Come On, Boy...It's Too Darn Cold!

We have a smart dog. I know many people believe they too have a smart dog. It's natural to feel that way. I have some statistics to back up part of my claim. According to TheSmartCanine.Com, Poodles rank as the second smartest dog breed.

So, there's some science. To see for yourself, you can visit the webpage by clicking: HERE.

Last spring we put in a backyard fence. A big reason for doing this was the dog. Poodles are not only smart, but they need exercise. They could run and run all day long. Putting in the fence was one of those things we wanted to do ever since we got the dog years ago. And because we have a fence, I started to play fetch with him after my work day ended. I've blogged about it several times, mostly because I have a blast doing it (probably not as much as him, but, you know...). 

The dog and I played fetch almost every day. In the summer, it worked out perfectly. There was still sunshine after I logged off the computer. Except for the mosquitos, summer was great. As the seasons changed, the days became shorter and shorter. Our dog, not knowing how to tell time (as far as we can tell...) would use the sun's location to get antsy when he felt it was time to go outside and play fetch...either that, or he could tell the time to fetch was drawing close by our actions.

Either way, the dog knew when it was time for us to go outside. I trained him well.

Even though the summer has issues, it's nothing compared to winter, especially this last week when temperatures dropped to below 0 degrees. Throw in several inches of snow and you have some undesirable conditions for fetch playing.

The dog doesn't care.

Between 4pm and 5pm the dog leaves his warm and comfortable couch and hangs out outside my office door. As 5pm gets closer, he sometimes scratches at the door with his paws. Even though I know he's disappointed, we've not played during those cold days. It's really for his own good.  

Yesterday, I thought it was warm enough to return to the backyard. We didn't stay out long, but the dog loved chasing that ball and throwing up snow. Yes, I've trained him too darn well.

He Can Do This All Day Long...

One of the things we wanted when we moved was a fenced yard. The reason...a young standard poodle. If you're not familiar with poodles, they're not just fru-fru dogs in dog shows. They are extremely intelligent and they have energy in buckets. 

In other words, they'll run and run and run.

In the summer, something we loved doing was going out at dusk and playing fetch with the dog. We'd take out several of his toys and spend time throwing the balls around the yard. He'd chase them down and bring them back. We noticed if we brought out more than one ball, he'd drop the one in order to track down the other. With one ball, it many times turned into a "game of wills" for him to drop it so we could throw it.

Seasons change, as they do, and since this is the first autumn and winter with our fence, we didn't know how the dog would act once the weather turned told and the days became shorter.

Turns out, the colder and shorter days didn't stop the dog from going outside and playing fetch at all.

In fact, because it's getting darker earlier, the dog has been going to my office door and scratching because he wants to go outside. The problem is, I'm still working. We've got three more weeks of reduced daylight, then the days will get longer. I hope the dog doesn't keep scratching at my door earlier and earlier the next couple of weeks. But, he probably will.

Still, it's been so much fun having a fenced yard and I love tossing the ball to him and having him run and run and run. He could do it all day long.