The previous owners didn’t really take care of the house, yard, anything, and in our unkept yard is an apple tree that desperately needs a pruning. Apparently pruning fruit trees helps them produce healthy fruit, and if they go without the fruit gets smaller and smaller as the tree is overgrown, and it doesn’t fully ripen. (Yes, I’ve learned all of that since being married.) Well, this apple tree doesn’t look like it’s ever been pruned, and it’s insanely overgrown, so we have these small, as in a puppy can fit an entire apple in their mouth, unripe apples scattered all over our yard.
Just like not ripe fruit isn’t good for humans, it isn’t good for dogs either, so, naturally, they are obsessed with the apples, especially Padfoot. We try to pick up the apples weekly, and when we forget the dogs quickly remind us, running in the house carrying rotten apples, then guarding them like it’s the only food they’ll get for weeks. They hide them in their beds, our couches, lay on them, etc. I swear it’s this gross, never ending game for them, and a personal type of hell for us.
This past week as I was picking up apples outside, with the dogs all running around being crazy of course, I noticed Padfoot hanging around, kind of lounging by the apple tree. A bit odd, but I had work to do. Then, out of the corner of my eye I see him put an ENTIRE apple in his mouth, and when I turned and yelled “Padfoot!” he just sat there, mouth closed, cheeks bulging, as if to say, “What Mom? I didn’t do anything”. As soon as I turned again he let the apple flop out of his mouth, and went to town. I turned back again, this time he was trying to hide it with his paws, then his head, etc. There was no point in taking it from him until I’d cleared away more apples, so I figured I’d use this moment to work on a bit of training.
He went for it again, I whipped around, said, “Leave it!”, and watched. He sat there, deer in the headlights, starring at me, and didn’t touch it. I turned to set down my bag full of apples to go give him some loves, and tummy rubs since he’d been great. As soon as I walk over to him I see his cheeks bulging, and him holding still. Pretty much doing the whole if I can’t see her she can’t see me thing, as he refused to look at me. Yup, he had an entire apple in his mouth.
Stealthy, so I just kind of laughed, and went to pet him. If you pet Padfoot for more then like, 2.5 seconds he always rolls over for a tummy rub. Well, it’d been at least 5 seconds, and he was still laying on his tummy, and didn’t seem to be enjoying it at all. Worried, I nudged him and looked at his face to see if he was ok. The punk was laying on at least 5 apples, hiding them from me. I couldn’t even believe it, I just sat next to him laughing for a few minutes, then took him and his furry siblings inside where they devoured some store bought, ripe, not wormy apple slices.
And, who could do anything but just that with this adorable face looking back at you? Gah, he just melts me, and the purple/blue spots on his tongue – talk about a heart breaker.
Comments