Dog Wisdom by the Story Teller

January 23 2017,  Dog Wisdom

Are dogs smarter than people? Since my dad was not a dog lover, we never had a dog at our house.  In high school however, I ran with a friend that had a dog he called Mike. Due to Chicago weather Mike was an inside dog. My friend had a fenced backyard so when Mike needed to do his doggy business he went to the backdoor, barked a few times and like magic the door was opened for him. Coming back in was basically the same in reverse. Mike was friendly, short, and loved to be scratched behind the ears - which I did often.

Mike and my friend’s family had a good working relationship, with one exception. About once a week Mike would bolt out the open front door into the neighborhood. It was a quiet neighborhood without much traffic, and he would begin to explore. Without fail, my friend’s parents would immediately go into panic mode and begin the chase.

For the next half hour Mike would run from place to place followed by two adults constantly calling his name. Every time they would get close, Mike would move on. I am not sure what they would have done with Mike had they caught him, because the chase usually happened without a leash in hand.

Week after week Mike would make his break and for roughly 30 minutes my friend and I would sit on his porch and watch the event unfold. Several minutes into the chase, both my friend’s parents would begin to run low on “chase steam”. When that started to happen Mike would slow his pace and ultimately walk back to the house and wait for the door to be opened.

Here are some of my thoughts. Was Mike the dog smart enough to come back to the house because he knew the “chase team” needed to rest? Since I know this went on for over a year, did my friend’s parents ever realize that Mike’s weekly great escapes were just a game Mike played, and not an emergency? On a personal level - How many times have I responded in emergency mode to the games other people played?

Moral – Things looks different when other people are doing it.