Page 5 - Too Smart Dog

One day, while going from country estate to country estate, the Peddler stopped at the mansion of the richest man in the area. While the Peddler was showing his goods to the house staff, the Lord of the Manor was admiring the Peddler’s dog.
“What an intelligent looking dog,” remarked the lord.
“Why yes,” said the Peddler, “this is the smartest dog in the world.” The lord laughed and asked the Peddler to prove that this was in fact, the smartest dog in the world.
The Peddler then told the dog to tell the lord how many oak trees are in the front yard of the mansion. The dog looked around and then barked three times. “See,” said the Peddler, “there are three oak trees in your yard and the dog barked three times.
“That is just an old trick,” said the lord. “You have some type of signal you give the dog that tells it how many times to bark.”
“Well then,” said the Peddler, “Why don’t you go around to your garden and select something for the dog to retrieve.” The lord agreed, finding this little entertainment rather interesting. He went into the garden, which was out of view of the Peddler and the dog. He looked around and then began to smile.
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