And She's The Smart One

The dogs have different tolerance levels for Micah. The only boy among the lot is afraid of everyone except me, and is especially afraid of Micah. The corgi matron and the more stupid of the two spaniels will watch Micah from afar, and are sure to keep a safe buffer between themselves and Micah if he's carrying a weapon. (Which, anything in that boy's hands is pretty much a weapon.) The two young corgis are too fast for Micah to get anywhere near, and therefore don't have much interaction with him. That leaves the Boston and the smarter spaniel. The spaniel will avoid Micah at all cost, pretty much disappearing from the world if she thinks he'll notice her. The Boston, however, loves Micah. Terriers are good that way. Despite all that Micah puts her through, she comes right back for more, smiling and happy. It's a two-way street, though, as she eats his food when he's not looking. It might be why she loves him so much.

That's a lot of dogs, right there.

So tonight Micah was on a rampage, trying to corner a dog into playing a part in his imaginative shenanigans. The corigs were locked safely in their kennels (and were extremely grateful) so he chased down the black and white crew. It's unfortunate for the stupid spaniel to be so stupid. She thinks that Micah wants to pet her every single time he comes near her without a weapon. Every single time. To put it in perspective, Micah has just randomly walked up and petted that dog exactly zero times. Yeh, she's that brand of stupid. So I had to tell him to put her down and stop trying to lock her in the trunk of Becky's car. Three times.

There's no cure for her brand of stupid. The plus side is that she's really a good dog.

And then I saw something happen that has never happened in the 4 years we've owned the spaniel sisters. Micah picked up the smart one. She must have let her guard down for a second, or been distracted by something shiny. (I use the term "smart" loosely with her.) Micah placed her in his wagon and hauled her off across the patio. Miraculously, she stayed in the wagon. She's actually smart enough to jump out. And didn't.

That dog loves to ride in the car. She will jump in a vehicle if the door is open and curl up on a seat like it's her new home on wheels. She will not leave by choice. Ever. You've got to physically remove her from the car if you want her out. Apparently, a wagon is close enough to a car for that dog. (See where I said I use "smart" loosely with her? Yeh.) Micah hauled that dog all over the yard, and then locked her in the trunk of Becky's car. That's when I intervened.

"Get that dog out of the trunk. You can't lock dogs in trunks. It's not nice."

So he opened the door, collapsed the back seat, and tried coaxing the spaniel out of the trunk. She was having none of it. She was curled in a ball, trying to sleep in a corner far away from Micah. I had to intervene again, and physically remove her from the car.

Nobody will ever convince me that those particular brand of spaniels are intelligent. I won't believe you.