A Matter of Honor

Mother is once again questioning my intelligence. I distinctly overheard her talking to Aunt Nancy, and also the feeding aunts. Her question to them: Is he (ME!) really that smart, or is it just a coincidence?

So, here's the scoop. Mother has, through the years, led me up the sidewalk-y road to the fast loud road at the end. And the first few times, she brought plastic bags with her to... how do I put this delicately?... retrieve anything I may drop along the way. Apparently, the neighbors don't like littering of any type.

I realized, however, that Mother never bothered to collect anything I may have dropped in the graveled area between the steep hill by the barn and the big puddle before the land of enormous dogs. In fact, she always said "Good man" if I did it on the way out. She would look surprisingly relieved when I paused, tail lifted, standing on the gravel as we made our way back home.

Hmmm... I can avoid the ignominy of Mother crouching over my discarded belongings and the stares of potential onlookers as we walk along with her dangling a pendulous and smelly bag by simply not making any deposits other than on the gravel drive.

So the other day, as I stopped twenty feet in from the puddle on the way home (and I must say, that one was tough because we'd been out for a while and I had grazed for some time), Mother made an observation. I had not dropped anything anywhere other than the gravel drive on our many walks since the first 3 or 4 trips. She had at least three times as many examples of my littering on the aunts driveway. Was this just a coincidence, or am I really that smart?

I don't know what she's talking about. I just know I've trained her not to carry plastic bags with us anymore. Really, Mother!! That was so embarrassing.