Animal Dialogs: Not Just for Sea-Mammals Any More

Some people, if they had Doctor Doolittle for a son, would simply acknowledge it and move on, but somehow I keep re-experiencing the same astonishment at this talent.

We're trying to socialize Golden, Ian's crazy little shaggy white puppy, so he has been sleeping with Ian, but Ian gets very conscientious about whether Golden needs to be let out, or rejoined in Cratesville with Ruthie, his surrogate sister: he doesn't want Golden in bed unless he really wants to be there, and since Ian has the upper bunk, he feels the need to scrutinize Golden's true desire to make sure that he is hoisted back down when he wants to leave the bed. And Ian is quite convinced that he can elicit from Golden a very clear indication as to whether he wants to stay in bed or go downstairs. Accordingly, they had the following conversation the other morning, which I heard from the bottom bunk but didn't directly witness:

Ian: So Golden, do you want to go downstairs? This means "yes"; this means "no"... ...I guess you want to stay up here.

Apparently Golden shook his head on queue, not wanting to leave his master any sooner than was necessary.

What I can't stress about this is that the "dialog" was entirely in earnest: none of it was intended for my consumption, even though it certainly made a powerful impression on me.

(April 1, 2011)