Mystery is possibly solved ... or at least some interesting theories have been expressed by animal behaviorists.
I have mentioned some interesting things that Pirate has done for as long as I have known him. I think the first time I noticed his unusual use of toys was when he was a little guy, maybe four or five months old. I had a bad case of the flu and was pretty much spending my time on the couch for several days. I remember being so grateful that the dogs had their own door and could go in and out without my help. Pirate spent a lot of time checking on me, as did the others, Spirit and Quest. Pirate seemed so concerned, for a little guy though, and he kept bringing me toys and giving me kisses. I drifted in and out of sleep, snuggled under a blanket. I went between having chills and feeling feverish. I napped a lot.
After one long nap I woke, feeling extremely warm and I thought my temperature had really gone up. When I opened my eyes I realized I was covered with fuzzy toys. I am not sure, but I believe I recollect counting maybe thirty plus toys tucked around my neck and face. As I moved, some toys fell off the couch and I looked at all of them with amazement. My little Pirate was there in a moment and he even brought another toy for me. It took me a while to realize that it had been him, loading the couch with toys. As I moved the toys from around my neck I did not feel as warm as I had thought I was when I first woke up. As the reality of what Pirate had been doing struck me, I was teary. That little guy was taking care of me in the only way he had come up with.
Well, that was only the beginning. After that, in the months that followed I often observed interesting formations of toys, particularly in the living room. I have no idea how long it took me to decide that I did not believe they were random. Coincidences only extend so far .... then you start feeling you may be in the twilight zone. I began taking a few pictures, but mostly just observed and wondered.... I told a few people about it and no one had any ideas. All of the people I told, pretty much agreed that it did not seem possible that it was random.
This was one of Pirate's more impressive artistic works. It was especially unusual, in that it involved going under the coffee table too. (Wish I had dusted before taking the picture.)
Another interesting thing became evident, I realized that the older guys were inspecting and seeming to appreciate Pirate's work. In fact, sometimes I would enter the room and they would already be checking out the designs. They often walked along the toy trails sniffing at them. They seldom ever disturbed the patterns. At lease not for a while, until maybe a game began. It was a while before I absolutely determined that my little guy had a plan and a purpose to his designing. Then, even when I could not deny (to myself) that there was an absolute purpose to his actions..... my second thought was "who would ever believe me?"
I did not often see Pirate doing these toy designs. I think that was because he usually did them when he had time on his hands (paws?). When I did get to watch him, it was fascinating and somehow thrilling. There was obviously intellect at work. He placed them, and then he changed them. He sometimes went to the toy basket and searched deep into the toys. At times it appeared that he was looking for a certain toy, or maybe just a toy that would fit right. Don't know! I do know that there was not a chance that it was accidental, or haphazard. He seemed to enjoy what he was doing, although sometimes he got frustrated. He took great care to position the toys the way he wanted them. Sometimes a toy did not work out right for his design? and he took it back to the basket, discarded it and tried a different one. I could see that he was also concerned with getting them in the right position.
Looking back, I almost feel foolish that I did not make more of an effort to document his work. However, in my defense, I have spent my life observing amazing things my dogs have done. When I have related them, most people simply laugh and accuse me of attributing human abilities to dogs. I am tired of hearing that. I know it is not usually true, but since I was not always telling my observations to other "dog people", they simply could not grasp it.
Pirate has always been an extremely intelligent dog. But then so are my others and like any decent parent, I find wonderous abilities and accomplishments that they all possess. Pirate does seem to have a different type of intelligence though. Things keep him interested for longer periods of time and he enjoys some unusual hobbies. He is very quick.
Pirate figured out how the gumball machine worked, almost immediately. Even before he was strong enough to move the levor, he knew what he needed to do to get to the treats. He even knew he needed to put his foot in the tray to hold the machine in the upright position. Quest is supervising in this picture.
Due to the fact that Pirate usually worked on his art when no one was around, it was hard to get pictures. When I came into a room and saw him working on something, he always stopped to welcome me into the room and from then on he would not work on the design because he had someone to play with instead. Some of the designs were very spread out and I did not immediately discern that they were designs. You almost needed to see them created to know they were intentional. Then there were a few, like first picture above, where you could tell that it was intentional. I could conjecture endlessly about that design. But there is no one to say when I am right or wrong. Example: I have always made a big point of training my dogs to sit-stay, immediately when they see or hear a train. Their command is "watch it". I am always concerned for their safety and when we visited my brother in Seattle, we had to cross tracks to get to the beach. I train all my dogs to sit-stay until the train is well passed. We practice everywhere. Even in the car, if we are stopped for a train to pass I insist on a "watch it" and a sit-stay. Now, I am not sure this design represents a train, but just a point of interest.... next to the lavendar and white fish, there is a small yellow "watch it", and even more interesting, he has tucked in a couple of rings (like wheels). Well, you can see how easy it is to come to conclusions about things.
I answered the phone yesterday and it was my friend Judi, in California. She was very excited to tell me about a program she had just watched on National Geographic Wild. It was called "World's Weirdest" and the one she had watched was about similarities between humans and animals. She was familiar with the stories about Pirate and she told me they had a Doberman that was doing the same thing with using toys to make designs. I had to watch TV for hours before I found it. (They often rerun the shows every few hours) Well, sure enough the Doberman was building designs. He made triangles, and all kinds of different designs. Sometimes the faces of the animals were up and sometimes down. He also changed his mind and repositioned toys occasionally. He was working outside, on a deck. His owner had purchased a camera that worked by motion sensitivity, so she had captured a lot of different designs and her presense did not distract the dog. She said that she had adopted the dog when he was about four years old and he began doing these designs shortly afterward, usually when the owner was not in the area. I believe the dog's name was Donny - not sure. Anyway, the owner said that one of the toys was a monkey or bear, with its arms open wide. When the dog placed this stuffed animal in the design, it usually also placed a smaller animal in it's open arms. She believed that it represented the day she had adopted Donny, because she opened her arms immediately and embraced Donny in just that manner.
The animal behaviorists did not comment on that particular observation, however, they most certainly were convinced that the placement of the articles was not random and their conclusion was that the dog was expressing its artistic abilities. I am not sure I would have come to that particular conclusion, but then I do not have a better one either. I know Pirate has something in mind. I also know he does it when he does not have other things going on at the time. He does not seem to do it as much now that we have Journey. The two of them are inseperable and they spend more time playing. He does still occasionally do some designing and the most amazing thing is that he is teaching Journey.
Journey has especially taken to passing out toys. He always takes one to bed with him, and he has began placing a toy in each dogs bed. He does this sometime in the evening and I always find a toy in my bed waiting for me. Pirate has given out toys for a long time. He carefully chooses which toy should go to which family member. Sometimes he changes his mind and takes a toy back. Then he replaces it with something else.
Journey watches everything Pirate does and I see him learning from Pi. When they were introduced to the interactive board games, Pirate was the first to master them. He just seemed to have more interest in them than anyone else and he really worked at it.
Why don't we have any of these games at home, mom?"
"Maybe I will just shake it a little to be certain I got all the treats out."
We have about five of these games at home now and all of the dogs love them. Spirit loved them and he spent a lot of hours playing them. They were wonderful to keep his mind active, without requiring much physical energy. Pirate is the game board king though. He works them so fast it keeps me busy reloading them.
Before you simply pick up toys and put them away, be sure to look for any art work that may be there and take pictures. I would love to know if this feat is more common than anyone has ever guessed. When I only knew about Pirate, I did not figure there was much chance of getting anyone interested in it. Now that I have seen Donny on TV, I am so excited about watching for more, and documenting it. Dogs are amazing and I never stop learning from them, and being amazed by them.
