Frax Is NOT Spoiled (much!!!)

Hello!

I am typing under conditions that are not conducive to great literary prowess. My helper dog, Frax, is not being subtle...he wants me to shut the computer down. How do I know this? Oh, I don't know...perhaps it's his head lying across my left elbow with the drool pooling in the bend of my arm. Yup. Could be that.

I adjust his head. Now his head is under my elbow, and he is drooling on my waist. It works better, still not optimum. Oh, I forgot...he's dead weight because he is sleeping!

Earlier, he was smacking my right shoulder and 'talking' to me. Cocking his silken head to one side, looking at me soulfully....he murmured: “hmmmmmmmmmmmmm?” When I didn't jump right up he cocked his head a bit more and repeated his suggestion with more vigor. “HHHHMMMmmmm?”

“What?” WHAT?” I asked. He straightened his head, jutted it out and stared at me intently.

“HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM?” he said with some asperity.

Ah! “You want a 'crunchy bone'?” I asked him. Frax's eyes bulged and he hopped straight up in the air with unmitigated joy! Apparently I finally guessed what he wanted!

Into the kitchen, on top of the refrigerator (Frax is quite tall, has over 90 commands and can open doors, so that's why the bones reside on top of the fridge. The day I find him on top of the refrigerator...well, then we will have to have a paw to paw 'talk'!) Anyway, I retrieve this coveted item and place it in his mouth, as he sits with a genteel air.

Immediately he dashes into the living room to show my husband the prize. It's the same thing every night, but Bill does an admirable job being 'surprised and impressed' by the crunchy bone. Frax meanwhile is 'telling him all about it' by 'talking' around the chew stick in his mouth. It's a gravelly, “mmmmm” sound, rather different from his normal verbalization.

Muttering happily to himself he follows me into the bedroom, where he consumes exactly half of the bone. Time out is called, and I ask him if he would like to make a really poor decision. He grins around the bone. Gotcha! He follows me to the living room where a fresh fragrant box of MBDB's awaits. (Milk Bone Dog Biscuits).

“Hey Frax, can I trade that bone for a couple of these wonderfully crunchy MBDB's?” I ask with a lilt to my voice. He grins wider. “I'll take that as a 'yes'” I reply to him, as we re-enter the kitchen, and trade crunchy bone for MBDB.

He follows me back to the bedroom, where a big pan of water is waiting. I put it there a few hours ago, knowing that the bone ritual of each evening was about to commence. Frax slurps up 90% of the water, and gracefully leaps onto the end of the bed, a smug look on his face. Later, he stares at the water bowl wistfully. Then he stares at me. Back and forth several times.

“Oh, now, really Frax...you've gotta be kidding! Right?” I ask in an exasperated tone. He says “Mmmmmmm?” and looks at my bottled water, me, and the water bowl. “OK, FINE!” I bluster, and dump the perfectly good water down the drain, crack one of my bottled waters on the bedside table,and pour half into the water bowl. He leaps down and slurps it down, cocks his head to the side and grins.

He's not spoiled.

Really. He's not.

But I draw the line at Perrier!

Later...!

LV, JT & FX

#spoiled #dogspoiled #neoteny