“You got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative…” I have a canine friend that comes to stay with us that loves to forage for something edible. He will sniff and poke around the kitchen and will alert me to an errant piece of dog food under the oven or chunk of granola under the fridge. He is quite dedicated, he will work away trying to extricate that morsel from it’s place of neglect. The thing about my little friend, he isn’t allowed to have any people food and is on a very strict diet due to allergies. When he is visiting one has to be very vigilant when eating as he may be small, but he is also very resourceful and doesn’t give up easily. My spouse keeps insisting that the dog must get table scraps or the occasional little incentive of human food , otherwise he wouldn’t be so intent or interested. I keep reiterating not to share what he is eating regardless of how utterly convincing he seems to be that sharing is caring. The other night, when we were watching a movie my hubby was trying to eat a snack and my little friend was sitting in front of him, his whole body was wagging along with his tail, he was watching closely, hoping a crumb would fall. My spouse stated emphatically, “He has to be allowed to have a smidge now and then otherwise he wouldn’t care.’ I retorted “You just don’t get it, he is an eternal optimist, he stays hopeful that one day someone is going to share”. A truly admirable trait, that’s what I love about dogs, they carry on with the expectation that if they sit at our feet and wag their tale enough, one day, someone is going to have a heart, and hopefully maybe the end result will be bacon flavoured.
No Time To Paws 