(34) My Thievin' Dog

I've said it before, Beeks is a smart dog. He, however, is (as his trainer said of all dogs)an Opportunistic Carnivore. He's a thief. When we were out of town yesterday, on our way to the dog park for a romping good time, we stopped at a coffee shop to load up. We were riding in Brad's 4 X4 where Max rides in the "way back" behind a dog barrier and Beeks rides in the back seat. We have this on going conversation regarding the need to put Beeks in back with Max when we leave the car. Sometimes we tether him in the back seat so that he has enough room to lay down but not enough length to reach the front seat. Other times we don't do anything, thinking that we will be gone only a short time and he's such a good dog that he will just look out the window or sleep until we return. That's usually my stance. Not Brad's. Yesterday we left him loose in the back seat. So here's what happened: The coffee shop was packed. The drive-up line was so long and the batistas focused on the drive up window before focusing on the long line at the counter. Frustrated by the too long of a wait and time lost at the coffee shop, we headed back to the car. As I approached I could see that Beeks was in between the front two seats, looking out at us. As we got to the car, he s-l-o-w-l-y backed up into his space in the back seat. When I opened my door, I first noticed the pint size ziplock bag that had been destroyed,and all of the tan and yellow crumbs scattered on my seat.I thought he had found some dog treats but these crumbs were the wrong color. No, Beeks had so very cleverly found four lemon hydrox cookies that were stashed in a small compartment on the door. I had forgotten they were there. My bad! Beeker didn't have the shame to look remorseful. I then thought,"Oh good, now he's going to throw up!", then I thought,"Poor Maxie had to stay in the back and watch Beeks have all the fun!". I couldn't even look at Brad, but I felt his stare. I think we will be tethering Beeks from now on, that or putting him in the back with Max. Beeks is looking punky and extremely gassy today if you know what I mean. Paying me back for my lax in behavior consistency. I'd like to say this is the first time Beeks has scavenged for illegal food. But it's not. Once when we were traveling and the dogs were in the car for an extended period of time, Beeks actually ate Nebraska and Montana from the atlas. Once when we were at a museum and an I-Max show out of town, he got into the newly purchased(and cleverly hidden) bag of dog treats and ate the whole thing. He doesn't share. He takes the whole thing for himself and doesn't stop until the entire thing is gone. He's a thief, an opportunistic carnivore.