Good dog? Or not so smart?

[NorthernFocus]

At home we have a large walk-in pantry located just off the wash room near the back door. Since we tend to buy things in bulk from Costco the pantry tends to stay pretty well stocked. Including all of he dog treats. We also keep Grace's balls and toys in there. They are simply in one of those thin plastic grocery bags(outlawed in some places) and hang on a hook about four feet up the wall. We have one of those "chuckit" slings and it stays in the bag with the balls.

So this morning I was busy in he back of the house and my bride was in he shower. Grace began barking. Anyone who lives with dogs learns to interpret their various bark tones. Grace has a particularly broad vocabulary and at the moment she was using her "I'm really annoyed please get in here" bark. The typical use of said bark would be due to a ball rolling under a sofa or someplace where she needs help getting it. Since we were both busy this carried on for ten or fifteen minutes.

I finally finished what I was doing and came in to get her ball for her. But she wasn't in the living room. She barked again from the vicinity of he pantry/washroom. One of my basic training philosophies with dogs is that it's easier to avoid their developing bad habits than it is to break them. So we are fairly disciplined at avoiding putting our dogs in he way of temptation. Particularly when they are young. But this morning we had left the pantry door open. I found Grace sitting there staring at the bag that contains her balls/toys. She was barking for us to come get the chuckit and throw a ball for her. Nothing in the pantry was touched, including all of her treats, chew bones, and the flimsy sack full of toys. She was just sitting there, not so patiently waiting for someone to come play.

So, good dog? Or too stupid to take advantage of the opportunity?

The episode inspired me to move off of he wildlife files for a while and go through family shots from last year. Here a few of Grace. (imagine what I would subject you all to if we had kids playing sports)

1) Just from a walk in the park. D7100, 80-400 AF-S



And a few from out on our boat trips on Prince William Sound. All with D7100 and 70-200mm f4.

2)


3)


4)


5)

[pnodrog]

There are often two sides to a story - good owner or not so smart?...

Absolutely lovely looking dog.

[Mark von Kanel]

What a wonderful hound, im definitely on the good dog side. We have 2 Weimaranas an old girl called Lucy whom i trained as a pup as a gun dog, and Ellie a rescue, Lucy would have been acting like Grace, Ellie on the other hand would have eaten all the treats and anything else she could get hold of, Raided the toy bag and spread them around the house and then gone and sat on the sofa with that "Who moie?" look on her face...

[IzzieK]

Grace always have the regal look about her...The snow on her face in #1 made that shot...I am supposing that all dogs like to be in the snow because our two are so fond of them white stuffs. #2 has that guilty look about her; #3 is so funny. I love this one very much -- so full of action, including the drool of excitement. #4 another guilty look... I can make up a lot of story in that face!

[Otavio]

Great set, Dan. I especially like #1 and #4. They are absolutely keepers, IMHO. Very well done!

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[Downrigger]

Great shots, Dan. She's a lovely dog. She sounds well behaved and intelligent. It's so nice to see her in nature off leash. Best for kids and dogs when that option is available, to my thinking.

[Dave Humphries]

Good dog - I hope you did give her some ball time as a reward for waiting - even if not patiently
(I'm sure you did)

Great series Dan - and a nice story

Cheers, Dave

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks for all the comments, folks. She is a pretty good girl, though pushy. But that's just a gender trait

...It's so nice to see her in nature off leash....

The one thing we've never successfully done it to train our dogs to walk nicely on leash. But there's plenty of room in Alaska to let them loose. I'm pretty sure there's a cause and effect relationship there

[Mark von Kanel]

Thanks for all the comments, folks. She is a pretty good girl, though pushy. But that's just a gender trait

The one thing we've never successfully done it to train our dogs to walk nicely on leash. But there's plenty of room in Alaska to let them loose. I'm pretty sure there's a cause and effect relationship there

+1 My longer arms are testiment to this

[rpcrowe]

Neat story with beautiful images. Perhaps Grace knew that a chuckit is no fun unless Daddy does the chucking!

[cuilin]

gorgeous dog and very beautiful photos.

[Mike Buckley]

I always look forward to photos of Gracie and these prove why that's so. Nice narrative as well. Definitely a good dog; she communicated her desires and obeyed by refraining from getting into her toys.

[flashback]

All great shots of a gorgeous dog, what's not to love. Good metric: I would have nothing to do with somebody that dislikes dogs.
#5 melts my heart.

[Mike Buckley]

I would have nothing to do with somebody that dislikes dogs.

Really? You would have nothing to do with my wife because she feels uncomfortable around dogs? I sure am glad I didn't make that decision more than 30 years ago when we met.

[joebranko]

Good dog, and beautiful too! Nice series of shots!

[KHarmon]

Nothing but pure intelligence in those eyes. Very good dog. Nice photo's as well.

KHarmon

[NorthernFocus]

Glad you all enjoyed the post. Thanks for the comments.

Really? You would have nothing to do with my wife because she feels uncomfortable around dogs? I sure am glad I didn't make that decision more than 30 years ago when we met.

Unfortunately people are quick to judge and slow to change their minds. And relating to dogs is no different. I suspect that many of our attitudes towards them are based on experiences from early in life and/or our parents opinions. For many of us those early influences last the rest of our lives.

For practical reasons Paige and I waited over fifteen years to bring a dog into our home. We viewed it as bringing an adopted member into the family, not simply getting a pet. Now we can't imagine living without them. In the past I've turned down international employment opportunities because we wouldn't have been able to bring our dogs with us. They're family.

Dogs and cats. One of the great philosophical difficulties facing modern man

[flashback]

Really? You would have nothing to do with my wife because she feels uncomfortable around dogs? I sure am glad I didn't make that decision more than 30 years ago when we met.

Mike, why would you want to make this a̶n̶ ̶a̶r̶g̶u̶m̶e̶n̶t̶ a discussion about your wife? If you note (as I'm sure you did), I said
"I would have nothing to do with somebody that dislikes dogs." I didn't say anything about someone who is uncomfortable around them them (perhaps they were attacked/bitten/terrified as a child or as a younger adult).

This particular line of conversation appears to be an attempt to get me to make, or clarify my statement, in which you might feel I'm attacking your wife. I'll let my comment stand as is and hope that this discussion doesn't take a turn for the worse.

[Brownbear]

Beautiful images, as always... The 1st and 2nd are my favourites. I think the 2nd is so special for the moment captured, but I love the snowy background in the first, so no decision between the two.