base2 

Well, I tend to treat my dogs as people. My dogs are too smart for their own good. One is a hound/beagle, but the really smart one is a husky/shepherd/cattle dog. He knows left, right, cross, stop, in, out, up, off, back, how to open doors, operate light switches, open drawers, sit, stay, speak, quiet, shake, and how to read the minute hand on the clock for dinner (which is always a thing week or 2 for daylight saving time...& he'll look at me, then the clock & back) Among other things he knows which "thing" to do outside when commanded. They do things like ask to go outside & sit at the car door. Or hop in the bath tub when grubby & wait for you to turn on the water or hop in the tricycle basket with their leash. Of course, who could forget the difference between breaksast, supper, dinner, & treat? They'll prompt bed time at 8:30pm & get you up for work at 4:30am if the alarm fails. They know the driver seat is mine & to only enter the car through the hatchback. They self arrange sharing of the front passenger seat on a per stop basis, (when I had 3 dogs they would rotate) & they know I am the first one out of the car and to not come near my lap while I drive.

They have a pretty impressive vocabulary & range of learned behaviours when you think about it. I go to friends houses & meet their dogs...Well, they're "nice."

No worries. Dogs are fun. I've had many. As long as they know with out any doubt you are in charge, consistant, loving...They feel secure & needed, there's no end to their capacity. I think a lot of "pet" owners sell them short, but that's none of my business really.

Dogs are relationships.