This is our new arrival, blind Sophie, who has this adorable way of sitting up on her hindquarters to beg for food from the table. Given her plump, oblong shape, this is not an easy thing to do. Gravity is not her friend, so she often wobbles around on her rear legs before coming back down to earth. Nevertheless, she loves doing this, and truth be told, it is hard to resist. She is also relentless — one morsel from the table convinces her that this is a surefire way to get more treats, and she'll keep hopping up and begging as long as we're at the table. She kind of reminds me of prairie dogs popping up out of their holes, although the prairie dogs are, I admit, more elegant in their movements than Miss Sophie. She often looks like she's going to tumble over at any moment.
There are times I end up putting her out on the front porch or in the dog wing while we eat, so as not to end up either a) giving away my entire lunch or b) feeling guilty that I'm not giving away my entire lunch to the bouncing beggar.
Now, while I was taking these photos of her at lunch yesterday, blind Widget made her usual appearance at the table, and had a lesson for Sophie. Widget thinks begging is really kind of pathetic. She's shown us that she thinks stealing food is better than begging for it. I imagined the conversation went something like this:
"Look, you overfed, long-haired Dachshund, have some self-respect. Stop begging. Start demanding. You have a right to their food. Act like it. Watch how I do it."
"See, I get in their face. Climb right up, put a paw on their legs, and stare at 'em. I got short legs too so I know you can do this. Then, start howling. It annoys the hell out of them, especially him. They feed me just to shut me up. I get fed and keep my dignity intact. If it works for me, it'll work for you."
Not having quite absorbed the how-to, Sophie wandered down the table and tried all over again:
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