Three-Day Weekend ... A Trio of Dog Tales

Tale the first:

MacBeth apparently has allergies to some types of dog food.  So occasionally, when there is a new kind of hypoallergenic dog food comes on to the market, I will buy some so we can see if it makes a difference.  The latest food I bought was a salmon based dog chow with very small pieces.   He hated it and refused to eat more than a mouthful a day.  I finally got him another type of food and then mixed it in with the salmon food so it wouldn't be wasted. 

MacBeth ate several large mouthfuls of the next food then grabbed a mouthful of food, came into the living room, and somehow managed to spit out only the salmon food while eating the other.  I guess he was registering his dissatisfaction with the salmon being part of his dinner.

Too slow to be first, to fast to be third, the second tale:

When I am taking my shower in the morning, MacBeth often comes into the bathroom and lies down in front of the shower waiting for me to be done.  Sometimes he will up on the Jacuzzi so that he can look down into it.  He is never been curious enough to jump into the Jacuzzi but still likes take an occasional look in there.  I guess he is waiting for something to appear.

One morning, MacBeth came into the shower with his octopus in his mouth.  MacBeth's favorite toy is a green rubber octopus.  It doesn't have legs that stick out or anything that is just what it is called.   Rather than lying in front of the shower door, he chose to peer into the Jacuzzi.  I guess he forgot he had the octopus of his mouth because while he had his head over the edge of the tub he dropped it.  He immediately started whining and walking back and forth on the step that leads into the Jacuzzi.   Eventually he hopped up onto the edge of the Jacuzzi, looked down at his lost octopus then at me in the shower, and then he howled.  MacBeth has never howled before.

When I got out of the shower, I reached into the Jacuzzi, grabbed the octopus and handed it to him.  He took it and immediately ran out of the room and into the bedroom jumping up on my bed.  He then dropped the octopus and then came back into the bathroom, lying down in front of the shower.  I guess he wanted to make sure that it would never end up back in the Jacuzzi again.

Good things end with three:

Our house has an entryway foyer that opens up all the way to the second floor with a grand staircase going from the first floor to a landing about midway up making a turn and then going up to the second floor where there is another landing.  When it is rainy, and MacBeth wants to play, I will stand in the entryway and throw one of his toys up to the second-floor landing.  He will run up the landing, grab the toy and bring it back down.  This is more exercise fetching from across the room because he's getting to run up and down the stairs.

MacBeth's second favorite toy is a red chicken.  Like the octopus, it is made of rubber and he can squeeze it in his mouth to make it squeak.  I think that is part of the reason he likes them. After he fetches one of them, he will squeeze it with his mouth and make it squeak several times.  Sort of his own victory dance.

On this day, I had the chicken, as I could not find the octopus.  MacBeth ran up to the second floor and I threw the chicken to him and he caught it in his mouth but then dropped it.  The chicken bounced down the stairs to the landing --- MacBeth ran down after it.  As he took off from the top landing, the missing octopus must have been up there and he knocked it down the stairs in such a way that it bounced down after him.  As soon as he got to the landing and picked up the red chicken, the octopus landed on his back.  This of course caused him to jump and open his mouth, which in turn caused the chicken to go bouncing down the rest of the stairs to the first floor. 

 

He again took off after it and again hit the octopus so that it was bouncing down the stairs after him.  When he reached the first floor and pick up the red chicken -- he was again attacked by the octopus.  This caused them to jump almost straight up in the air dropping the red chicken.  At this point, I might add that the floor in the entryway is smooth tile.  Imagine a dog who is scared trying to run quickly on smooth tile.  It'll look like something out of a Road Runner cartoon.  When he finally got enough traction, he ran into the living room and after several minutes MacBeth came back into the entryway, while putting his foot on top of the octopus he picked up the red chicken, turned, and ran back in the living room squeezing it.  I guess he didn't want the octopus attacking him again.

Have a good Labor Day.

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