand why their dogs are doing the "bad" things they do.  One might think that since Clyde sits as soon as B appears at the door, that he knows he should be sitting at the door and is just scratching to be a brat.  But I think what Clyde was actually thinking was that he needed to scratch the door so that B would come to the door and see him sit.

I think he's really stuck on thinking that we need to see him sit for the door to be opened, as opposed to just sitting to make us appear and open the door.  Sometimes, he'll just stand and stare at the door for awhile (without scratching).  A lot of times, it's not until he sees that I'm watching before he'll respond by sitting.

That all being said, sometimes when he's being really hyper in the yard, I swear he gets great pleasure from running full speed to the back door, launching himself up and thumping his feet on it.  The little twerp.

You gotta work for your food!

People are always perplexed and amused when they learn that I make my dogs, and dogs I foster/dogsit, work for their food.

Lilly with the Smarter Toys IQ Treat Ball

Well, you know what? I'm perplexed that most people don't! When my dogs have their meals in their toys, it gives me those extra moments of not having to worry about whether they're getting into some kind of trouble. Okay, I don't really have to worry about Zoe, but Clyde is generally busy doing something (except early in the morning/afternoon). If I don't hear or see him, I have to assume he's doing something bad. ;)  Some people comment their dog would have no clue what to do with the toys. That may be true at first if your dog isn't used to the idea but you might be surprised how quickly they get it.  If Lilly the pomeranian can figure it out, so can your dog.  ;)

Clyde, with the Petsafe Magic Mushroom - having a blast can't you tell??

No, it's not really all about me and wanting to keep the dogs occupied just so I can relax. It's also another outlet for your dog to do something other than sit around the house all day (assuming you're the typical full-time working professional type).  They say it stimulates the dogs' brains, making them work and think a little more to get their food.

Zoe, with the PetSafe Tug-A-Jug (she's got this down to a science)

...of course, if you actually gave them the choice, they would probably choose eating out of a bowl than spending half an hour slowly working food out of a toy. ;)

Sometimes I'll go all out and make it extra challenging. I'll stuff the food toys, wrap them in something else (newspaper, towels, etc), stuff them into empty boxes, throw more food in and finally, tape the box up. So then my dog basically has to rip open the box(es) and also get into the food toys. I'm kind of ridiculous, I know.

Clyde gettin' right into that box

Generally, I wouldn't recommend this route for most people (the cardboard boxes and whatnot).  For one, it gets kind of messy when they rip them apart (I keep Clyde in his crate).  But another thing, if you have a smarty pants dog, you might find that you've taught your dog to rip into any cardboard box she encounters.

Milo, finding his way in!

A few years ago, I came home to find a brand new package of (expensive) insoles had been ripped open (by Zoe).  Thankfully, she had absolutely no interest in the insoles but she did a darn good job tearing open the box and leaving the insoles untouched on the floor for me.  ;)

Therefore, I would recommend most people get dog toys designed for dispensing food/treats.

Milo with the Omega Paw Tricky Treat Ball

Next on my wishlist:

Northmate Green Modern Interactive Dog Feeder

If your dog chows down too quickly on his kibble, this "dish" would slow him right down.  Unfortunately this is $30 and I'll be debating on that one for a bit.  What?  I'm cheap (even though I have a dozen other dog toys that all together aren't cheap)!

My serendipity dog - Part 3

Continued from Part 2

Suddenly, I realized how crappy my stomach was feeling.  OH. NO.  Gas station bathroom?  Umm...No.  I sat there debating for a few minutes.  I needed to go home.  Badly.  Yes, I'm telling you this.  And this was a really good decision on my part, seriously.  So of course, it got way too late (Casper is 6 hours away) and I decided I would push the trip back a day.  The dog had been there for over a week.  He'd probably still be there, right?  The next morning I called just after they opened and he had been adopted just a few minutes before.  I guess it wasn't meant to be...

And for some reason, I got very disappointed about this.  Somehow, I had managed to fall in love with the idea of this dog from a single crappy picture and talking to a few people.  I spent a lot of time thinking about this dog and thought of everything I might have to deal with, with him.  If he had problems, I was willing to work with it and started preparing for the [potential] challenges.  ...And then it just didn't happen.

After that, I guess you could say I lost all hope in finding a doberman.  Our fence wasn't fixed yet and I didn't know when B would have time again to work on it.  I didn't expect a home check to go smoothly without it.  Not to mention, did I really want to drive all the way to Las Vegas to adopt a dog I had never met and pay at least a $500 adoption fee?  And did I really want a doberman???  Yes, I'm really kinda fickle.

My indecision (and growing impatience) was killing me and my research mode went into overdrive.

One thing about me is that when I get interested in something, I go into hyperfocus and start researching the crap out of it.  I can't think about anything else except that, quite literally (damn you, ADHD).  I started reading up even more on German shepherds, night and day (I didn't tell B that).  I decided, well, maybe, just maybe.  A GSD puppy would be our dog.  I didn't want those ill-bred, slope-backed American GSDs.  No, I wanted an East German Shepherd working line dog.  I wanted to do Schutzhund, Agility, Search and Rescue, Freestyle, skijoring, weightpulling, you name it.  On the one hand, I wanted an older dog so we could do those things right away.  On the other hand, a puppy with a clean slate was a nice idea.

I know they always say getting a puppy for a "clean slate" is just bull but I feel like that just depends on what you want out of your dog.  First of all, I'd only buy from a reputable breeder who does all the proper health tests and does not contribute to animals being put in shelters.  Second of all, I would want a puppy picked out by the breeder to appropriately match what I was looking for.  A confident dog that bounces back quickly, moderate drive and willing to work.  Getting a well-bred puppy was sounding better and better.  I even found a breeder I liked - she did all the health tests, her own dogs are titled in S&R, her dogs go to Schutzhund, search & rescue, police and pet homes.  Yeah!  I emailed her late one night, asking about her upcoming litters and wanting to chat more.  She got back to me the next morning and I was literally this||close to putting a deposit down.  So I asked B that morning how he felt about committing to it (I had already shown him pictures and info of all her dogs and the ones with upcoming litters).  He said he really liked her dogs but he wanted to think about it and talk about it that evening after work.  Okay...



Three hours later, the shelter called me and told me Diezel had been returned and do I still want to adopt him?

The next day I went to the shelter to visit him with Zoe again.  He had gotten returned because he got into a fight with one of the resident dogs at his new home.  The other dog had to get stitches on his face and I think the owner had gotten bit as well.  That was worrisome.  The dog guy at the shelter didn't feel he was necessarily dog aggressive though.  Okay, okay.  I asked if I could do a foster-to-adopt type of thing, to figure out if he's going to work out at our house.  They were okay with that, especially because we've already been fostering for them.

I was a little hesitant then.  After all, I didn't want to worry he would hurt my dog or my cats.  Or anyone else.  Not to mention I had absolutely convinced myself that we should get a GSD puppy.  I said we'd just see how it all worked out.  ...In less than a week, we decided he was going to stay with us.

Clyde, the first car ride home

I think I knew the moment he jumped into my car and stuck his head out again to be loved on.  Total keeper
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