meow/bark/blog

Today’s guest post comes from b5media blogger and fellow pug owner Geoff Young. Visit Geoff at his website, where you’ll find links to his various projects.

Our two dogs, Toby and Smitty, are crated each night with a treat. Smitty, the 14-year-old Boston terrier always wolfs his down right away. Toby, the 9-year-old pug, lets his sit and eats it when the time is right. With pugs, everything has to be just so.

In the morning, Smitty springs out of his crate and searches for a toy. You’d think this might be tricky given that he’s blind, but after 5 years of not being able to see, he’s pretty well gotten used to it and generally knows where his toys are.

Toby, meanwhile, hangs out in his crate until he’s good and ready. The world can wait for him.

The only problem with this strategy is that when Toby finally emerges, I’m usually not around to shut the crate door. You know, I’ve got things to do.

This leaves Toby’s crate open with a treat inside. Again, you might think that the 14-year-old blind dog would be at a disadvantage here, but that is not the case. Inevitably, Smitty will wander over to Toby’s crate and help himself to an “extra” treat.

Smitty, though, wants to be a good boy. If you catch him in Toby’s crate and tell him he doesn’t belong there, he’ll leave. Smitty’s also very smart, so usually you don’t catch him until it’s too late.

I should feel bad for Toby, but really it’s just too funny that the old blind dog systematically steals treats from the younger, more able-bodied one.