[Dailydrool] CNN and basset intelligence

[Elizabeth Lindsey]

Several weeks ago I realized young Charlie has been training me to  
pat him on command for awhile now. He spends most mornings on his bed  
on his half of "our" desk. Sometimes he looks out the window,  
sometimes he stretches out and sleeps. After about an hour or so of  
napping while I work, he'll sit up, stretch, and then gently pat my  
right hand with his left paw. He'll keep on patiently patting my hand  
with the same light touch, even when it's on the keyboard or mouse,  
until I put down what I'm doing and stroke him. If I stop too soon,  
he goes back to patting my hand again. Is that good communication  
skills on his part, or what? He's figured out a way to tell me what  
he wants me to do for him.

Almost equally amazing is the fact that he's actually sleeping for  
much of the morning. When he first came to us at the age of eleven  
months, he never, ever napped during the day. He was busy busy busy  
all day long getting into one kind of trouble after another.  
Everything was a toy and everything was a game. I'd thought that  
puppies had to take naps during that day, but Charlie just kept on  
going all day long. I wound up having to lock him up in my office  
with me so I could keep a better eye on him while I worked. At least  
that way I didn't have as far to run to take contraband out of his  
mouth. I despaired of him ever being able to take naps, yet now,  
three years later he's considerably less energetic. He's still very  
young in his heart and still enjoys finding trouble to get into, but  
he's no longer in constant motion. Makes life so much easier!

Elizabeth