Surf'n Sassy

Do Dogs Have a Sense of Humour?

Recently while watching my two dogs play and cavort about the house I noticed a distinct thread to their play.  When Sassy was trying to engage Zoe in play she would pick up one of the toys laying around and wave it in front of Zoe's face, hoping she would take the hint and grab it, thereby starting a game of tug.  Another favorite of Sassy's is to change toys in mid play, forcing Zoe to come and take the new toy away or engage in a different game of tug. Sassy will often use this tactic to gain the "preferred" spot on the couch.  Wooing Zoe off with a proposal of play and as soon as she complies Sassy will jump up into the "preferred" spot. 

Now Zoe on the other hand has a slightly different take. When Zoe was a puppy I often played the mouse under the blanket game with her.  She really enjoys this game and has taken it one step further.  I have an old afghan draped over the couch the dogs lay on.  Sassy will be laying on the couch, doing her best couch potato imitation.  Zoe will duck under the edge of the afghan and poke Sassy with her nose, becoming the mouse under the blanket.  They both enjoy this game though to date Zoe is the only one that plays the mouse role. 

So do dogs have a sense of humour?  Do they Laugh?  I think so and so do some other people on the net.

Here's a few sites that Sassy visited. A good story about a Cairn terrier with a wonderful sense of humour.  She particularly enjoyed the section about cavorting with the ladies personals. Then there's this one about a German Shepherd that the owner thinks is always laughing at her. Sassy then found this rather dry and not very funny, but very informative article.  It was written by a Dr. so she thought it was at least worth a read.  And finally there was this article about humour in other animals.