Over the weekend, I observed this dog sitting by his two masters (a couple), and they were eating ice cream. The dog did everything possible to be observant, patient, and consumed about the ice. He wanted them to know....it'd be wonderful if they just gave him a 'bit' (not a good thing to give a dog pure regular ice cream).
Dogs have this problem.....they need to convey a message and they often go to crazy levels to get you (the stupid human) to react or bend to their will.
For probably 20,000 years, it's been that way. Out in the cave-days.....or with the sheep on the hillside....or in some dense forest with wolves around....the dog has been on a mission to get the human to just grasp things.
I know....it's often felt the other way....we working to get the dog to grasp things, but in the dog's mind....they already know the score....the problems, and the crap existing in the world.
This thing about going with us....to the gas station, or grocery store, or to visit relatives? The dog figures we might not be safe, or lose our way on the return 'leg', or be confronted with a problem requiring dog-sense.
Where would we be without dogs? Silly question....even dogs know it's stupid.
At the end of this ice cream session I viewed....the dog got a bare minimum taste off the spoon and seemed pretty happy. He then led the couple out of 'danger' and onto some spot where there were fewer threats (at least in his mind).
Not the stuff that Jack London wrote about....but then it's not Alaska either.
