Doggie Dilema

Sometimes a dog just doesn't know what to do. I love watching dogs figure out how to solve problems; I just wish I always had a camera on hand.

Ursa, the 11 year old Caucasian Ovtcharka, loves to guard her food. She eats slowly so she'll have a plate full of food when everyone else has finished eating. She growls and snarls her superiority, protecting that food from all canine predators.

Until I put on my jacket to go outside. Now she has a problem. She's hungry, having barely eaten a kibble, she has a dish full of food, she wants to go outside, but there are dogs who will be left inside - with the full food dish. She looks at me - I'm obviously not going to wait for her to eat. She looks at the other dogs - they obviously can't wait for her to leave her food. She looks at her dish - and picks it up, not spilling a kibble, smiling hugely with her eyes, and joins me outside. She takes her dish down the stairs and to her favorite outside hole, sets it down gently - again not spilling anything - looks at me once more, lays down and eats. Problem solved.