September 26, 2015

White Dog asked me, "Do you think he will ever get it or is he just going to stubbornly resist forever?" "You are the Queen of Eskies," I respond, "you tell me."

From the bathroom comes the pitiful whimpering and jumping cries for help aimed out of the open window. Sachi is in what is fast becoming his after meal timeout routine.

The White Dog Army are social diners. All know that they have their own bowls and must respect each other's eating speeds and habits. When a White Dog is finished and walks away, THEN the empty bowl is fair game to snoofle for crumbs or lick out imagined tidbits (the bowls are usually left pretty spotless). When these manner rules are forgotten a "Leave IT!" reminder suffices.

Benson is on a different diet than the rest of the WD because of his kidney disease. They all get home cooked food, only his is different. This makes his meal and empty bowl a fascination for several of his siblings. YoYoMa is great about minding the rules of waiting as he sits five feet away like a vulture and stares.

Not so with our Little Man, Sachi. He slinks and presses ever closer looking for an escaped pasta noodle or green bean. "Leave IT!" has become ineffective in this case as he makes a mad dart and nabs a mouthful from under Benson's nose. Benson is so good natured that he does not react or complain...

...but I do. "SACHI"...and he knows. So begins the chase game of Steve attempting to grab him and put him in timeout. For him, timeout happens in the bathtub. He cannot escape our old-fashioned claw foot tub and he can temper mark without causing too much human distress. Sachi is the boy our vet called, "Tubby" and he still is struggling to keep weight under control so his thievery is an issue of more than just bad manners. Steve ALWAYS catches him and Sachi ALWAYS spends "jail time" until the last dog has finished eating and all of the bowls have been picked up.

And he never seems particularly contrite.

"Of course not," WD reminds me, "he IS an Eskie, after all!"