Outsmarting...

Many years ago, when my human first saw a PON at the Crufts Dog Show in England, she decided to learn more about us.  She read about us, and two things that she remembers reading were that we were smart – and that we REMEMBER things very well.  Which can be great…or can be a very deadly combination.

Frodo is the smartest PON I know.  OK.  He’s the only PON I know.  And he IS my brother.  But trust me, Frodo NEVER forgets anything.  And not only does he remember things– but he THEN takes his knowledge of what he remembers and uses it.  Which has my human afraid.  Very afraid.  She likes our Christmas dog tree – but she fears for its future…

You see, Frodo does NOT like to be sequestered in an area – or restricted from a certain area – like the DFZ.  And he will do ANYTHING in his power to get out of an area – or into one.  One time my human used SIX bungee cords to secure the gate on the dog run in the garage and when she returned home from an errand, all the bungee cords were chewed off, the door was still closed, and Paxton and I were in the run – but Frodo was waiting outside.  I call him PONdini.  We don’t use the dog run very much anymore.  At least not with Frodo.

As we know, he has been getting into the DFZ for a month or so.  And he quite likes it in there.  He just pushes the gate aside and walks in – and I now follow him.  For MONTHS he never touched that gate – but now it is no challenge. And if he wants in, he WILL get in.  He remembers he was in – and he will figure out HOW to get in again.

Since the dead dog Christmas ornament incident, my human has made the DFZ totally off limits - because that's where the dog tree is located.  She has barricaded the entrance to the DFZ with not just one gate – but two.  The gates lean against the entrance.  But yesterday morning, as she was leaving for work, she saw Frodo silently staring into the DFZ.  She got into the car, and then came BACK into the house to add another gate and some extra furniture as a blockade. 

When she came home from work, she was relieved to see the fortress intact. 

But she KNOWS Frodo – and she KNOWS that it is a matter of time before he breaks in.  So she has tried a new plan. The entrance to the DFZ has two wooden pillars.  So.  She took bungee cords and secured the gate to the pillars.  After she did that,  she removed the other furniture that had formed the blockade.  Now as we know, one gate is NO challenge for Frodo.  But our human wanted to see what would happen now with the bungee cords. So like a hunter, our human sat silently waiting and pretended not to be watching him.  The whole scene was actually rather comical.  The two were trying to outsmart each other.  And it was interesting…Frodo casually walked over to the single gate (which he usually moves away) – but simply looked at it.  He didn’t even TRY to move it.  He’s not stupid – he saw the bungee cords.  My human watched him.  Of course as SOON as he had walked over to the gate, I FLEW to his side, thinking he would get us in.  But he just looked at the gate, looked at the cords and walked away. 

So despite the fact that he didn’t TRY to get in, my human isn’t so sure about her great idea.  SHE remembers the last bungee cord fiasco.  I think it’s funny – she’s afraid that he’s smarter than her!  But haven’t I been saying that all along?

We’ll see how this new plan works – I’m pushing Frodo to get us in.  His response?  “Patience little brother.  Patience…”

©  2014  Linda Wozniak