Yes, There's Such a Thing as Too Smart

Evidently Sam wanted to begin this blog on the right paw. This morning after both of us had our breakfasts, I left Sam fast asleep in the kitchen to go get some work done in my room. I closed off all the doors, sealing him in the kitchen (which is the only area of the house he's allowed in, currently), and, after checking that he was still sleeping under the table, went back to my room.

I returned an hour later to find this: (click on pictures for larger view)
Now, this really isn't bad on the scale of Labrador destruction. Our old Labs did much, much worse. But this is the first time Sam has made a mess of the kitchen, so it bears mentioning.

Not only did he jump on the counter to pull down the stack of paper plates we keep there and scatter them around the kitchen, he also managed to get his treat jar down, knock or chew it open, and eat half the milkbones inside. Now, here's where the "too smart" bit comes in.

Sam has a tendency to take the tricks he learns and apply them in devilish ways. For instance, I make him touch his paw to a spot on the wall next to the door when he wants to go out, so he can tell us when he needs a potty break. He has since applied this technique to the doors we shut to keep him in the kitchen: jumping up, pressing down on the door handle, and popping the door open. A brilliant application--he wants to get through the door, so he touches his paw where we touch our hands and the door opens to reward him--but one that can be quite annoying.

In the same manner, Sam has lately been playing with a couple of Kong toys to keep him busy. The smaller one I fill with peanut butter, the larger one with kibble. So he tosses the toy around--pawing it, chewing it, throwing it into walls--and is rewarded with two or three kibbles tumbling out. It seems that Sam has now applied this lesson directly to the source: his treat jar.

I don't know if I should be proud of him for his problem solving skills or just chalk it up to a lucky (for him) accident during a bout of typical Lab misbehavior.

I do think I don't have to worry about him becoming any sort of Einstein dog, though. Despite the fact that he can open closed doors, the kiddie gate we put up between the kitchen and the living room still stymies him. This in itself is ridiculous, because Sam's grown tall enough to leap over it without a problem. In addition, we don't even bother locking it in place anymore, we simply lean it up against the door frame. All he'd have to do is touch it and it'd fall over and let him through. But no, for Sam the baby gate is an unconquerable nemesis, and he sits in front of it, not touching it, not jumping on it, and whines for us to let him through.