Awhile ago I wrote a bit about Piper and mentioned that she was a crafty dog. I’m sure half of you just laughed at me thinking my big ‘ole dog was crafty. But she is, and I’ll tell you about it.

All dogs are bred to do something, point, flush, pull, track, retrieve, and Great Dane’s are no different. Originally bred as boar hunters they later became “estate dogs” when boar hunting fell out of fashion.  Estate dog = big dog, sit around, look pretty, bark at stuff….. and that’s Piper.  And let me tell you, she takes that sitting around portion of her job seriously!  In fact in Piper’s world, sitting around is everything. Preferably this should be done on a nice soft surface, a couch is preferred, and  all sorts of irritations  can be dealt with so long as you can keep that spot…

Piper will put up with unwanted affection from kids…

…from adults……and from dogs..

…and she will share, when she would rather not.

The only real problem Piper has is when she has no comfy spot…

A few years ago Piper and I were visiting my Mom and Dad. Mom and Dad’s house has a big tiled living room with one big couch in it. In Pipers world the couch is the ONLY acceptable place to lay down, tile is not comfy and the carpeted areas are too far out of the action. This night however my parents three dogs had already taken up the entire couch. Piper whined and stared at them, but to no avail.  Then my Mom and I watched Piper leave the room,  go over to a basket of dog toys, pick one out, come back and drop it in front of the couch. Three dogs then jumped off the couch to investigate the toy, and Piper jumped up in her favorite spot.

Crafty.

She must have realized how effective the bait and switch tactic was because a few weeks later she tried it out on John. John and I were going to bed one night and Piper wanted up on the bed too. She was told to go away, and after many pathetic looks and whimpers she finally “gave up” and went down stairs.  Just after that Piper started barking. I (the wimpy, I’m not checking out strange noises in the dark)wife, sent my (big strapping I’ll be a man and investigate) husband down to check out the problem. Turns out there was no problem. As soon as John made it downstairs Piper stopped barking, ran upstairs and jumped on his side of the bed.

Crafty.

Piper has got some brains in that thick head of hers, she just needs the proper incentive to use them.

Oh, and sometimes she pheasant hunts.

But it makes her tired!