Yeah, Labs are quite brilliant too. My parents had a black lab when growing up, and he was the kindest gentlest thing ever, but the UPS delivery guy refused to get out of the truck because of the dogs size and he could make the hair on the back of his neck stand straight up when someone unknown approached (making him look menacing).
My wife’s Dad has a boxer too, and I completely agree. They are some of the most unintelligent breeds I’ve ever worked with. They’ve spent a lot of time training him on various tasks that a different breed would have picked up much quicker.
Several years ago, when my brother and his wife were visiting, we went for a picnic on the other side of the island. Running Bear was tending the camp stove, when a border collie came up and presented him with a stick, clearly intending he should throw it, which he duly did. After numerous repetitions of this exercise, Running Bear complained to the dog that he was trying to cook and was really too busy to keep throwing. My brother then picked up the stick and threw it, whereupon the dog gave him a withering look and walked off in a huff. We can only assume it could tell my brother owns a cat.
Dumb dogs can be fun, though. We are currently minding two huge retrievers, and one of them is about as dopey as any creature could be and still survive. But he’s a sweetie and a lot of fun to have around.
Friends of ours had a house with a staircase up from the living room. His sister came to visit with her (I think) Irish setter, which spent its time happily bounding up and down the stairs. Eventually, in exasperation, she told it to lie down, which it did - exactly where it was, halfway down the stairs. Whereupon, of course, it slid rapidly down, and arrived at the bottom looking somewhat miffed.
Oh, absolutely. These two are some of the most devoted, loving dogs I’ve ever had, and always want to be around us. But dumb things like the dogs can be sitting on my wife’s lap, and we’ll say “Mommy’s home!” and they’ll go running to the front window to look for her. Or whenever a door bell rings on the TV (even if it sounds nothing like ours), they’ll run to the front window to see who’s come to visit.
So funny story. I actually had a dog that intentionally would go down the stairs that way. One day when a friend came over and saw it, just staring in awe, I simply leaned over and said “and that’s why we didn’t bother to neuter him, no dog in their right mind will reproduce with that one!”
Just these two at the moment, plus whatever they invite into the house with them. The photos are a few months old now, they were 10 months old yesterday. They’re named after the two brothers in Ratatouille
I just got a pugalier (Pug x King Charles Cavalier) and he’s tiny. I bought him into the SP offices not long ago. I think he’s the new mascot - just sayin’.
