Boring Dog Post
17 May 2006 at 5:13 pm

When I come home to Damien after leaving him alone all day, if he hasn't chewed anything up, he gets a Good Boy Treat. I call it that and everything -- "Are you ready for your Good Boy Treat?" -- and he knows what I'm talking about and starts licking his lips in anticipation. I've recently instituted this policy as we have a huge surplus of doggie treats thanks to the generous duo of Dad and Karen who gave them to Damien with the idea that if he ate the treats, he would not eat them. We've never given Damien treats on a regular basis, just ridiculously expensive toys, but we recently found a free doggie treat jar (like a cookie jar, but for doggie treats) and so have been hooking Damien up once or twice or several times a day (both of the roommates and Aaron and I give him treats without checking to see if anyone else has that day).

Damien weighed 75 pounds in San Francisco. Now he weighs 90. He's not fat by any means, or unhealthy, but he's noticeably bigger, especially when he leans -- and I mean leans, like, is only standing up because he's propped up against our legs -- against us in hopes of a butt scratch.

I remember when we would take him on car rides and he would curl up in my lap while I drove around Seattle. I also remember the last time he tried to do that and we were both remiss to discover that he no longer fit. The look he gave me as I told him he was relegated to the back seat haunts me to this day. "Why did you let me get bigger?" he seemed to ask with betrayal in his eyes. I miss having a puppy (though I do not miss the separation anxiety that resulted in the chewing up of an embarrassing amount of expensive items), but I also like how much easier it is to have a dog, especially when he gets rewarded for not destroying anything and knows he's done good.

(and yes, i do realize i anthropomorphize my dog far too much.)

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About me
Hi. Morgan, 27, of Santa Barbara, CA. I am a hypocritical admirer of rhetoric (when it is my own) and an observer of literary trends. A secret: I don't take anything very seriously, and that includes myself.