Canine Intelligence

The man begins to walk up the stairs, suspecting nothing. The dog is thinking hard, he thinks to himself, “How can I get that pizza without getting caught?” In the next panel, the dog has wandered into the kitchen again, where he finds the refrigerator. He thinks again, “Grr, can’t open the fridge door with my snout.”

The dog accepts defeat and walks to his bed with his head down, he sighs. In the next panel, the dog is in his bed, frustrated, and resorting to something he doesn’t want to do. He thinks, “Guess I’ll just chew on my doggie toy.”. All of a sudden, the dog’s eyes open wide, and he gains an idea. He bounds out of his bed with his toy in his mouth. In the next panel, the dog reaches the TV remote and clicks it. He thinks of his owner and thinks, “gotta get Johnathan to open the fridge”. The dog is looking at the TV, which turns on, blasting volume “Today on the Food Network, we’ll make garlic bread.”

The dog sits excitedly with his cat toy in his mouth while the TV blasts, “First, cut your bread.” Jonathan, the owner, rushes to the TV and whips his hands into the air, “Why is the TV on and loud?!” The next panel shows the TV continuing to blast “Then, add salt and garlic.” Jonathan taps the volume down, and the dog excitedly sits in anticipation while his owner mutters, “Whew, much better volume.” Jonathan thinks of the garlic bread mentioned on TV and goes to the fridge. He says, “the bread looks good, it’s making me thirsty.” The dog sits closely behind him by the fridge. In the next panel, Jonathan pours himself some water from a pitcher, and the dog watches.

Jonathan returns the water pitcher to the fridge with the dog following close behind. In the next panel, the dog drops the toy out of his mouth because his toy is in the refrigerator, which is open. He thinks, “heh, heh, I can use my toy to keep the door open.” Jonathan walks away. In the next panel, the fridge is open, but Johnathan doesn’t wander far before he says, “Maybe I will make some of that garlic bread.” The dog is devastated. The dog is now angry as he thinks, “if he’s near the kitchen, he’ll see me make my move.” In the next panel, the dog climbs the stairs and loses some of his anger as a new idea develops in his mind, “hmm”.

A large panel shows the dog nearing a cat sleeping peacefully by the window, next to a flower pot. Quickly, the dog knocks over the flower pot with both of his paws. The pot hits the ground with a loud CRASH!

The cat is still in the window, awakened, and confused. The dog dashes away with a swoosh, and Johnathan calls the names of the dog and cat, “Arf and Pringles,” in the next panel, Jonathan continues, “If you made a mess…” the scene shows the cat freaking out about the mess and the pot lies on the ground. The dog watches from a dark corner, hidden away.

Jonathan makes his way up the stairs, sensing the mess, exclaiming “...you’re in trouble!” In the next panel, Jonathan spots the broken flower pot and sees his cat sitting in the window next to it. “Bad Kitty!” he says with his mouth wide open. Jonathan begins to yell at the bewildered cat, “Argh, Pringles, why are you always?...” WHOOSH, the dog, Arf, runs past Johnathan.

Arf runs down the stairs towards the fridge. The next panel shows Arf at the fridge, opening it, and looking for the pizza. As he grabs the pizza with his mouth, he thinks, “Yes, all mine!” The next panel shows Arf frowning, looking at the pizza on the ground, with regret. He thinks to himself, “it’s not right,” and shakes his head with big, sad eyes. In the next panel, Arf sadly walks away with his cat toy in his mouth, closing the fridge.

Arf makes it to his bed again, sighing. Jonathan starts to walk down the stairs thinking, “Geez, these animals.” Jonathan stumbles upon the pizza on the floor and thinks, “What is this pizza doing on the floor?” the next panel shows the up-close, inquisitive face of Johnathan thinking, “I must not have closed the fridge well.” He picks up the pizza box from the floor in awe, thinking, “Amazing that Arf didn’t take any of the pizza.”

Jonathan is proud of Arf as he sets the pizza on the counter, he thinks “that deserves a reward.” Jonathan walks toward Arf with a slice of pizza in hand. Arf looks ecstatic. The next panel shows Arf opening his mouth wide as Johnathan gives him the slice. Jonathan exclaims, “Here's a slice.” In the next panel, Arf walks happily with his pizza and thinks to himself, “Mom would’ve been so proud.” Suddenly, Arf sits down and sadly thinks about how Pringles the cat is still trapped in punishment for smashing the flower pot.

Arf walks up the stairs with his sorry eyes, carrying the piece of pizza. In the next panel, he reaches the top with the slice of the pizza, facing Pringles the cat. He expresses this to Pringles, “I’m sorry for framing you, Pringles. This piece is for you.” Pringles turns toward the broken pot on the ground and points at it with a saddened face. Arf gladly drops the pizza on the ground and picks up the broken pot and puts it back on the windowsill where it was before.

Arf smiles at Pringles, and both of them stand with the pizza between them. Pringles gestures toward Arf and offers some of the pizza, “Very well, want some?”. In the next panel, Arf happily eats some pizza while Pringles thinks to himself, “Hmm, I should recruit him to be my new minion.” There is a label at the bottom of the panel that reads: the end…for now

Jonathan Todd is the author and illustrator of the semi-autobiographical graphic novel Timid (Scholastic/Graphix), which was inspired by his struggle to overcome shyness as a tween following his family’s move from Miami to a Boston suburb in the 1980s. In addition to writing and drawing comics and graphic novels, Jonathan teaches children how to create their own comics. His hobbies include writing snail-mail letters and listening to bebop jazz. For more information about Jonathan, including his author visits and glimpses into his life as a cartoonist and family man, visit his website or Instagram at @jonathanjtodd.

Canine Intelligence

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