I may have related this before, can't remember. My son had a childhood pet dog that was a freebie, whom he named Bud. Turned out he wasn't purebred Lab, but half Irish wolfhound and half black Lab, so the former owner soon wanted rid of him. He and Jonathan were inseparable until he left for school, then he was my dog until the bus came home. Bud was my shadow. He got to know my mannerisms and speech very well. I smoked a lot of cigars back then and when I would toss a butt on the ground he would slap at it, putting the fire out with his paw. Then, when he was sure the fire was out he would pick it up and mouth it for a few seconds, spit it out, and lastly he would roll on it with his back and all four feet in the air. He came up with all this by himself, with no help from me ................and it was perfectly choreographed every time.
One day a seed salesman stopped by my shop to see me. We were standing by my pickup talking, as I finished up a cigar. The salesman had commented that Bud watched me like a hawk, every move I made and everything I said. I thought I'd have a little fun, so I commented that Bud could understand English, he just couldn't speak it. Salesman laughed and rolled his eyes. I said "If you don't believe me watch this." I looked down and said "Bud". He inched closer to me and watched my face intently. I continued "I'm finished with my cigar. I'm going to toss it on the ground and I want you to put it out with your paw. Then, pick it up in your mouth to be sure it's out. Then, to make doubly sure, roll on it until you're certain".
I flipped it on the ground and he went through his routine perfectly, to the man's utter amazement. He was speechless for a moment, then said "We're going to make some money on that dog. There's a TV show that we can send a video to, and we'll win $5000 with it. Nobody will believe he's that smart, and can understand English!"
I never told him any different. Bud just continued to amaze visitors, and me. I once saw him pointed under a pecan tree. Thinking it was a rattler I approached cautiously. I didn't see any snake, so I walked on in and a big covey of quail got up about 6 feet from Bud's nose. Pretty a point as any bird dog ever made.
SRH
