Let Them Eat Bread!

(originally written 5-1-2008)

What delicious edibles do your dogs go crazy over? Milk bones? Hot dogs? Greenies? Left over roast or steak? All of the above?

What about BREAD? Yes, bread. Any kind of bread. Sunbeam. Wonderbread. Bagels--with or without cream cheese. Garlic bread. Toasted. Straight out of the bag. My dogs, Huskies and Shih Tzus, are carbohydrate crazed canines.

Let me tell you how bad it is. There have been many mornings that we have gotten up to find bags of half-eaten bagels in our bedroom, the incriminating crumbs still dusting the muzzles of our food thieves. Many have been the moments that I have heard the rustle of a bread bag, only to see a dog trotting jauntily around the corner seconds later, a loaf lodged securely in his or her mouth, seeking out a safe corner to enjoy the loot.

Making a sandwich in my house is not a safe endeavor with a dog in the vicinity. A Husky will boldly place front paws on the counter, insisting on her share. A Shih Tzu will either hop madly on back legs, wishing for the same power as his bigger canine cousin or gaze in forlorn entreaty, hoping for some benevolence from his human companion. It is the bread that they are after.

It used to be a trick to disguise pills for the dogs. Not anymore. All I have to do now is wrap them up in some bread, and the dogs will practically inhale them.

So, if there is ever a shortage on kibble, I can always reply: Well, then, let them eat bread!