Ready or not, here we come!

In the evening, after the dishes are washed, I get a little free time while Hyphen and Annabelle play. I usually spend it on the phone with my parents or sister and tonight was no exception. Usually while I am talking there is some form of laughing or screaming going on. Annabelle is usually asking to be hung upside down or she and her father take on the characters of Cinderella and Michael Jackson and dance around the living room. (Michael Jackson/ Cinderella story will have to wait for another day)

Tonight was especially raucous and I realized they were playing some form of hide and go seek. But tonight it seemed as though Hyphen's screams of laughter were more real than they normally are, so I tuned in for a minute and realized....

...that the idiot dog was playing with them.

Now, the dog is a bona fide moron. Her relationship with Annabelle is nebulous at best. Annabelle insists that she sleep in her room every night. But she also yells at Bella in outrage (NO!!! NO!!! NO!!! NO!!! NO!!! NO!!!!) when she does idiot dog stuff, such as eat her candy heart necklace, cord and all, when Annabelle left it--somewhat carelessly-- on the coffee table. (In Annabelle's defense, she had set it down for less than a second before it was gobbled up.)

Annabelle has tried to get the dog to play with her before, but, as I tried to explain to Annabelle, since the dog does not have opposable thumbs, Lego's is probably not the best thing to play with Bella. And you have to rule out traditional games like catch, because she is lazy and just prefers to sit by the back door while you chase after the ball and bring it back to her.

She does tend to horn in when she is not wanted, like the time when Annabelle made me an imaginary cupcake with sprinkles on it, and while I was carefully peeling off the wrapper, the dog tried to snatch it out my hand. Idiot.

Tonight was different. They were running and hiding, she was waiting for them to hide and then she went to find them. If they heard her coming, they would run in the opposite direction. She would then head them off at the pass. They would double back, and hide in the bathroom (tactical error--only one exit) and she would wait until she heard a giggle and corner them in it. There was lots of laughter and tail wagging and those bright dog smiles--the ones that come with the perky ears.

I watched it long enough, that there was no doubt in my mind--my dog can play hide and go seek.

As with most people who play with Annabelle, the dog got tired first and flopped down on the carpet and remained there despite Annabelle's begging "come find me, come find me!"

Now, does this mean my dog has gained some kind of freakish intelligence? Maybe. Annabelle is not the neatest eater--so, could be the dog was just following the pork chop scent that lingered on her chubby little hands.