I know dogs can be taught a lot of things - like hunting and drug sniffing and fetch. And I know there are training classes for dogs. And I suppose some dogs just have a propensity toward something or other - like Huskies pulling sleds through snow, or bloodhounds tracking lost kids. But something happened the other day that puzzles me and I would love it if someone knows just how they do this.
SIE was over one afternoon this week. He brought his new bike (see www.jodessa.com/blog/ for pictures) and we decided to ride down to the playground near my house. His two dogs were here so we left the back door open so they and Blue could hang out in the back yard. There's a fence around the yard and I am pretty sure that Blue could jump it, but she hasn't figured that out yet. When I first got her I would put two baby gates on top of each other to try to keep her out of the room where I took care of the babies. She would jump it no matter how high and how little running room she had. But so far at our new house, she hasn't jumped the fence, or dug out, or learned to unlatch the gate.
The playground is two blocks from my house and around the back of a school. Blue and SIE and I have gone on walks through the neighborhood in every direction, but only twice to the playground together. On this day, we were down at the playground for about 20 minutes when here comes Blue with a big smile on her face. She had an expression that looked like this was just a normal occurance. I paniced because I wasn't sure how she got out or where the other dogs might be. We went home right away and there was Hapapapapa and the two dogs starting down the street to find us. He had dropped by and perhaps hadn't fastened the gate tight enough when he walked over to the store. When he returned, his two dogs were resting in the grass next to his truck. Smart Dogs!
So, all turned out well and I have just been pondering ever since. How did Blue know where we were? She's a wonder dog, but this I never suspected. Could she smell our tracks? Could she hear our voices from that far away? Could she understand when we were talking about where we were going? If anyone has an idea, let me know.
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From watching far too much PBS...I would guess it's the scent. She looks like she's got some hound in her and is probably good at smells. We watched a show where they trained a bloodhound. He could go into a stadium and find the seat out of 5000 that the subject sat in.
ReplyDeleteI guess we humans drop an amazing number of cells and bits everywhere we go. Anywhere we linger the bits get even more concentrated. That's how the dog will know if someone lingered or not.
She understood you. I am convinced. This is why I explained to Clyde that it would be like he was at summer camp, and Cleo that he will be home to protect he soon (though she doesn't seem to care one bit that he's not there "I got mama to myself. Ha!)
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