During these not-yet warm, spring-still-winter days, I open the back of my car so that Lilly has access to her crate, if she prefers. It gives her a dry spot, out of the wind, to survey the valley for a bit while I’m hard at work inside. Until last week, I always thought it was a nice, safe thing to do.
Alas … Lilly proved me wrong yet again.
It was around 11:30 am, and I’d just let her out, one day last week. I opened my car and went back inside. When it came time for lunch, I popped down the hall from my office to the kitchen. It’s habit for me to sneak a peak outside just to see what the dogs are up to.
I wish I had a photo of what I saw, but Tom had the camera with him down in town. Plus, it required immediate intervention, so there wasn’t time to look for an alternative way to capture the image. So, here’s my best attempt to convey the scene.
I can see Lilly’s body but not her head as she wanders back and forth in front of the house. Ginko is following her closely, his smiling face showing no sign of danger. So, I move closer to see what’s so funny. Lilly moves from behind my car, and I know what’s up.
She’s wandering around eating cereal from the sack wedged firmly on her head. You know those waxed-paper bags inside cereal boxes? One of those.
She seems a bit annoyed that it’s stuck on her head, but she’s also happy to have total control over the cereal Ginko so clearly wants.
Once again, all I can think of is that she’s going to suffocate herself. Frequent visitors will recall her recent run in with a trash bag.
So, I run out and pull it off her head. And, upon checking the back of my car, see that she’s managed to get inside our well-stocked training backpack. She’s unzipped it and pulled the bag of cereal out. During her raid, the sack got stuck on her head.
I told a colleague this tale as an example of Lilly’s intelligence, and she quibbled with my characterization: “How exactly does that mean she’s smart?” my pal asked.
My best answer is this:
Another dog might have destroyed the backpack and everything inside to get at the cereal. Another dog might have even eaten the bag too.
A smart dog unzips the pack, selects her item of choice from among the many, many options — peanut butter in a jar, toys galore. A smart dog, daintily partakes of her found snack, while ensuring Ginko can’t have any … and only then realizes her predicament.
It’s like a precision strike of an international cat burglar compared to a smash-and-grab job of a local thief.
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