Let Me Help You With That, or, a Spoiled Labrador Cleans Up

I think Jones must be going through a growth spurt, because as of late, he has had no trouble cleaning his plate at dinnertime.  We've also kind of started letting him just sit in the chair like a big boy, no high chair.  I'm still not putting the high-chair away, though.  It's good for when we eat at the dining room table, and it's good for when we have guests over, and it really is good for getting him to focus on actually eating dinner.  When he's just loose, sitting in an unrestrainable seat, he has a tendency not to focus, to get down and then want back in the chair, to run around, etc.  But, lately, since he actually wants to eat, he's been doing really well with not being in the high chair, so we're seeing how it goes.

Needless to say, Augie loves that Jones is on his level when he eats.  This results in endless opportunities to clean food from the floor, off of the table, and off of Jones.  Jones will tolerate this to a certain extent, but he does occasionally get put out with Augie for sticking his nose in where Jones doesn't think it belongs (Augie is all about trying to snatch a Nutrigrain bar out of Jones' hand; since Jones regards a Nutrigrain bar as the greatest treasure of mankind, this is not cool with him).  Most of the time, though (when Nutrigrain bars aren't involved), he just giggles and lets Augie go on about his business; he will even feed him sometimes, which really makes Augie's day.  Layla is our sweet little lady, and she doesn't bother Jones.  She sits off to the side and she only goes after the bites that fall on the floor, or only comes over if you specifically call her to give her a bite.  Not Augie though.  Augie is shameless in his begging.

The following is a pictorial of what dinnertime is like at the Ward household ...

Don't you just love the desperation on Augie's face in this pic?  And, just so you know, Jones is having salmon, mixed vegetables, and mashed potatoes for dinner.  Does that sound like anything a normal dog would be interested in eating?  Augie is no normal dog - he's a Spoiled Labrador!

Augie switches sides to get a better vantage point:

Can you tell that he's moving incrementally closer?



Augie makes his move:



"Mom!  He's doing it again!"

Being a Spoiled Labrador means taking candy ... well, taking any food of any kind, from babies.  And having no shame.