There’s an older gentleman I keep bumping into at the vet’s office. Big grey moustache, quiet voice, and a Labrador named Duke who’s always leaning against his knee like he’s trying to hold his owner up instead of the other way around. Last month I overheard the receptionist ask how Duke was doing on his … Read more
Snickers was ten weeks old the night he chewed a hole through the corner of my couch. Not a nibble. An actual crater, foam poking out like a wound. I found him at 2 a.m., ears flopped inside out, gnawing on the wood underneath the cushion like it owed him money. I sat on the … Read more
The vet said it kindly. Softly, even. “So Snickers is about three pounds over ideal, Aleksandar. Nothing dramatic. But we should probably do something about it.” I stood there holding the leash while he panted up at me, tongue out, tail going, absolutely thrilled with life. Three pounds doesn’t sound like much until you realize … Read more
Snickers, my Cavalier, has an uncanny sense for the meat counter. Last Tuesday I was standing there squinting at a tub of “premium freeze-dried food topper” priced at $34.99, and he was already tugging me two feet to the left, right toward the tray of chicken gizzards. Two dollars a pound. Two. I’ve been buying … Read more
Last Tuesday I looked up from the couch just in time to see Snickers, my Cavalier, planting his back end on the living room rug and pulling himself forward with his front paws. Slow, deliberate, focused. Like a furry Roomba on a mission. You know the move. Every dog owner does. And you know exactly … Read more
Saturday morning. I’d just walked back into the kitchen with my coffee and saw Snickers, my Cavalier, sitting perfectly still in front of the pantry door. Not whining. Not scratching. Just staring at the door like a monk mid-prayer. He knew where the yellow box lived. I pulled it out. That familiar Milk-Bone rattle. He … Read more
Snickers wouldn’t stop pacing by the mudroom door. My friend Marko had just walked in with a Ziploc bag of ground venison from his October harvest, and my Cavalier had clocked it before the door even closed. He sat by my feet with the exact posture he uses when he wants something. Ears back, tail … Read more
The first time I cooked chicken liver for Snickers, my Cavalier, I ruined a wooden spoon and almost lost a kitchen towel to the dog. He’d been napping in the hallway like a tiny loaf of bread. The second I peeled back the butcher paper, he teleported. Paws on the cabinet, eyes locked on the … Read more
Last Sunday I had a stockpot on the stove with beef knuckle bones, an onion, and a few carrots. Snickers planted himself under the kitchen table around hour two, eyes locked on me, doing that polite-but-extremely-loud whining thing only a Cavalier can pull off when food smells get involved. I scooped him a little of … Read more
The first time I cooked chicken thighs for Snickers, my Cavalier, it was almost an accident. I’d grabbed a family pack at the grocery store thinking I’d batch a few weeknight dinners for myself. Then I started reading about pancreatitis in dogs and how a fatty meal can trigger it, and I started looking sideways … Read more