Gordian knot.

My wife is always looking for ways to keep the dogs thinking, keep their mental skills from getting sluggish. I thoroughly endorse this plan. A stupid dog is a dog that can't remember his training. And a bored dog is one that chews the wallboard. 

Fortunately there are a lot of companies that make toys designed to challenge doggies' smarts and make them work for their treats. Here's one we saw mentioned on TV that we thought might make our little guy think. 

The Spot Seek-A-Treat by Ethical Pet! And in French, for extra brain exercise!

As you can see on the picture, the puzzles would be tricky for a dog or a baby. You hide the treats under the flaps (operated with the wheels on the side) and under the sliding caps, and the dog works out a way to get them. Hours of fun!

Or, minutes. 

Our younger dog, Nipper -- almost called him the little dog, but at 100 pounds a dog ain't little -- got the toy and did what you see here. He Alexander the Greaterized it.

Wanton destruction may seem not like an expression of intelligence, but remember Alexander the Great and the Gordian Knot. Every schoolchild knows the legend that Phrygian Gordium had a knot on an oxcart and a prophesy that whoever could unravel the knot would become ruler of all Asia. One might have expected that the king would thus be a man with patience, cleverness, and practical knowledge, for who else could untie an impossible knot? Alexander, some say, having heard the prophesy, just pulled out the ol' sword and hacked the thing up. There! Solved! And the prophesy fulfilled, in that Alexander conquered as much of Asia as he could get to.

One might call him some dummy who solves everything with a sword, and that's one way to look at it. I've never really bought the old saying that when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. It would tell us that when all you have is a sword, everything looks like a neck. That seems to work for guys like Harvey Weinstein; all he has is a screwdriver.

But Alexander fulfilled the prophesy by being bold and seeing the fastest, simplest solution to the problem. The prophesy did not demand that the knot be unraveled by untying it, so I give Alex credit on this one. But I wouldn't want him doing my Christmas lights.

As for Nipper, he's a dog, and you can't explain to him that he has to open the flaps and things to get the treats any more than you can explain to him that he has to take out the wrenched ankle to win the Operation, the Wacky Doctors Game. He's going to sense something he wants that we gave to him and figure out the fastest way to get it. That he won't be able to play with that same toy again is of no consequence. Mission accomplished.