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For the last few years my mornings have started with copious amounts of delicate doggie kisses from Fred, my female goldendoodle and a steaming hot cup of coffee from Dave, my sweet husband. When Matt, my son who works for me, got his first dog, Windsor, my mornings started out with a double helping of doggie kisses and steaming hot cup of coffee from Dave. Then came Palamaloo and so my morning wake-up call involved triple doggie kisses and a cup of steaming hot coffee from Dave. Finally the last addition (so far) to the Allen family daily doggie daycare was Little Man. He is a stray Yorkie that “found” Matthew and knowing when he saw a good thing, has never left. He was quick to figure out the morning routine of coming in the back door and racing up the stairs to see who got to be first in line for the Grand-human morning kiss feast.
Windsor, true to being an Allen dog, came down with a mysterious allergy. We have changed his food to sweet potatoes and salmon and banished all treats other than those homemade by his Grand-human. We have all been in the hunt for a) what is making the poor little guy itch all over and 2) treats that will not make the situation worse. One day Dave brought home a bag of Duckie Tenders. These are strips of duck meat that resemble beef jerky. He put them under our bathroom sink where the rawhides used to live before the itching began. Every morning, Windsor would get a duckie treat to see if he would start breaking out. After a few days with no sign of the red, itchy welts we decided that duck was not causing his issues.
Somehow the news that there was a stash of yummy, non-itchy duckie tenders under the bathroom sink spread like wildfire amongst the other dogs in the Allen Family doggie daycare. In a flash my mornings of waking up to copious amounts of doggie kisses and a steaming hot cup of coffee was replaced with a hurriedly set down cup of coffee and the clamor of dog tags as the three grand-puppies, followed closely behind by Fred, jump up and down at Dave’s feet as he heads to the magic duckie tender cabinet.
I know, jealousy is an evil emotion but sometimes I just can’t help myself. I still get copious amounts of morning kisses from Fred and a steaming hot cup of coffee from Dave, but when my little grand-puppies hit the door I’m lucky to get a fly-by air kiss from Windsor as he tries to break all land speed records to get to the duckie tender cabinet. Oh well, I guess Grand-human kisses are no match for yummy Duckie Tenders.
To read more from the Two Loons, check out our book Cookies For Dinner: the tales of two moms in their quest to survive motherhood (White River Press).
