Psychic Dog

I think Taylor, our cocker spaniel, is a mindreader.

There are some things that he seems to know but you could say that it is just his routine or that he knows our routines so he anticipates what is going to happen. But a few other things make me think he can read my mind.

He knows when it is Saturday because he gets a cooked egg added to his food on Saturday. So on Saturday morning he is always right by the stove watching every move and making dog noises to let us know he is anxious for us to get his breakfast. Oh, you might think that he sees us get out the skillet or hears the crack of the egg shell and that tells him he is about to get his special Saturday breakfast. Fine...that could be a sign but what about the other days of the week when we make eggs for us and not for him. He doesn't behave in this way. He KNOWS it isn't Saturday. He KNOWS that we are thinking about giving him an egg on this day.

He always seems to know when I'm going to brush him and he will hide so I decided to put him to a test. Find out if he really could read my mind. For several days when I got up from the computer in the morning, I would say, "Come, Taylor. Let's go downstairs." He would get up and stretch and follow me down. On Monday, I had decided that I would brush him but I didn't say a word about it. I got up from the computer and said, "Come, Taylor. Let's go downstairs." I started down the steps. He didn't come. I looked back and there he was, sitting by Ned's feet. He was shivering. His head was lower and he was kind of looking away. Like if I don't look at you, you can't see me. I had to pick him up and carry him down the stairs.

How did he know that he was going to get brushed if he wasn't a psychic mindreader?