Dogs Do Lie

Jen has a wicked cold today - courtesy of having kids going to school - thank you very much. There is, in my humble opinion - no better disease vector than children in school. Ask any parent. The most annoying part is that they bounced back after a single day and Jen is well into day two of her own private hell.

I hadn't planned to write today - so I don't have anything particularly beady in mind - so I'll just bore you with a story about my dogs instead. Because if you think I can blather on about beads all the time - you haven't heard me talk about dogs!

One thing people tell me they like about dogs is that "they are so honest. Dogs don't lie." I'm usually polite about this, but the truth is, dogs can lie like a rug and to their own benefit. Not just to us, but to each other.

Case in point. This a.m. - the puppy (some puppy - he's two!) was in the backyard with a "Tasty Unauthorized Snack" (the exact details of which you do NOT want to know) - but suffice it to say, he had a prized and nummy portion of food that, while I had not actually given it to him, I decided that - as he had it now - he might as well eat it.

He was nearly finished when the other two dogs decided that perhaps they would like some of the Tasty Unauthorized Snack too. The old boy ran up to him, and suddenly spun, stared intently into the neighbour's yard and let out a big woof! The other two leapt up at the barked alarm, and following his gaze, raced to the fence to see what had caused the alarm - burglar? squirrel? pool guy?

The old dog spun on his back paw and dove onto the fallen, and temporarily forgotten, piece of Tasty Unauthorized Snack, whipping it away and consuming it rapidly himself. He made no move toward the other fence, and yet, it was absolutely convincing that he had seen something important there. The other two dogs were surely convinced, and returned shortly to nose around. "I could have sworn I still had food here."

Which just goes to show that dogs are pretty gosh-darned smart if they can formulate a plan that involves lying to get their own way. Remember that - if you think you dog doesn't lie - maybe he's just really, really good at it. ;-)