Decibel pulls a Norman

A few days ago I am folding laundry in the laundry room.  Harold comes in during a commercial break to give me hand.  After a quick stop at the water bowl Decibel joins us.

As an aside:

Briards are not for fastidious people.  They have huge paws that bring in dirt and mud galore, even during a drought.  Their lavish coat absorbs all manner of things, from lawn clippings, sticks, compost to small rodents, only to deposit it inside after a shake.  Somehow my house has an even dust layer an hour after dusting horizontal surfaces.  Only in the rooms accessible to the dogs.  The guest rooms stay clean for weeks at a time.
I am always surprised to find that our couch is a very happy tomato red.  It is usually covered by tattered quilts because the dogs like to lounge there.
When a Briard drinks the whole lower part of the head gets soaked.  A small stream of water then flows from there, and clearly demarcates the course the dog took for a few minutes after the drink.  Normally that's once around the kitchen island, with a small puddle by the toy box, and then a few drips show whether the dog went outside through the doggie door or to a dog bed for a snooze.
 The thing about that is, it makes Briards ideal for me.  I don't like cleaning, and in our house that is a futile activity.  So I can have reasonable (low) standards for the disliked activity, and clean right up to guests' arrival, and have them notice that by their departure, the house looks rather "lived in" - by a horde of college students - all without great harm to my status.  Well, actually I don't really care what people think of my housekeeping.

So, back to the moment.

Decibel arrives, still at the rivulets of water streaming from her face stage, and walks up to her Dad.

 "EWW, Decibel, you're all wet, yuck, stay away from me," Harold says with his best drama queen airs.

Decibel studies the situation for a split second, then walks over to the towel at the dog shower, and pokes it with her now only dripping muzzle.

Just like Norman*, the well-trained Briard, does.  (See video here).  Only without the command.

We never taught her that.  She's never done this before.


But what Decibel was actually saying, and quite clearly, I might add, was, "If you don't like my wet beard, Daddy, then you should dry it off with this here towel!"

So how smart is that?

It's not easy being green!

*By the way, Norman can do a whole lot of cute and amazing things, even ride a scooter, clearly demonstrating that Briards really are that clever, but Decibel does trump him, for with her it is natural smarts, not training.  Honestly, her owners just aren't that talented.