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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:#4F81BD'>Riche is absolutely correct … bassets (and most dogs) are very adept at sign language/body language. That is how they communicate with each other most of the time. The cute little twitch of the tip of the tail can be a “come on, make my day” to another dog. The long stare … definitely trouble brewing. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:#4F81BD'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:#4F81BD'>But now a funny story. My old dog, Morie, was stone deaf for the year before he died. My grandson, who was about 3 or so, LOVED Morie and considered him HIS dog. Grandson, Caleb, also had speech/hearing/language problems so attended a pre-school for kids with similar problems. One day, Caleb was staying with me for the afternoon and was talking to Morie. I made a quick run to the bathroom … not more than 2 minutes … and I heard the clanking of dog dishes. I found Caleb pouring dog treats into a bowl that he had placed in Morie’s crate. I asked Caleb why he was doing that. He told me that “Morie wanted a nack (snack).” I told him that Morie had just eaten, so he didn’t need a snack. Caleb proceeded to tell me that Morie told him that he was hungry. I acted surprised and asked Caleb, “Are you sure?” He said “YES” and got down in Morie’s face and said “You are hungry, aren’t you Morie?”. I told Caleb that Morie was deaf. He told me, “No he’s not … see he’s bweeving (breathing).” I kept a straight face, and I told Caleb that Morie couldn’t hear. So Caleb, got down in Morie’s face again and YELLED “You are hungry, right Morie?”. I told Caleb that Morie couldn’t hear him no matter how loud he yelled. Then Caleb sat there for a minute and thought about it, then asked me “Namma, does Morie know how to sign?” Needless to say, Morie got his ‘nacks and I was reminded that kids are lots smarter than adults sometimes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:#4F81BD'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#4F81BD'>Sandi Wittenberg<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#4F81BD'>Red Bay Bassets<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>