Coincidence or smarts?

The other day Shelby was doing her sometimes-annoying play with me act. The one where she stands by my chair and barks in this ear-splitting way.  I usually tell her to bring me a toy and I will play with her.  This day I told her to get her fox (a Skineez fox).  She went over to an area that had the fox, a ball, a small Skineez beaver and a tiger-striped octopus (Yes, my house is basically a giant toy box for Shelby). She looked over the items carefully, then picked up the fox and brought it to me.  I have associated the word fox with this toy several times.  Still, I’m reluctant to believe it was anything but a chance occurrence.  But for one brief moment I thought Shelby was super smart!

If dogs could talk...

This morning I called Shelby in for breakfast but she wouldn’t come. I didn’t see her anywhere either. I was beginning to worry that maybe she was stuck or had slipped out of the yard somehow.  I found her in the back corner of the yard just sitting. She wouldn’t move and she was visibly shivering. I picked her up and carried her inside.  She didn’t appear to be injured in any way. She acted very skittish for about half an hour and it took some coaxing the get her to eat breakfast. By the time we went out for a walk, she was back to normal.  I just wish she could tell me what happened to spook her so badly.