Day 43

Day 43
Donald McCaig stopped by this morning with his two Border Collies, Luke and June. Sanity thought Luke was a most handsome fellow and so proceeded to get him in all sorts of trouble with her attempts at puppy flirting.

I must confess, this pup’s abilities at problem solving are truly mind boggling. I really wanted her to stay outside for a short time while I did a few things in the kitchen. So I sent her outside and closed the gate at the bottom of the ramp. Before I had a chance to get to the kitchen, there she was trotting right beside me.

“No way, little gal. I want you outside.” So saying I trotted her right back out. This time I latched the gate and leaned a taller baby gate across the opening. Before I even had a chance to get out of the office, here she comes trotting up the ramp.

“I really don’t want your rather annoying little brown ass in here right now. Out you go.” And I closed the gate, replaced the baby gate and added a chair to help hold the baby gate in place. This time I made it all the way to the kitchen and had started to wash the feed pans when I felt something poke my leg. Looking down what do I see? You guessed it. She’s back.

When I marched her back outside I was met with a gate/gate/chair still the way I had left them and no apparent way of entrance. Humm…wonder just how she managed that trick. I know she couldn’t jump much less fly over the barrier, so just how had she managed to get back in the house? I put her back out and then went and hid.

What did I see?

I saw a young pup; remember now she is only 4 months old, who is far too clever for her own good. She didn’t even hesitate or waste time looking at the new barrier. Instead she went around to the side of the ramp where there is a resting platform for the dogs to use. It is about 4 inches off the ground and was exactly the right height for what Sanity had in mind to do.

Specifically she hopped up on the platform and that gave her the extra height she needed to put her front paws over the lower rail. Hanging on with her front paws, she walked her back paws up the lattice work until she was able to get one foot on the lower rail. A quick push and she tumbled through and landed on the ramp. Home free and into the house she trotted. Like I said she is way too smart for her own good.

Other than that the only thing really worth reporting is that during the second “fetch” session she opened her mouth on her own 3 times in a row. I was pretty impressed since I really hadn’t expected that response for at least a couple more days.