Petey & Treats

The way John got in Petey's good graces after they met was to give him treats when he came tearing in to the yard to bark at him. He got the Milk Bone type dog biscuits and Petey seemed to enjoy them, although now we can't be entirely sure.

When John would give Petey a treat, Petey would take it an run back down to his yard with it. Petey seemed to come to expect the treats when he came for a visit. When I came on the scene, John gave me treats to hand to him. Petey did the same thing. He would take the treat and tear across the yards to his yard with the treat.

One day after Petey came to live with us, John found bacon treats. Petey loved them. Now that is all he'll eat. He even has a favorite brand - Wavy Bacon. John and I understand that, and we give Petey bacon treats now.

The problem comes in when Petey goes to the bank with John. The drive thru teller gives out those horrid, hard, tasteless, milk bone type dog biscuits. Petey knows that the treat is for him and takes it. but has a hilarious look of disgust on his face. He won't even put it all the way in his mouth. He'll just take the tip between his teeth and try not to let his lips or tongue touch it. He looks sort of like a grumpy old man holding a stogie between his teeth.

One time I accompanied the boys on their trip to the bank. Petey sat on the console between the seats while we were stopped at the bank. The teller, very kindly, sent out a treat, which John gave to Petey. Petey took the treat in his usual manner and looked at me with the typical disgust. When we started to go, Petey got in my lap since the console was a little slick and he didn't want to fall off. He needs to see where we are going, so those were his only choices.

Somehow during the transition from the console to my lap, he dropped the treat. It went between the passenger seat and the console, out of my reach. No big deal you think since Petey hates them anyway. OH NO!!! You would have thought he dropped a million dollar bill between the seats, or at least one of those really good bacon treats. He started scrambling and scratching like crazy trying to get his precious treat back. He jumped in the back seat, sacrificing the knowledge of where we were headed, so that he could scratch around back there to get the prized treat.

The worst part was that we were driving to Tuscaloosa. Car trips and Petey's love/hate relationship with the car is a blog for another day. The treat stayed 'lost' for the remainder of the trip, but Petey did not forget. When we finally arrived at home, John, ever the hero, dug the treat out from where it was wedged. Petey was anxiously awaiting the arrival of his treat in the driveway beside the car. When John emerged triumphant, Petey was ecstatic - NOT. Petey calmly took the treat from John, laid it down in the driveway and walked away. We think he eventually ate it because later it was gone, but who knows what really happened to it. He could have buried it in the back yard for all we know.

It makes us wonder what happened to all of those treats he took from us in the early days. Was he just humoring us?