Tonight I gave Kody a bully stick. It was a foot long, so I knew I would take it back at about six inches and give it back to him tomorrow. At about that point he starts to be done with it for the time being anyway and searches for a place to bury it.
The best place to do that is in the bed because there are sheets and comforters to bury it under. But he never really feels secure with any of the hiding places he chooses and soon comes back to dig out the bully stick and find a new location.
Just a few minutes ago, he barked and it was about time for us to go outside so I got up to let him out. But when I approached him, he ran into the bedroom. I figure this would be a good time to get the bully stick back anyway. Kody ran up the ramp onto the bed, got the bully stick, brought it down, ran to our usual "trade" area, set the bully stick down and looked at me. I said, "Do you want to trade?" I got a little piece of roll-a-round to give him in return and put the bully stick in the cupboard in the kitchen.
This was very odd. He loves bully sticks and would normally not be so obviously willing to give it to me. He will normally trade just fine, but this time he didn't make a single protective move, in fact, he seemed to be leading me. It seemed he wanted me to take it.
I wonder if he thought my hiding places were better than his, and since he knows he'll get it back anyway, just gave it to me. It was really odd, but charming. We'll never really know our dogs' motivations, but sometimes they sure have a way of intriguing us.
That’s one smart dog! I can hardly wait to see him………….