Do dogs think?

The following is from Gayle, Chelsea's Mom. The dogs are Chesapeake Bay Retrievers. Chelsea is five years old. CoCo is a year. CoCo is a rescue dog and is staying with Gayle while her new family is out of town. In Gayle's words:

Below is a funny story of how CoCo outsmarted Chelsea.

Monday evening I gave Chelsea and CoCo two new antlers (to play with and chew on) and, of course, they both wanted the same one. I have started teaching CoCo that she cannot have everything she wants every time she wants it. She normally goes up to Chelsea and snatches whatever she has. Monday evening I was telling her "leave it" or to leave Chelsea alone. She wanted the antler Chelsea had, which had gone back and forth between them several times. CoCo would stand there staring at Chelsea. You could see that CoCo was getting tired of that and I swear you could see the wheels turning in her head.

Well Miss CoCo decided she did not want to wait until Chelsea left the antler on her own, so she came up with a plan. She ran to the doorway between the living room and kitchen and barked (now, mind you, there is nothing to bark at and she only barked one time). It is as if she knew if she went to the back door it would not give her time to run and get the antler, so she chose the doorway further away. Chelsea, of course, got up to see what the problem was. As soon as she got to the doorway CoCo went running back to get the antler. It was all I could do not to fall over laughing.

A little later Chelsea had the antler again (the second antler was laying right there, but nobody wanted it). CoCo wanted Chelsea's antler and decided she needed a new strategy because Chelsea was not going to fall for the same thing twice. So she got a toy and started running back and forth in front of Chelsea from the bedroom to the kitchen. Chelsea was leery and did not fall for this at first. CoCo just kept running back and forth acting like she was having so much fun (she really had to work it this time). Chelsea finally gave up and grabbed an end of the toy to play tug. As soon as she grabbed an end, CoCo dropped her end and went running and got the antler. I could not help it. I busted out laughing and told Chelsea that CoCo was definitely keeping her on her toes.

Chelsea is a pretty smart cookie herself and CoCo outsmarted her twice in one evening :). CoCo truly is amazing and is such the actress. They were very entertaining to watch (better than TV). So don't ever let anyone tell you that our dogs can't think!