Playing unaware

I outwit my opponent

Claiming victory

Maddie isn’t really my opponent. We are more like partners. But she’s a dog and possibly a much too thoughtful dog.

Every now and then, so I assume, she gets this thought into her head that says she cannot hop up onto the padded bench at the foot at the bed and then on up onto the bed where I am waiting with her bedtime snack treats. She will pace back and forth. She will whine and whimper. She will leave to go find Bernd to help her. He usually refuses because, like me, he knows she is perfectly capable of completing that maneuver.

If I make eye contact with her, she knows I know what she wants. Help. If I avert my gaze and fiddle with the treats in my hand, she flies up onto the bench and onto the bed.

In the end, we are both victorious. I don’t have to get out of bed to help her up and she gets the treats. Win-win.

Photos and quotes courtesy of Shutterstock and Pinterest respectively