Day 3 of 14
Getting Tucker to take his pill today will be easy-breezy I said to myself (and to The Puppy Grady who wagged his tail in agreement). I prepared the bread like yesterday, called Tucker to the kitchen, and, for starters, offered him a piece of pill-less bread.
Tucker nudged the bread with his nose, backed up, and turned his head to the side. I don’t believe it. I just got the classic doggie snub.
I calmly offered Tucker the bread again.
No dice. Not interested. Apparently Tucker doesn’t eat bread on Sundays.
“Fine. If you don’t want it, I’ll give it to Grady,” I said, hoping to instigate the, “I want what he has” scenario. I’ve found that this move often works with dogs, small children and some adults.
Tucker just glared at me.
Meanwhile, The Puppy Grady positioned himself in my line of sight, showing off a very proper sit, thereby earning a piece of bread. (Apparently, The Puppy Grady is an opportunist).
Tucker started to leave the room.
Not to be outdone, I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich remembering that while I was eating one yesterday, I was quite popular with the pooches. No way this wouldn’t work.
It didn’t work.
I think it’s so important to reward oneself for a job well done. If you can’t get the job done but have tried your best, well, that counts too. Time to reward myself. Besides, I was hungry.
I ordered a Pappa John’s pizza and slowly ate a couple of pieces in front of the dogs, in particular making sure Tucker saw and smelled the pizza. Both dogs started drooling and focused on the pizza like men watching the last seconds of a tied football game. After I finished, I slipped the pill into a bite of pizza crust and Tucker gulped it down and waited for more.
Hold that thought Tucker.
Tomorrow’s a good day for left over pizza.
