My first dog food

I rememeber our first family dog. I was extremely young and it wasn’t really our dog, but a neighbors that we were watching for a week while they were away. Since we never had a dog, this was extremely special for us as young kids. Young kids find dogs fascinating for some reason. They are just so different. Sort of like being at the zoo, in your own house.

Anyway, my job was to get the dog food out and get it ready for the dogs dinner every day. The dog ate wet dog food, and I can still remember the smell of that when you first open the can of dog food. It’s a really strong dog food smell, and one that stays in your memory for years to come. Any time I smell canned dog food being opened now, I am brought back to that summer when I was 8 years old taking care of that dog. Anyway – When we would feed him, it always scared me a bit because of how aggressive he was with the dog food. I learned later how normal that is for dogs.

We were keeping him in the country, so there was no real need for a lease. But I still wanted one anyway. There was something having the dog on a leash. Maybe it was a power thing. But I really wanted to do it. All we had was a long yellow rope and I tried to used that as a leash, but not very successfully.

It was a great week with that dog. Even though the dog food sticks out in my mind, there are many other memories as well. I remember him running down the dirt road chaising our car as we went into town. I was always worried that he would wonder off and wanted to tie him to a tree. But my dad said “he’s smart” and “he know’s where home is, no need to worry.”  He was right. The dog knew where the dog food was served and even where we kept it even though he only lived there for a week.