We're skyping

Ah; we have entered into the technology age, we had our first Skype yesterday.  And by we; I mean the dogs and I.  My sister got her Skype up and running; I've had mine for over a year but with no one to Skype it has sat dormant, that is until yesterday.  This is the greatest thing ever; with my immediate family in Southern California and the rest of our family back in Canada it can be lonely at times.  Plus; need I say our dogs have never had a chance to meet, at least not Luke anyway.  When we moved here from Canada we already had Jessie and Tilley; Luke is our SoCal boy.

So with a push of a button I was chatting with my sis back home; nice.  And there sat Miss Ruby; her Toller (Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever) who I have had the honor of shooting many times.  She even had her own four page spread in Dog World dedicated to her and her alone.  I will say they were some gorgeous shots of her in the water doing her Tolling thing.  So there she sat in her chair beside her Mom; my sister.  I talked to her and her ears picked up, she's a smartie.  No one there on Skype has met Luke so I propped my laptop up in front of my boy and made the introductions. 

Within seconds Ruby was going off; how dare this intruder invade her office, her home.  Luke's ears went up; he watched intently for a few seconds and realized that this dog was barking at him.  This whole behavior scenario was amazing to see unfold.  Luke has seen hundreds of dog videos; he only slightly raises his head if there happens to be a toy squeaking noise or some sort of big commotion.  But this was different; he somehow knew that this dog was barking at him.  Luke is a very aware dog; he watches t.v., I mean really watches.  Of course the show must involve some sort of animal or he's not interested; just like his Mom.  He will watch an entire documentary with us and he loves to watch dog shows. 

What was it about this dog in the computer that made him realize there was a difference.  He's seen dozens of dogs barking in videos; I show him all the time and he ignores both me and the computer.  But when Ruby started barking at him; I swear he clearly understood "hey; curly blonde boy, get out of my house."  Luke stood up on the bed; smeared nose prints all over my laptop screen while trying his hardest to sniff this grouchy girl out.  This went on for about a minute or two; Ruby barking at Luke and Luke watching her.  Then Luke simply lay down and watched her intently.   He quickly realized that nothing was to come of this and was happy to simply watch.

I took my laptop around to Jessie and Tilley; they've changed alot in 12 years.  When we left to come hear; both the girls were just over a year old.  Man how time flies and with it comes new and improved ways of communicating; this is a human communication and I love it.  I am wondering with time if Ruby will grow accustom to having Luke in her office; in her territory.  Only time will tell.