Very Bright Little Cairn

[Catalyzt]

So, one thing I've been doing during the pandemic is watching mindless television, or a movie, during my lunch break-- I'm a psychotherapist, so it helps me clear my head.

I'm sitting on the couch eating my sandwich, watching Call of the Wild with Harrison Ford, and it does seem like Spike is watching very closely, but I think, "Come on, you're just anthropomorphizing, he's probably just noticing the bright light and is more interested in your sandwich."

Anyway, in the climactic scene, Hal, the evil prospector, lifts a club to hit Buck, and Buck grabs his wrist in his jaws-- and Spike grabs my wrist with his mouth-- very gently, with absolutely no pressure-- and looks me dead in the eye!  I'm absolutely astounded, and mutter something totally inane, like, "Yes, that's right Spike, Buck stopped the bad guy, but that's just make-believe, and we're both good guys," and Spike lets go.  He wasn't aggressive or anything, it was like he was asking me, "Is this what that dog on TV is doing?"

In the final scene, the frame is flooded with dogs-- Buck, his mate and puppies, wolves, etc.  Spike then gets up on his hind legs and walks around like a biped, staring at the TV screen, trying to hang out with the movie dogs.  When he can't smell them-- I guess-- he walks BEHIND the TV to look for them, walks back to the front of the screen, and then back again-- all on his hind legs, with perfect balance, as if he walks that way all the time-- like, "Where the hell are those guys?"

I couldn't believe it.  I couldn't get my phone in time to get a picture of him grabbing my wrist, but I did get a shot of him staring at the screen!

 

Edited April 18, 2021 by Catalyzt

[Sam I Am]

We uprights don’t begin to give other animals credit for their feelings and emotions. Spike is thinking. I have had horses, dogs and cats throughout my life and have never thought for a moment that they are really that different from us In so many ways. 

[Hillscreek]

Like us they think they wonder.

[pkcrossley]

i believe all dogs --maybe some breeds more than others?-- are empathetic. it may have taken dogs a bit of time to bring the flat screen media into their world, but there is plenty of evidence they have done that. and their empathy with it. using proximate humans to analogize moral scenarios from the screen --that's remarkable. 

[pkcrossley]

cairns may have something special here. i remember when my cairn puppy was 4 months old and newly adopted, he had a big stuffed toy, as big as he was, that we called Lambie. one day my cairn found a large container of old dog coats, blankets, leashes and toys. i was working and would only see what he was doing when i would walk through the room. glimpse 1 he was rooting through the container. glimpse 2 he had the items separated on the floor --hard, lumpy things in one pile, smooth flat things in the other. glimpse 3 he had dragged an old blanket into a sun spot on the rug for a nap. glimpse 4 Lambie was laying in the sun on its own blanket, parallel to my cairn and his blanket. that was when i knew my puppy had a heart of gold (something cairn owners must sometimes strive to keep in mind).

Edited April 19, 2021 by pkcrossley

[Kathryn]

Our two have watched television, but never with such interest as Spike!  Most often they simply bark at violent scenes (think "gunshots') and Oban seems to really dislike men with beards...

On the other hand, Oban does really like to watch women's basketball -- he definitely gets that from us, as we are huge WNBA fans with season tickets (haven't been to a game since 2019, however). And of course the women players do not have beards.

I wonder what Spike would think of Chewbacca?