Dogs Can't Multitask

Baby Dog and I have been taking our evening walks up on the bunny slopes this week. Although I knew it before, the walks this week have just confirmed to me that a dog doesn’t multitask well. If Baby Dog has a stick in her mouth, she can’t hear a word I’m saying. All her brain cells are used up just to hold that stick in her mouth and prance around looking cute while it’s there. Once the stick is out of her mouth, she remembers her name and a small assortment of duties, like “sit,” “down,” etc.

Other things also interfere with her ability to listen, even when there isn’t a stick in her mouth. A groundhog lives along the edge of the slope, and whenever we get semi-close to its hole, Baby Dog’s attention is completely and totally focused on that spot. She is determined to chase that groundhog, though the thing never gets more than 10 feet from its hole and disappears down it the instant we appear on the horizon. Still, the mere possibility that she might see it and chase it is an adrenaline high to her.