Canine GPS System

I have always marveled at how dogs know where we are going and perceive when we are close to the destination.

Blackberry did not ride with us in the car all the time like our labs have, but there were places that she did go with us. She would know by the direction we took, where we were heading. Just before reaching our destination, she would be on full alert. The time when her directional sense was most remarkable was the day I picked her up from being groomed. Instead of heading South for home, we turned East to pick up Karin from her orchestra rehearsal. Blackberry had never traveled to orchestra from that direction before and was very upset that I did not seem to know the way home! Once she realized we were picking up Karin, she settled down.

Andy did not have the opportunity to travel in the car regularly, but he did know the difference between going to the vet and heading for the pet store. He loved traveling in the car. In fact, when he got loose (as he did many times since we did not have a fence for 3 of his 5 years), one of the best ways to catch him, if he was within sight of the road, was to pull the Jeep out of the garage or drive down the road near him, open up the back and ask him if he wanted to go for a ride. He was always ready for a drive – anywhere! Except one time. We were moving. In his mind, his world was totally changing, and he didn’t like it. Actually, he and I shared the same sentiment. Neither of us wanted to move! Everything was emptied out of our house. The three boys (Daddy, Greg, and Andy) were beginning our 16 hour drive in the Jeep Wagoneer. The three girls (Mommy, Karin, and Blackberry) were driving the Peugeot wagon. Our St. Louis house had a section of yard behind the house with a picket fence where the dogs were waiting for us to prepare for our final departure from our beloved home. Beside the fence was the rear-entry driveway and entrance to the garage. We could open a vehicle door, then the fence gate and be guaranteed that Andy would jump in. Not this time. He bolted! He ran into the woods behind our house and was gone. Neighbors joined the search. We combed the woods for two hours when Grant finally decided that he, Greg, and Blackberry needed to leave in order to be at our new home in time for the moving van to arrive. Karin and I were going to stay at our house, which was yet not sold, for as long as it took, until we found Andy. They had just left, when Andy was found by friends deep in woods on the other side of our house.

Once we moved to California where Hershey magically became the perfect dog, he was privileged to accompany us on nearly every excursion. We even bought a Jeep Cherokee to be his Hershey Mobile. His most remarkable GPS sense was exhibited when we drove 8 hours to Greg’s house, or 3 hours to Mark’s house, or 3 hours to Janet’s house. Once we were within 5 miles of those destinations, he would become excited and pace in the back of the SUV.

We had an experience where Hershey was much smarter about directions than I. If only I had heeded his lead! Hershey and I went to visit our daughter and her husband as soon as they moved into their new home in NC. Behind their backyard is a stand of woods. Hershey and I love woods, so we went for an early morning walk. We discovered that the woods were not very deep directly behind their house and opened into a huge meadow with a pond at the far end. We walked all the way to the pond and around the edge of the meadow. We had had a pleasant walk for both of us – seeing bunnies and butterflies, flowers, and song birds. We were ready to go home, but I couldn’t remember where the path was back to the house. I could see housetops in the distance beyond the woods and walked in that direction. We came upon a “No Trespassing” sign hanging on a chain between two posts. Hershey ran way ahead, and I called him to come back. I was sure we had not come on posted land nor had I seen that sign before. I started searching for the path along the edge of the unposted woods. It had vanished! I told Hershey, “You must know the way home. Take Mommy home!” The sun was shining brightly, and I knew their house was to the East. I took off into the woods, headed into the sun thinking that I would eventually come out behind one of their neighbor’s homes or out to the street leading into their subdivision. We walked quite a way until the woods were becoming deeper and thicker with more bugs torturing us. The ground was becoming very uneven making it more difficult to maneuver and remain unscathed while wearing slip-on sneakers, shorts and sleeveless top. Stupidly, I had not brought my cellphone. Fear was beginning to grip me, so I decided that I should backtrack to the meadow, return to the “No Trespassing” sign, and head for those houses I could see from there, even though it was posted land. We had not gone far on the forbidden land when the path appeared. Once back, my major worry was to make sure that Hershey and I had no ticks and that we totally scrubbed to get any poison ivy off us as there had been plenty of it in the woods. My son-in-law showed me a map of the area. I was in very deep woods and could have walked for miles before finding civilization as this section of the city had not been developed yet. If only Hershey could have talked. He did know the way home!

Guinness has learned that, when we go to the Toronto Airport, Daddy is there waiting. He knew from the time we left home this morning that we were going to pick up Daddy. The whole trip he was so excited that he demanded placing his fore paws on the front center console to have a better view. I would expect this direction-savvy dog to detect that we were close to the airport once we turned off the 401, but he started jumping all around a few hundred yards before the airport roadway veered to the left. What a smart boy! If he could talk, he could have told me where to turn! After Daddy joined us in the car, he curled up on the backseat and slept all the way home.