A Quick Gidget Story.

I’m exhausted. I haven’t slept well since before the hurricane, thanks to one thing and the other. This morning the thing was Gidget. She woke up at around 4:30, scratching and moving around, trying to get my attention. I got her to settle down for a bit, gave up around 5:15. We got up. She was thirsty and had to pee, and after taking her out and coming in again I didn’t see the point of going back to bed. So I’ve been dragging ass all day.

I did summon the energy to do laundry, deep clean the cat box, change the sheets, etc. Then I decided I really did have to vacuum, so I got out the vaccum cleaner.

Gidget, meanwhile, has been snoozing on the couch all day, totally catching up on her beauty sleep.

She hoards treats at times. She’s been known to pack 5 tiny dog biscuits in her mouth like a chipmunk and follow me from living room to office. Today she had four tiny biscuits on the couch with her while she napped.

I got out the vacuum and did the floor and the couch. The treats were gone and I assumed she’d finally gotten around to eating them.

After my chores were finished I reached for the basket that holds the TV remotes.

I’ve had smart dogs in my life. Murphy was practically human, and my beloved Golden Retriever Bailey was TV Hero Dog smart. Sophie wasn’t dumb, but she was more average in her doggy-ness. Gidget’s smarts keep showing themselves in things like this. She didn’t just take the treats off the couch, she put them in the basket where the scary vacuum couldn’t get them.

I also discovered, quite by accident, that she will poop when asked to (if she has to poop). She likes to wander and Sniff All the Things on her evening walks, and I’m fine with that, mostly, until I’m ready to go home and she’s still reading the neighborhood news. So I started asking her: “Don’t you need to go poop?” I was just kidding, trying to hurry her along, but she walked into the grass and…pooped! I assumed it was a funny coincidence, until she repeated this several times. She knows her walk is coming to an end and she needs to take care of business.

If she doesn’t walk into the grass and assume the position I’ll say, “Okay, if you don’t have to poop we’re going home,” and she heads for home. Again, this has happened consistently and isn’t my imagination.

So I guess I’m not surprised that she collected her treats and hid them from the vacuum. She’s so quiet and unassuming, it took a while to realize I have another very smart dog.