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Many years ago I was camping with my three dogs in an area that they had been to since they were young. The campsite was next to a stream that had boulders on the shoreline. Their favorite place, after running, playing and generally going amok was across the stream on top of a flat-top boulder. This is where they went to sun and snooze. That morning Thor, my dog grooming mascot, had found a very large stick. It was about three feet long and about three inches in diameter. The best thing about this "stick" was that it was water logged. Thor would take it into the stream and drop it, then he would stick his head under the water to retrieve it. He did this most of the day along with chewing on it. Thor guarded his new toy from the other two dogs. They could look at his toy but they could not sniff, or touch his toy. Later in the day when the dogs started to wind down the two other dogs went to the flat-top boulder to bask in the sun and enjoy a snooze. Thor must have thought this was a good idea because he followed them, stick in mouth. When Thor got about ten feet from where the other dogs relaxed, he ran at the boulder, then hit the brakes. He seemed to realize that the stick was too large for such a maneuver. After a bit of contemplating he reluctantly dropped the stick on the ground and jumped on the boulder. Immediately one of the other dogs eyed the stick. Thor jumped down to protect it. He stood at the base of the boulder looking up, stick in mouth, as if this was such a dilemma. He seemed to be wondering how to get his treasure up on the boulder. I swear I saw a light bulb go off above Thor's head. It could have been a reflection off the stream but I could tell that Thor had an idea. As I watched, Thor dropped the stick on the ground then grabbed it again by the end. He then dragged the stick about ten feet away from the boulder. He turned and ran at the boulder. As Thor jumped through the air he let go of the stick and it fell to the ground. Un-deterred Thor got off the boulder and tried again. I really had no idea what he was trying to do until on about the fifth try, he flew through the air and again dropped the stick. This time it fell upright, leaning against the boulder. Thor looked at me across the stream while strutting around the rock as if to say "see". He then reached down to the stick, that was now leaning on the boulder and pulled it up on the rock. For the rest of the day he would not take it down from the rock nor would he let it out of his sight. When we left that day the stick came home with us. |
