The Renovation Dog

I learned two things about Luke this week.  First, and almost more surprising, was that his love for generic Cheezits borders on obsession.  After rejecting tortilla chips, cheetos, frozen french fries (reheated in the oven, of course), and even french fries straight from the fast food restaurant I was quite sure that this would be one more instance where he would sniff the item, gingerly lift it into his mouth with his tongue, roll it around for a moment, unceremoniously drop it back on the floor or dog bed or carpet that he took it from, and look at me with this utter disgust on his face seeming to ask, “Why on Earth would you eat something like that?”  Instead, he sniffed, tasted, devoured, and proceeded to beg for more every time I opened the box.  This is unusual behavior for Luke as he usually does not get my food and wouldn’t like it if he did, so instead of being irritated with him as I’m sure I should have been I couldn’t help but be tickled at what seemed to be his helpless devotion to these silly crackers that led him to override his natural aversion to the act of begging!

The second thing I learned happened this morning on our normally quiet, dark walk through our apartment complex.  We are some of the first creatures stirring most mornings, which is nice.  Well, I think it’s nice — Luke would rather be back in bed for another couple of hours before heading out and about!  This morning, however, there was a motorcycle already purring as we passed one of the side lots.  I steered Luke in another direction because I never know what noises and experiences are going to trigger his freak-out reaction and in the dark is not the best time to try to work through something scary.  We tried our best to stay out of harm’s way, but to no avail.  The motorcycle came directly in the path we had taken in our attempt to retreat.  I had Luke sit, but as the motorcycle passed by I looked down at him and noticed that the look on his face did not read fear but fascination.  His head and eyes followed the bike and he would definitely have run after it if I hadn’t stopped him.  Luke loves motorcycles!  Testosterone and motorcycles — it transcends the bounds of species!  And then I found myself in the middle of this daydream fantasy where I’m riding a motorcycle and Luke is in the sidecar with doggles and a scarf flapping in rhythm with his tongue in the wind.  I guess the lesson here is that as well as you think you know someone, there’s always more to learn!

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