Chasing squirrels is suspected...

[tblue37]

13. Let me share two funny dog stories.

First, here's a story about the time my Afghan Hound Jason got stuck up in a tree:

"Um--Could You Please Help Me get My Dog Out of That Tree?

http://pettales.homestead.com/dogtree.html

Second story: my daughter's rescue dog Phouka is mostly Border Collie, though she looks like a black Lab.

Whenever they left the apartment during the first few weeks they had her, they would come home to find that she had rearranged the furniture, shoving everything that she could move into a tight grouping in the middle of the floor. She worked hard, too, because she moved anything that could be moved at all, even if it was difficult to move it--including, for example, the couch.

When I told this to a friend of mine who knows a lot about different dog breeds, I didn't mention her breed, but my friend immediately asked, "Is the dog a herding breed?"

It turns out that this is not an uncommon behavior in such breeds, especially when they are bored or stressed, as this one would have been when left alone after spending most of her first 9 months in a pound before being adopted.

The instinct that makes for good herding dogs is the urge to "contain," to move individual items (or individual livestock animals) into a tight grouping--so Phouka was just obeying her instincts.

After this happened a few times, they began to keep her in a large crate whenever they left, until she learned that she was not being abandoned, but that they would always come back to her. She is very bright, so that didn't take too long for her to learn, fortunately.

But I love the idea of a dog that rearranges the furniture when you leave the house, don't you?

I just love smart animals, especially when they do such odd and unexpected things.