Summer is 2/3 over. Hard to believe that school starts in less than a month. If you have walked into any retail store in the last few weeks, even if you don't have kids in school, you have probably fought or gave in to the urge to buy new underwear. Back to School will do that to you, forever. Yes, me and mine have already been down that road.
Yet, there is more summer to be had. The kids and gkids leave on a little vacation starting tomoroow and Papa and I are in charge of the granddog. We are also in charge of his mental well-being, one that we don't take lightly. This year, we add continuing education for Banjo and the shell game, that was started last week.
You remember the shell game? You put something under three shells, mix them up and your opponent has to figure out which shell holds the prize. As mommy and daddy were enjoying their anniversary time, we decided to see if Banjo could find the treat under red solo cups. I thought this might be You Tube worthy, landing him and the kids on Ellen and perhaps, great fame and fortune. I was wrong.
Dogs have a great sniffer and I thought Banjo would have no trouble picking the cup with the pepperoni under it. He seems to be more successful with cheese but it could just be that he rammed the cup into the baseboard, and then, grabbed it. This entertained us for a long time until I decided he might have had too many snacks due to our experiment. Our past attempts with too much food and Banjo is not pretty. Nobody wanted Banjo to sleep with them that night, enough said.
It is our experience that Banjo will go into a deep depression when his family leaves. He doesn't eat or sleep, and won't play. He sits on top of the couch, staring out the window or by the door, waiting for them to come home. We have come to accept that he will always be this way and our only goal is to keep him alive until his family gets back. We will try the shell game this time, hoping for a different outcome. Just a tiny bit of a rally would do. If not, a professional dog counseling whisperer may have to be called in, and he has his work cut out for him...
