Invariably, any temporary doubts we may have with respect to how bright Jackie and Jillie are, are inevitably self-corrected soon afterward. The incidents that give us cause to doubt the level of their intelligence are often linked to their behaviour, quite breed-specific and difficult to control, such as vocally, loudly, shrilly, challenging the primacy of large, muscular dogs.

Just as well for our two little fellows that those large dogs tend to ignore them. All the more so since they've long since become accustomed to what is a ritual, that when Jackie and Jillie espie other dogs or come in any way aware of their imminent sighted presence, they react by hysterical barking. They exemplify, in this manner, their Toy category breeding. We keep thinking that admonishing them will help, and it never does. Thus causing us to doubt their intelligence.

Yesterday was a bright, cold and very windy day, necessitating warmer than usual preparations in layers of clothing for our ravine hike. We saw far fewer people out rambling about the trails than the day before when it was a windy, overcast but relatively balmy 3C. Yesterday's high of -9C, augmented by a brisk wind meant quite a difference in cold penetration.

Still, the atmosphere was fresh and pleasant with clean, clear air coursing through our lungs. And the footing was graciously easy, the slight bit of snow that had come down in the morning only adding to the firm foundation of the trails after the previous day's heavier snowfall. The little rubber boots that the puppies wear keep their tender pads from feeling the cold, though by the time we arrived back home and began removing them, a good amount of frozen snow and ice clung to the boot tops and on their leg-hair.

Though we didn't come across many others out on the trails yesterday, we did surprisingly come across that duo of muscle-in-motion, Great Dane and Bull Mastiff. We often don't see them for weeks on end, and here suddenly we've seen them two days in a row. Through most of our walk though they were forging their way through a circuit in the opposite direction, yet every time Jackie and Jillie would bark in their typical way, it would attract the attention of the burlier of the two beasts who would hurry uphill or downhill toward us to check things out, before turning back to resume their own trajectory.

That's the stupid part of our two little dogs' inherent personalities; their initial adversarial attitude toward the presence of other dogs, since they could potentially be placing their safety in peril should a larger animal take offence and 'remedial' reaction. The manner in which their intuitive intelligence is manifested is most often seen by us in their ability to interpret and perceive faint signals we're never aware of.

As, for example, those relatively rare occasions when we leave the house without them, to do the food shopping. And it doesn't matter if it's not our 'regular, routine' day for shopping; even if we shop on occasion on an alternate day, they will somehow analyze some subtle clues and know what's ahead. You'd think that because there are two and they're company for one another they wouldn't mind if we leave the house briefly without them, but they do. It's a clear case of abandonment on every occasion with loud lamentations.

Others also pick up signals that they want to interpret because they mind find hints they pick up baffling. As, for example, cashiers whom we've known for a long time at the supermarket where we do most of our shopping. It's a grocery chain that advertises itself as 'basic' and therefore less expensive than most other chains. It's where you do your own packing. And we take along four large plastic bins to do our packing after the cashier has rung the food items through.

We do, however, also take a disposable plastic shopping bag with us. Into that shopping bag goes non-perishable food we select for the Food Bank. Mostly things like soups, cheese-noodle boxes, tins of tuna, tins of flaked chicken, ham or turkey, that type of thing, about $15 in value weekly. The cashiers empty that bag, meant to be kept separate from food we're taking home, put each item through the cash then obligingly pack them back into the bag. Which we will then, on exiting the store, place in the large collection bin which the Food Bank routinely picks up for distribution to their clients.

On this occasion, the cashier with whom we most frequently  exchange pleasantries and personal conversations, asked whether there are just two of us in our household. I knew why she asked that question. It's because of the enormous quantity of foods we buy weekly, filling up those four plastic bins. Much of it fruits and vegetables in a wide variety, along with a lot of dairy products, though we also eat fish and poultry. We're not large people and never have been. But we do pack away a lot of food between us, a fact I acknowledged, with a laugh.