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