Smart Puppy

I was speaking with a fellow puppy owner about the wonderful parts of having a smart puppy. She has a shiba inu cross. Shibas are the national dog of Japan so I am particularly in love with them. They are very smart, very cute and active dogs.

Boston Terriers are also known for being smart and clever and Baxter is no exception. I was thinking about all the stuff he knows, all the commands and he really does understand much of what we say. Here are some of the cute, clever and funny things he does:

-when I say "Go to your room" he goes into his crate

-I can ask him to "go kiss Ellie" and he will hunt her down and kiss her. Same with any member of the family, even the cat! If I say "go kiss Cooper" he will look for him and kiss him on the face.

-He just learned how to "drop it", a feat I'd never thought he would learn.

-He can "shake" but usually he just swats my hand. But if I tell him "nice shake!", he will rest his paw on my hand gently. This one is so cute!

-If I say "Do you want some lovin'?" he will stand on his hind legs so I can pick him up and snuggle. Awwwwww!

-If I say "so you wanna play like that, huh!!!" he will run and grab his rope toy so we can play tug

-he can cat wrangle. If I tell him to "go get Cooper" when Cooper has escaped, he will chase him down and herd him back into the house.

-when he has done something naughty like chewing on something, we simply have to show it to him with no words at all and he gets the look of guilt. The ears go back and he slinks over and sits at my feet. Then I ask "did you do this?" and he looks even more guilty. After I scold him, I tell him to say sorry and he gets up on his hind legs to "hug" and kiss me. If I show him the same item hours later, his ears will go back again and the guilt shows. He is so funny!

The thing I love most about him is that he really does see the kids as his "pack". Not just our kids but the kids of the neighborhood. When they are in the backyard, he must be out there playing too. When we go to the dog park, he runs ahead with them. I really think he views himself as one of our children. And we love him like he is.