One Smart Dog
I mentioned Zoe in in an earlier story.
She was a beautiful 90-pound solid white German Shepherd Dog. Now that’s a dog with presence. When she fixed her eyes on someone and pricked her ears up, she commanded attention and induced very careful behavior among humans who didn’t know her.
I saw large beefy men give her a wide berth. Women would guide their kids away from her. Her deep chesty bark caused people to stop in their tracks.
If, however, you knew her, you also knew she was about as sweet as a dog could be. Kids could pull her ears and climb on her. Anyone could walk up and pet her without a problem. Most people wisely asked permission first.
I never experienced this, but I do have a sneaking feeling that if someone were to harm or threaten one of her family, that sweetness would disappear.
She loved to wrestle. I’d get down in the floor with her and have at it. I was much younger then. I learned not to wrestle too hard with her after one session when she abruptly slammed her head into my chin. I saw stars. I gave her credit for a takedown and TKO.
Being a herding dog, she was naturally smart. In fact, she was the smartest dog I’ve ever owned. Fender may have been the most observant and sensitive to human behavior, but Zoe could devise a plan on her own and execute it.
Case in point.
The family was together for a summer time BBQ at the lake. This house had a huge multi-level deck and we were all just hanging out after a day on the boat. My visiting adult daughter’s Golden Retriever was there as was Zoe.
Zoe loved to play frisbee and was an excellent catch. If anything, being a retriever and all, Max enjoyed playing frisbee even more. He could play so long my throwing arm would get sore. This is important to know. And as you will see, Zoe already knew it.
I was relaxing in a lawn chair sipping a beer when Max wandered over to be petted. Just like most of his breed, he was a sweetheart of a dog and it was nearly impossible not to rub his head whenever he was near.
Zoe had been on guard duty behind and to the right of me. If you have any experience with shepherd dogs, especially the German variety, they are generally on duty in one way or another. Often that meant tracking everyone in the family, knowing where everyone was, and, if possible, herding everyone together in one space for easier guarding.
If there were small children in a room, Zoe, after a time, would have them all in the middle and be off to the side watching. If one of the kids strayed too far, she’d use her body to gently guide the wanderer back to the main group.
This day Zoe was in position to see the whole family, as well as Max, and keep a steady eye peeled.
As Max came up to be petted, Zoe moved from her position behind me and walked all the way across this large deck, trotted down the stairs to the lower part, and pick up a frisbee left there. She came directly back and once again positioned herself behind and off to the side of me in direct line of sight to Max.
Standing at her full height, she then deliberately dropped the frisbee causing it to clatter on the deck making as much noise as possible.
Max, seeing and hearing this, immediately ran to get it. Zoe then quickly moved over in front of me to be petted, taking his place.
She essentially didn’t like Max getting attention from me and developed a strategy to end it.
Now let’s think about that for a minute. Zoe outweighed Max by probably 40 pounds. She could have easily come over and just pushed him away. If you’ve been around dogs much, you know that’s what most do. With the two dogs we have now, that is the only option in play.
Not good enough for miss Zoe. She not only didn’t want Max getting my attention, she wanted him away from me all together. Something simply shoving him might not have accomplished.
I swear I’ve had employees who couldn’t have devised a strategy and implement it as well as she did that day. And it wasn’t like she had to think about it. This happened quickly and seemed to be spur of the moment.
To me it demonstrates canine intelligence in everyday situations that we may not truly appreciate. Yes, we humans train them to do amazing things but I think we take too much credit for it.
To me it demonstrates canine intelligence in everyday situations that we may not truly appreciate. Yes, we humans train them to do amazing things but I think we take too much credit for it.
Note: You are no doubt wondering where is a picture of her? This was the age of flip phones and actual photographs that were printed. Imaging that. I’ll have to go back through my archives to find a photo. It might take a while.