Who’s the Boss?

Who’s the boss? Bubba is the boss ….that’s who. I love that dog to bits and bits. … but he makes me crazy. He’s like a little kid... sometimes he gives me a hard time just to see if he can. … and make no mistake about it… he definitely can.

Every morning and night he and Duke get these little bonelets… a supplement to make their bones and joints stronger… as older dogs, they were having problems getting around as well they used to. Each time the two of them stand in front of Warren waiting for their bonelets. Duke never gives us a hard time… he just takes it. Bubba, on the other hand, will sometimes spit it out and Warren will have to speak sternly to him and give it back to him. Sounds simple enough? Not so fast.

Awhile back Warren had to go out of town for work and I was the one stuck giving them their bonelets. Duke was fine… no problem… but one morning Bubba decided to keep spitting it out… I had to get to work and was getting very frustrated with him. I remembered when I was growing up we had a beagle that didn’t like taking pills… so we wrapped them in a little piece of liverwurst and he would take them without a problem. So you can guess what happened next… yep… went into the fridge and checked the meat drawer… ahhh… roast beef…. (hey I was desparate)…. so I took a small piece of my 9 bucks a pound roast beef and wrapped the bonelet in it… Bubba ate it no problem. So this went on for three days until Warren got home.

The day Warren came home, the dogs (AKA the Boys) … had to go to the vet to be boarded because we were going out of town for the weekend and I was stuck taking them… no problem… while I was checking them in… the office manager asked me if they had been taking their bonelets… I told her yes and proceeded to tell her how I had gotten Bubba to take his bonelet… (kind of proud of myself)… she then said… oh we don’t have a problem anymore… he tried that with us too… he just wants to see who’s boss… you just speak sternly too him and he takes it…. greaaaaat… now I felt like an idiot… I turned to look at him… and I swear he understood everything… he hung his head and tail slightly and looked away… I swear he had a smile on his face…. I almost said… wait until I get you home mister…

Off to work I went… and later that afternoon when Warren got home… I told him what had happened…. he just laughed…. very funny…

We picked the Boys up at the vet on Monday night…. and when we got home it was bonelet time… and sure enough… Warren gave them their bonelets without a problem… I shot Bubba a look… he just smiled.

So the next day I figured I would give them their bonelets… Duke … no problem… Bubba …like clockwork…spit it out… ping as it hit the floor… and then he looked over at the fridge… no way… nuh uh… ain’t happenin’…. I picked it up and gave it back to him… he ate it without a problem and looked up at me and I swear he smiled… he felt like taking it…yep …. he was boss…