Is There a Reality Show Called “My Dog’s A Genius”?

Pure genius.

I always knew that Roxie was pretty smart. You all know how she arranged to get a new bed, how she was able to satisfy her sweet tooth, and even how she fit in a little post-walk Fitness Ball workout, but this is truly amazing.

Roxie has this Kong toy that she loves. They make Kongs for dogs who really need a chewing challenge. She has never (THANK GOODNESS) chewed our furniture or anything like that, but she rips other toys to shreds. We finally bought her a Kong like this:

kong
We break Medium-sized Milk Bones in half and shove them in the hole, and let her loose with it. On a good day, the act of getting those Milk Bones out will take her 20-30 minutes. She learned how to toss the Kong by incorporating some neck action in the flip, and discovered that if she threw it enough times, the Kong would bounce just the right way for the round hole to squish for a second into an oval, allowing one of the Milk Bone halves to come flying out.

When there are no treats in the Kong–this will not surprise any of you who know anything about beagles–she doesn’t touch the Kong.

Everytime I get ready to set her up to play with the Kong, I say “Where’s your Kong?” I figured that if I said it enough, she would eventually bring it to me so I wouldn’t have to look for it.

Today, I took her for a walk and, upon returning home, realized I hadn’t seen the Kong in ages. I walked around the house asking, “Where’s your Kong, Roxie? Where’s your Kong?” Couldn’t find it anywhere! So, wanting to get on the computer and check my mail, I just tossed her a couple of Milk Bones and sat down to log on.

After she munched on her treats, she got up and started walking around. Suddenly I heard the distinctive sound of rubber squeaking. I turned around in my chair and there she was, pawing at the Kong, trying to get it out from behind this:

P3140265

I was flabbergasted. Wow! She DOES know what I mean when I ask where her Kong is*!!!

Upstairs I went, to get more Milk Bones…


*And yes, I do realize that she is not only smart enough to know what I mean when I ask where her Kong is, but she’s also smart enough to wait to let me know where it is until I give her a first round of treats! She’s Hella-smart.

5 Comments

  • Mom24

    When we board Zippy, I take her Kong and the cheese whiz type stuff that you can squirt into Kongs. I would never give it to her at home–it totally grosses me out, and I’m afraid it would stain everything! They tell me she loves it though. I never thought of putting a milk bone in it. I’ll have to try that. Zippy thanks you, I’m sure.

  • Melisa

    I use the cheese whiz-type Kong filler on occasion too, and she doesn’t toss the Kong around when it has that in it so I don’t worry about staining. The disgusting thing about that is the absolutely GROSS sound that comes from her as she is trying to lick and slurp the Kong to death, to get that stuff out. 🙁

  • JaniceNW

    What a cute dog! I just spent time with my friend who has a golden retriever who still jumps on me though she’s 5 years old. She also licks me everywhere. Don’t like the jumping or the licking. Do I look like a dog lollipop I wonder?

  • KathyLikesPink

    Wow, she really IS hella-smart! (love the South Park reference…)

    Now if you could only teach her to fetch your morning coffee…