Bo and the Peanut Butter Jar

 Cujo here. My mom was doing much better! She was walking almost normal again. Us dogs were so happy that she was better and back in charge of our feeding schedule. Dad is okay, but he lacks those special touches that only Mom provides.

Mom is changing our diets with some different food. It is made from raw foods, then freeze dried. Dad argues that it is crazy expensive, but Mom says it is worth it if it will help Eddie and Toni Louise stop itching. All I can tell you about this stuff is one thing ... it is delicious!! Mom says it smells fishy  when she rehydrates it (that means she has to add water). Well, it should smell like fish, it has salmon in it. Along with a bunch of other yummy things like carrots and sweet potatoes and beef and peas and kale. No grains. Mom says it should help me drop a few pounds. 

She told me that I am getting too heavy to be picked up! This cannot be true, I am a lap dog! It is my true calling in life, to sit in my Mom's lap! She even went so far as to tell me that any day now, my belly will drag the floor! It is almost as if she were trying to hurt my feelings! As long as she keeps giving me my share of the delicious dog food, I don't really care!

When Mom makes the food, she uses warm water. So when us dogs see her at the water dispenser getting a cup of water and then putting  in the microwave we know what she is up to! She always says what she is doing out loud when Dad is close by. She confided to me that she is hoping her words will imprint on his brain in case he needs to do the feeding. I wish her luck with that, but I have watched him closely and should probably tell her that she is wasting her breath, as he is not paying attention.

After she stirs the water in the bowl of dogfood, she tells us we have to wait until the food soaks up all the water. We still have our old dog food in our bowl all the time like before. She says these changes must be done in steps. This is why she spoon feeds us.

When we see that special blue bowl we all gather round her and wait until she calls out our name. Then she will bring the spoon to our mouths and we will gobble up the food. If Bo hits the spoon and knocks all the food onto the floor so he can eat it, he misses a turn and gets scolded. One time I snatched the spoon out of her hand. I got scolded and the food went to the floor and Toni Louise grabbed it. Mom says I was being greedy. We have the routine down now, even Bo waits his turn.

Speaking of Bo, he gave us all a scare today. The peanut butter jar was empty and Toni Louise was chomping at the bits to have her special treat. Bo stole it and ran outside with it. Toni went out and chased him for awhile, then they came in. The jar was in the yard. Mom told Toni to bring it inside, but she didn't.

We all went outside and watched Bo outrun Toni with the edge of the jar in his mouth. It was great fun. Toni got so annoyed at him and Eddie and I were just happy to be outside without Bo jumping at us. Bo is always excited to play outside, but his idea of playing is to leap out and grab us to then roll around in the grass or snow (as the case may be). I do not enjoy these encounters. It is cold and my hair is short. Eddie feels much the same, even if he has long hair. Toni Louise will play awhile, but when she is done, she is done. She will nip Bo, so there is no misunderstanding.

Bo likes to go out more than the rest of us dogs. Usually one of us will go with him to make sure he doesn't get himself into trouble. Sometimes, Martha, the boy cat will accompany him. Martha will play awhile, but he can always jump to the top of the fence and Bo can't compete with that. Today, Bo was outside alone.

Dad asked where he was and went outside to see what he was up to. Dad found him laying on the ground, not moving with his head stuck in the peanut butter jar! He ran inside and told Mom to hold Bo while he cut the bottom off the jar so that he could breath. When Dad started cutting, Bo started moving. Mom talked soft to Bo while Dad kept cutting chunks of the plastic jar away. They finally got his head free and all of us dogs were so relieved! I didn't even know I liked Bo, but I was worried when I saw his predicament.

Mom tried to smother Bo with kisses and cuddle him, but he jumped down and started running around like nothing had happened. Mom calls Bo a little devil. Toni Louise is mourning the loss of her special treat. Mom says that Dad can no longer give the jar to Toni Louise.

Then it happened. Mom was using the vacuum and cleaning after she dismantled a pallet. She said she had plans to make something out of the wood. So, since she was cleaning up the mess she made, she went on to vacuum the entire house. She came out to empty the cannister a couple of times and she put a different attachment on and she was cleaning the baseboards, bending over and walking along. Us dogs were settling in for a nap when she stood up and yelped. Yep, she yelped like a dog. Us dogs looked up at her and she said that her back hurt.

And, just like that, in the blink of an eye, Mom is back on the sofa with all of us dogs. I confess that I might be happy about this!