Skip to main content

Bloodhounds and Asiago Cheese



Look at that face! I mean, just look at that face. So sweet, so adorable, so innocent. And so Black Lab.


 But, he's a deceiver - that Wally Piggins. Because he is sweet and adorable but he is also not just Black Lab and he is definitely not innocent!!

 He is part Bloodhound. And it's the part of him that's not innocent. It's the part of him that can smell:

           ~ An open jar of peanut butter within 30 seconds and from as far away as 50 feet;
        
          ~ An unattended loaf of asiago cheese bread or bagel (ASB) whenever he feels he has been slighted or I have gone into the shower. 

 There was a time when Wally would smell the jar or ASB on the counter and just jump up to retrieve it, run to another room and devour the treat. We would scold him and send him to his kennel/home (kind of like a time-out chair for dogs). After a year or two of this, he would take the contraband right to his kennel where he would devour only a portion. This is where I would find him, laying in his kennel with the ASB between his paws and look of remorse on his face. (I can almost hear all you cat owners saying now, 'Yeah, right, look of remorse! How do dogs have a look of remorse?!' and all of you dog owners nodding your heads saying 'Oh yeah, I've seen that look. I know that look'.)

 I learned after a year or so, that when I go into the shower I would give Wally a toy or kong stuffed with peanut butter and treats to keep him busy for the 15-20 minutes I needed to get ready. And this has worked wonders in minimizing our ASB Retrieval Incidents. It's worked so well, that I often forget to remember to put any contraband out of Wally's reach. (I know, I can hear most of you saying 'Why don't you just put the ASB away?' or 'ASB? That's full of bad stuff, you shouldn't be eating that anyway.' or 'What's ASB?' to which I reply in this order - 'I'm a work in progress', 'I know but I'm a work in progress', and 'REALLY?'). But occasionally, like yesterday, I forget to remember to:
     
     1.   Put the ASB out of reach;
     2.   Give Wally his kong.

 But yesterdays incident resulted in the ASB laying unopened or untouched in the kennel and Wally laying in the living room with his unfilled kong on the floor in front of him. There was a look of remorse. But I also think, based on the empty kong's proximity, there was a look of chastisement. 

 Like me, Wally is a work in progress! 

 #workinprogress
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

It's not a popularity contest, but ...

Lefties and Other Exceptional People

I have had the opportunity to do a lot of driving lately - back-and-forth to Wabash College and to-and-from Holland, Grand Rapids and East Lansing. It's given me lots of time to think and ponder the greater mysteries of the world; like the purpose of life, why my thumbnails always break first, the speed at which a state police officer will actually pull you over for and the theory of relativity. Oh, not THE theory of Relativity - with a capital 'R", created by Mr. Genius Einstein. No, my own theory of relativity - with a lower case 'r'. Created by this less-than-genius mother of three and wife of one! My theory is that the absolute worst drivers are those that drive exclusively in the left lane (I call them lefties) and the ones that believe the rules of the road apply to everyone except them (I call them exceptional people). I call it my own theory of relativity because these drivers are relatively unaware of how to drive. You know the ones that are going the spe...
1 comment
Read more

Poster Child for chemo and freak of nature

I made the comment to my oncologist last week, during my chemo infusion, that I could be a poster child for chemo.  "You pretty much are," she said. I have thus far been sailing through chemo, albeit like a sailboat stuck out in the middle of Lake Michigan when the winds die and it's not moving for three to four days. Because my primary side effect has been extreme fatigue for 3-4 days post chemo. Last Saturday, 2 days post chemo, I took my shower and got dressed and announced to John that I now needed a nap - that kind of fatigue.  And being a woman who has dealt with the fatigue of MS, I thought this chemo kind would be familiar and similar to the exhaustion I feel on a hot summer day where retrieving the mail (our mailbox is at the end of our driveway) while riding my scooter to get it  feels like I've run a 5K. That kind of fatigue. This is the kind that makes it difficult to even get up, needing a nap after getting out of bed. Well that might be a little ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Work of art or a work in progress!

Last fall, I was asked if I wanted my portrait painted as part of an exhibit entitled "Moving Through the Unimaginable". The requester was a young woman I have long admired, but for the moment I began to doubt my admiration for her because she described the exhibit's subjects as having 'endured adversity or trauma or disease with grace'. I didn't initially see how I fit into that description, but after some discussion with my hubby and reflection, Whitney's (the requester) esteem in my eyes was restored and I agreed. I was looking at myself through my own eyes. Know what I mean?? I don't see myself as exuding any grace as I've 'endured' my experience with M.S. In actuality, I get quite ticked on days like today when the sun is shining and everyone seems to be out enjoying the sunshine and balmy 42 degrees (I live in Michigan and 42 in March is a heat wave!) walking their dog, or biking or just walking. I know my pure-bred mutt Wall...
Post a Comment
Read more