I do believe the little dog is a lot smarter than we give him credit for.
This came to me the day he followed me into the laundry room and his little water bowl was there, empty. He started scratching at it. I looked at him. He looked up at me. I gave him some water.
Last night, I was at the kitchen sink. His bowls were by the laundry room door. I heard all this racket behind me and then that familiar noise of the bowl being scratched at. I turned around to find him behind me, with his water bowl, looking up at me intently now that he had gotten my attention. Yes, I did fill that dish with some water.
Here’s the odd thing – his food bowl is green, his water bowl is blue. Otherwise they’re the same. He does this with just the blue bowl. Now if I can harness this knowledge to make him more behaved and housebroken, we’ll be in business. Otherwise, I’m just going to have a pushy little dog on my hands, whose always following me around with a bowl.
I think pups are color blinded- actually I am pretty positive of it. My dog knows which one her water bowl is (she also tosses it when thirsty) but I think it has to do with the smells- the water bowl doesn’t have that food smell. and she is FOOD obsessed so she knows 🙂