43 Dog Steals Show at the movies. Song: “Secret Agent”. Photo: Hilton D.C.

Photos: of my dog, a long haired mini-dachshund – always doing something entertaining.

My dog surprised me, and a whole movie theatre full of people during a movie. I took him everywhere with me in a little black shoulder-strap bag. Fully grown, he only weighed 15 pounds. One day, when I wasn’t planning on taking him with me at all, completely on his own, without my hand signaling him to do so, he jumped right into that bag where I had happened to leave it on the floor. He became so intent on going with me everywhere, he would jump into any sized bag, box, crate, or absolutely anything that I ever pointed, or waved him toward! And, he watched movies so much with me that he, seemingly, kept up with the movie’s storyline while sitting comfortably snug inside the bag looking out through the crack in the zipper, as usual. And, he was very good about not moving around. Although he occasionally popped his head out, he knew to stay as still as a statue in public. About an hour into this one movie, he poked his nose through the partially opened zipper, then popped his whole head out right when the bad guy in the movie was sneaking up on his victim. I believe that he had been listening, and watching intently the whole time. He froze his stare on the screen, at the precise moment when he needed to see better what was happening on the screen. I tried to keep from laughing when I realized how he was staring up at that bad guy on the screen. Did he think that what he was seeing was real? Whatever the case, he was sitting there watching the movie like all of the other movie goers,

but only I could see his big eyes, and long face moving following the action of the bad guy’s every move. Astonishingly, he stayed fully focussed on following (tracking) that bad guy on the screen. He continued watching glaring at him, as if obviously recognizing that he was, indeed “bad”. He kept turning his head according to wherever that bad guy appeared in the scene, and staying locked in on him wherever he was from cut to cut. Then, the bad guy snuck closer to his victim,

and that was when my dog growled a very low growl, then worked his way up slowly to louder and louder growls! Soon, his growls got even louder, and finally, just as the bad guy pounced on his victim, my dog let out a very loud mean BARK. I quickly shushed him, and he quickly turned his bark into a half bark, then a half whimper like yelp, and everyone in the entire movie theatre simultaneously exploded in laughter. I believe that my dog knew that he had caused the crowd’s reaction, because he quickly, and obediently, disappeared (all on his own) right back into that black bag, I just looked around casually, as if I was wondering where that dog noise had come from. He was an extremely smart, and talented dog. I was told that he was the runt of the litter.