Bear - The Toy Sniffing Dog

Bear is a "special" kind of dog. And when I say that I mean if he were a person he would most likely have a significantly below average IQ. Significantly. That being said, he does have ONE amazing ability. He can sniff out a new plastic dog toy ANYWHERE.

Once I bought a few new dog toys and had them on the kitchen table in a plastic bag. He ran over and plopped his little butt down and stared at the table. Then at me. Then back at the table. I figured he must have seen them. So I gave him ONE squeaky ball (it came in a pack of 4). I threw it and while he was chasing it into the other room, I quickly put the other ones on top of the fridge so they couldn't be seen and returned to the table before he did. He came back to the table, stopped, and dropped the ball. He then looked up at the table and sniffed then started sniffing around the floor like he was a hound dog. He proceeded to go straight to the fridge, sniff upwards, then plop down again and stare at the top of the fridge. It was the weirdest thing.

Then last year for Christmas I got the dogs each a stocking with toys in it (yes that's what people without kids do - buy their dogs toys!) and put it in the closet. I left the room not thinking anything of it and when I returned, there was Bear plopped in front of the closet door staring at it like he had X-Ray vision. It was crazy. I thought no way does he smell the toys and opened the door to see what he wanted. He went straight for the bags and shoved his little wet nose in there and grabbed a toy.

This pretty much happens anytime I bring home a toy.

So this year I got them a couple dog toys out of the dollar section at Target (my favorite place) and decided to hide them and outsmart the little guy. I've had them hiding in the guest room closet wrapped up in a bag for a couple weeks, and he hasn't suspected a thing. Today I decided to wrap them figuring if they were wrapped up maybe he wouldn't smell them either.

I went into the room where the toys were hidden and even closed the door so he couldn't see what I was doing. I could hear him sniffing under the door but I just kept working away. Unfortunately when wrapping the third toy I accidentally pushed too hard on it and it squeaked.

You would have thought there was a hunk of steak in the room because Bear began whining and pawing at the door so frantically it was unreal. Once I finished wrapping them and opened the door he flew in and began sniffing the ground where the toys had been like he was a drug sniffing dog. I ran out to the living room to put the toys under the tree before he could see and I thought I had gotten away with it. He came out of the room after a few minutes, went to the trash can and sniffed (where I had disposed of the baggies the toys came in), and then went straight to the Christmas tree and began pawing the toys! This is what he does when he wants something....

First - he hunts and finds it

Then since it's a little too scary too get it himself (our only saving grace) he looks at you for help.

If you don't respond quickly enough he thinks he communicates what he wants just by sitting.

So I decided to let him have one early (because I'm a sucker and he's so pathetic when he sits there and stares at me). What a little stinker. Here's a video of him getting it and opening it.

He may not be a smart dog but he sure is a happy one....and he sure can sniff out plastic squeaky dog toys!!

Here's the last video of him playing with the toy (still has wrapping paper stuck to his face) while Gracie (our lazy dog) just watches the crazy hyper "special" dog. Yes I love my dogs this much.