Games

Anyone who has ever had a dog knows that they all have thier own personality, and their own favorite games. Sarge, is no exception. His favorite game, if you are biger than he is, is to "help" you put on your shoes. Every morning, I sit on the edge of my bed to put my shoes on, and he proceeds to chase both my hands, and my shoelaces. It usually takes me about three tries to tie my shoes because as soon as I get them tied, he unties them. If you are smaller than he is, he likes to wait until you sit down, and then sit on your chest and lick your feet. This is especially popular with all of the kids that seem to inhabit my house.

MY favorite games to play with Sarge always seem to involve torturing him. I love to eat standing up, over the sink (OK, so I don't really love it, but it's what I do.) and let him watch me intently for any dropped crumbs. I, of course, am leaning far enough over the sink that he can't possibly get anything that I drop, but he doesn't seem to understand that.

I also love (hate) to fold socks. Sarge sits in front of the laundry basket and watches me take each pair out, fold them and put them back in. His eyes never leave my hands, as though he is using all of his brain power to coerce me into giving him a pair of socks. He then follows me into the bedroom and we repeat the process while I put the socks away.

The other day he was "helping" me put clothes away and when I finished and went to put the laundry basket away, I noticed that he wasn't following me. I looked everywhere. In the bathroom (he likes to see if we left any water in the tub), on the couch (he always lays on the remote control), in the bedroom (he likes to lay on my pillows and gets offended when I want to use them), I even looked outside (I realize that he has no thumbs and therefore it would be especially difficult for him to unlock the sliding door, let alone open it, but I was desperate!). Finally I heard whimpering coming from the bedroom. I hadn't noticed that he had followed me into Pat's closet and had shut the door on him. He must have thought that we were playing some kind of game where I put him in there and then come back and act suprised because once I got him out, he went right upstairs the guest bedroom and sat in front of THAT closet and looked at me like "OK mom, I'm ready!" Now, every time Pat opens his closet, Sarge runs in and sits under the clothes rack and refuses to come out until Pat shuts the door and opens it again.

I've created a monster.

The remote control is under there.....