I’m not sure she’s that smart

Shawn was talking with one of the guards today about Laika. This particular guard seems a little less scared of her than most, and therefore actually willing to talk to us. (The guards that are really scared of her just scowl. It’s like being back in Kyiv.) So this guard was able to shed a little light on the subject for us.

His first statement was that most of the guards are scared of all dogs, not just Laika. But he said that Laika’s extra scary because she’s so smart. Shawn asked what he meant by that. The guard explained that the typical approach they take when they come to a house where they know a dog might be in the yard is to shake the gate door. If there’s a dog out, this will bring him/her to the gate and the guards know it’s not safe to enter.

But, he told Shawn, they all know that Laika is so smart that when she hears the gate rattle, she runs and hides so that she can catch them off guard after they’ve entered the yard. So they still shake the gate, but they don’t really know if she’s going to come tearing out of the bushes after them once they get in the yard.

First, this made me laugh out loud. Yes, Laika is smart. But smart enough to entrap the guards? I don’t think so. When she does see them, she’s much more worried about keeping them out rather than letting them in just so she can attack them.

Secondly, I wonder how this story got started. For some reason, I’m imagining some sort of guard retreat with everyone sitting around the campfire telling scary stories, and Laika was the main character in one. Or some sort of hazing ritual where the “new guy” is forced to come into our yard after being told that there’s a good chance that a dog is hiding in the shadows.

Oh well, at least it gave me a laugh for the day!