Do dogs listen to the radio?
by Joel Heffner

Dogs have been seen watching television. What programs they like is hard to tell. They sometimes bark when they hear other dogs barking on TV. They sometimes appear to be starring at their favorite shows. But what about the radio? Do they listen to the radio?

I accidentally stumbled across the answer one morning during this winter. It wasn't a scientific study, but it did produce results, at least for me.

It was one of those nasty mornings in February. We knew that snow was on the way, but preferred to be surprised with nothing white outside in the morning. When the alarm clock rang, I decided to let the radio stay on. The weather report said that the snow would be continuing through much of the day. They also said that about two to four inches was already on the ground.

Since I knew that my wife didn't want it to snow as much as me, I decided to say nothing to her. I had to go downstairs, take the dogs out, and do some shoveling. That's when it started.

Teddy didn't want to go downstairs. I coaxed her to the stairs and she tried to sneak back into the bedroom. It wasn't like her at all.

When we finally got downstairs she tried to sneak upstairs again. This definitely wasn't like her. I had to persuade her to go to the back door. Actually, I had to keep hold of her until we got outside. The snow was about four inches deep on the porch. Teddy very reluctantly went down the stairs to do her business.

She came up as soon as she was finished. I knew what had happened immediately! Teddy hates to go out in the rain and snow. My wife has to tell her that it isn't raining on days that follow rainy days. Otherwise she won't go outside. This time she knew about the snow without our telling her. She heard about it on the radio!

Sometimes, we can learn things we never expected from our best friends...if we listen to them.