White Dog sat stubbornly in her chair giving "The Look" alternately to her food bowl and to me. We were at a standoff. After days of feasting and indulging tonight's dinner was, well, simply dinner. There were no appetizers, no fancy special bites, no "extras"...it was time to get back to a normal routine.
At least I thought so. White Dog did not agree. The rest of the White Dog Army went with the flow enough to eat their dinners and THEN come looking for more. White Dog stubbornly dug in her paws and refused to even consider the fresh mackerel, rice, veggies, blueberries with salmon kibble that the WDA eats each evening.
As Steve and I began our "regular" dinner of rice, cod and salad, the "clean plate" White Dogs received a small bite of lamb lung and shared a round of venison treats. White Dog hopped down to ask for hers. "No treats until you eat your dinner," I told her and set her portion on the edge of my tray. "These will be waiting when you finish."
She went back to her chair and looked again into the bowl then squared her shoulders in defiance. Steve started to coax. "No, leave her. You are not going to beg her to eat dinner. And if she hasn't eaten," I said looking fully at her, "by the time we are finished, she is done for the night." I had to finish my conversation with Steve using my 'I mean it' voice because he can be a pushover and WD knows that.
Sometimes I struggle with the combination of pride and frustration I feel toward The Little White Dog of My Heart. She is so much like me that I am filled with a rush of satisfaction; yet she is so much like me that I could scream at her rigid determination.
In the end, White Dog did what I did many times as a child, and often do when pushed in my adult world. She refused to surrender. I know she was hungry and will be famished in the morning but she stared me down and never even sniffed her food. When her bowl was removed she sat stoically then jumped down and slammed out into the yard returning as if nothing had happened.
I allowed her her dignity and let the issue rest. But I SO wanted to sneak her a little reward...you know, kindred in the school of "Never Surrender!"
3 comments:
Wow, that some impressive resolve by White Dog. We hope she is not too hungry later, but suppose she will feel that it was worth it since she made her point.
huh....we like her resolve but aren't too sure that skipping dinner is a good way to make a point :)
Well it was a darn good try and now I'm hungry!
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