Chewy

The new puppy "apparently" has trained me well, or so my wife says. "Chewy" as we have very appropriately named him, has ascertained that if he takes a dump in the house and brings a warm lump of that stuff - forgive me but I am going to call it what it is - a turd - if he brings a turd to my chair I am going to give him a doggie treat to get him to drop his prized jewel. You can tell he's ready for an exchange - his mouth is slightly agape, just barely concealing his offering, and he has this self-satisfied look in his eyes and one of those - you know what kind - grins. I admit that he does seem highly intelligent - you can see it his face.

Yes, it's disgusting, but my wife has pointed out that Chewy has trained me to give him a treat in exchange for his gift of the turd. He usually drags the exchange process out, mouthful by mouthful, and earns 2-3 treats before his latest stockpile runs out. So, it stands to reason that Chewy "could be" a little more intelligent than his "master" (That's Jan's supposition - not mine). I just figure I'd rather not have to get out of the chair to clean up his mess and this way I can just "reach out" and claim Chewy's newest gift for me. Chewy is a strange mix of shih-tzu and cairn terrier - strange, indeed. Must have an extremely large brain to outwit me. However, He does have to wait a few minutes before I'd allow him to lick my face - you know, the nasty mouth - so I'm not so stupid.

snowbank—

stepping into the dog's

earlier deposit

--

swirling leaves . . .
the old dog and I
forget our ages