Telephone

Marley is starting to understand what the telephone is, but he's not quite there yet.

Towards the end of 2009, I went on a couple of business trips.  I called home at night, and Debbie put the calls on the speaker for a minute or two.  It might go something like this:
     "Marley, who's on the phone?  Could it be your daddy?"
     "Hi Marley, this is Lewis.  Are you a good boy, Marley?  Were you good for your momma today?"
     "Yes, Marley was a good boy today."
     "You're a good boy, Marley.  You're my good dog."
Marley would look at the phone, like something strange was happening and then he would dive under the bed, clearly freaked-out.

When the phone rings, Marley often barks and runs to it in the bedroom.  If we don't go to answer the phone, he barks more.

I was out of town on business last week, and called home each night.  The "conversations with" Marley were the same, but I was told that he sat up and looked at the phone when he heard my voice.

Debbie tried an experiment when I was at work this week.  She called my name, and Marley sat up.  She called my name again, and Marley went over to the phone and nudged it with his nose.

He's starting to figure it out.  He could probably dial with either his paws or his nose.  Holding the receiver in a position from which he could both hear and "speak" might be a problem.  If he put it on speaker, he'd be all set.