Friday, March 2, 2007

Tricks for Treats at Grammy’s

The pugs are very fortunate to have 2 sets of grandparents.  G’Ma & G’Pa live in Maryland while Grammy lives here in Florida just a few doors away.  There are occasions when each pug gets to take a special trip to Grammy’s house right up the street.  Tonight was Henry’s turn.  While the 3 pugs are sometimes all at Grammy’s house at once, it is much more manageable when they go up in singles.  (The fact that Grammy has 4 cats and don’t really have the love of pugs the rest of have also makes it easier when they visit one at a time.)

So, this evening a little errand had to be run to Grammy’s house and Henry really wanted to go.  Henry is definitely the smartest and completely understands the question:  Do you want to go to Grammy’s?  When he was asked this time the answer was no different.  He raced to the door, got hooked to his leash and dragged “his human” straight up the road.  Usually we visit Grammy in daylight hours and use her back door but since it was already dark the front door was the safer entrance.  Henry, known for being a little lazy and enjoying his short cuts, though, still tried to use the rear entrance to Grammy’s.  When he was told to use the other door, Henry immediately changed his path and headed for the correct entry.

Once there, Henry darted to the kitchen where Grammy was waiting.  She had her box of cereal (special Grammy dog treats) nearby just for the king of all pugs.  As soon as he saw the box, Henry sat and went into the down position going back and forth between his 2 “tricks” to see just how many treats he could get.  All the while Grammy was enjoying having the most well behaved of the 3 pugs at her house.  (When any of the 3 pugs are by themselves they each can be the perfect single dog with Henry topping the list.)

Henry was only mostly a good boy at Grammy’s, though.  After getting plenty of Kashi cereal bites, Henry decided to take a nibble into the cats’ food bowls.  Fortunately, Henry also knows the command “leave it” and after being fussed at, Henry laid off the cat chow.  Just when it was time to go home, Grammy pulled out all the stops.  She offered Henry some ham lunch meat.  Whoa!  So, again, Henry goes into sit and down positions while he anxiously awaited more yummy treats.  At the mere smell of the ham, Henry’s eyes almost popped out of his head.  He ate it not even chewing it.  It made Grammy wonder how Henry even knew that he liked it.  Could he even get a taste?

Needless to say, Henry made out like a bandit!  He had a very good day.  Now, if he could figure out how to make a pit stop at Grammy’s every day, he’d be living high on the hog!