My Dog is Studying Physics
My dog, Skyla, is the smartest puppy in the world.
You might think that your dog is in fact the smartest in the world, but you are in denial.
Anyhoo, Skyla has been studying physics lately. While Chris and I are lounging on the couch, she’ll casually pick up her orange rubber ball in her mouth and stroll out onto the balcony.
Then she’ll slide her head between the metal bars, open her mouth, and watch her ball fall into the neighbor’s yard.
She’s fascinated by this invisible force that pulls her ball to the ground. Equally amazing is the invisible force that pulls me to the pet store to purchase yet another orange rubber ball for her.
It’s magic!
Not long after she is in possession of another ball, she’ll try to dart out onto the balcony with it. Chris and I try to stop her, but she’s so wily.
She’ll innocently be chomping on the ball in front of the fireplace, but the moment we turn our backs, she’s out the door.
Sometimes we don’t realize we’ve lost another ball until we’re playing with her toys and can’t find it. After a quick look under the bed or in the couch cushions, we’ll consider looking over the edge of the balcony.
Sure enough, there’ll be another orange ball in the neighbor’s yard or flower pots.
Currently, there are 3 balls down there.
**Note: As I was completing this post, Chris informed me that she had dropped another chew toy down there. That brings the total to 4.**
The neighbor’s yard is completely fenced in, otherwise we would have retrieved Skyla’s toys long ago.
The other night, Chris started crafting an elaborate tool out of a broom, a cardboard tube, the vacuum accessories, and duct tape. His plan was to lean over the balcony and use this thingamagig to scoop up the balls.
“Why don’t you just go knock on the neighbor’s door?” I asked.
“I’d rather be passive aggressive,” he said.
He stopped messing with his invention when I explained that we were likely to lose our vacuum accessories into their yard as well.
“So, would you rather buy a new ball or knock on their door?” I said.
“Buy another ball.”
And there you have it.
So, while Skyla continues to astound us with her intellect, it seems Chris and I haven’t learned a thing.
Do you do things the hard way or the easy way?
Got any funny pet stories?
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Love this post. I think my husband is related to Chris. We call him "McGyver." One day ask me about the String-and-Ball-Point-Pen-Accelerator-Cable. 🙂
“I’d rather be passive aggressive!” Haha this cracks me up and reminds me of when my cat Marley managed to get himself unto our neighbour’s balcony and couldn’t squeeze back over so instead of knocking on her door we came up with a lasso type contraption to bring him back over, The things we’ll do for pets eh!
Hahaha, this post really cracked me up! I suppose I tend to do things the hard way a lot. I’m rather stubborn about thinking I know the “easy” way but often create more work for myself. I also hate making phonecalls. Mmm anti-social behavior has become normative.
Aw, lol! Such a cute post! Skyla is gorgeous and it’s so funny that she does this. Emma loves their balls, but Rowan is absolutely obsessed with them.
I tend to do things the easy way, but not always. Like Chris, I’d rather buy another ball than go knock on the neighbor’s door. I’m anti-social like that, I guess. ….
Always the hard way! My question would be did Chris watch the movie “the sandlot” before working on his contraption?
First of all, OMG look at that face! She is so sweet! I think animals are incredibly intelligent, probably more so than humans. I’m sure they don’t make themselves miserable like we do. Unless they do and there are secret puppy self help meetings we don’t know about.
To answer your question, I always learn things the hard way. I never make things easy for myself. Another thing I’m working on 🙂
Another great post!
What a charming story!
I’m like Chris and would attempt the same ridiculous rescue mission to avoid having to speak to the neighbor. Only I’d propose tying a rope around your waist and lowering you down to retrieve the balls…
Dogs aren’t dumb. In addition to physics, Skyla is learning human psychology. Specifically, she’s discovered that she can get the two big humans living with her to replace balls — in effect, reward her for ball-dropping behavior. With this knowledge, expect more of the same…