May 16, 2020

White Dog takes personal charge of developing the White Dog Army's problem-solving and thinking skills. She is constantly challenging each to go the next step in the way he or she plans and executes the routines of life.

Opal has a ritual each night. While the rest of the WDA goes for nite-nite walks, she carries the toys from the green toy box and arrays them across the floor and in the big crate in case any want a last moment of play before sleep. It takes her as long as all of the walks take and most nights all are more interested in bedtime treats than toys. Steve collects them all back up and returns them to the bin.

Last night Opal had a Eureka! moment; I could see the thought enter her head and burst into bloom.

She was standing over the box with a small stuffy in her mouth. It was the second item she was moving from the basket. She stopped and looked over at Zsofia's big open crate that all shared during the day. She looked back at the box and dropped the stuffy back into it. "Only one tonight, Little One?" I asked her. She looked at me as if I was slow to comprehend.

Opal grabbed the top edge of the toy basket with her mouth and began to pull it out into the room. I could hear her thoughts. "If I do THIS, I can get ALL of the toys where I want them at one time. Faster. Easier. More Efficiently. I must show White Dog."

Just then there was a loud backfire out on the street and my girl was startled. She ran to the front door to make sure the walking team was all safe...toy mission aborted.