Dogs know more than you think

I have a dog, Fat-Chai, who taught me today that he has a much better understanding of the world than I ever knew. People will have you believe that dogs are not capable of anything more than the simple feelings such as happy, fearful, and excited. Supposedly they can't feel sad because that would require them to understand that something bad has happened.

Well Fat-Chai has been moping around the house all day today. In fact, he's been sitting in the small bathroom for most of the afternoon. There is no blankets or pillows in this room and the floor is cold and hard. Also, he never sits in this room, which makes me fairly certain he's unhappy.

This morning, I took Fat-Chai to the vet with his brother, but I don't think this is the cause of his current attitude. They were litter mates, growing up together for the past three years and both were very healthy. They knew today's appointment involved needles, so needless to say, they weren't excited to go. Fat-Chai was a little stressed out during his appointment but when it was all over, he morphed into a happy, smiling dog - his normal demeanor.

As soon as we opened the door to leave the vet, a disaster happened. Over the course of five minutes, Fat-Chai's brother broke from his leash, ran into traffic, was brought back to the same room at the vet's office where he just received his check-up - but this time, he never left the room. Fat-Chai was with me the entire time. He saw what happened. He did not have a simple reaction to this string of events.

I sat with him while we waited for my wife to arrive. He paced. He pooped indoors (he'd never do this normally, he's very well trained to go outside). He kept scratching his ears until they turned bright red. He kept rolling on the floors until the skin around his eyes was raw. I can say for certain that Fat-Chai was in shock. In fact, he still is - he's sitting in the bathroom again. The bathroom was his brother's favorite spot to sit.