Santa's List Day

December 4.  Today is Santa’s List Day.  Time to look at all those things that I am wishing for this year – and to start making my list.  Besides world peace and health and prosperity for all.  I always put those at the top of the list.  Because if Santa looks at those and thinks “hmmmmmm….those might be a challenge….” chances are he’ll look at the other things on my list that are easier to obtain – and I’ll definitely get them.  Remember, we PONs are clever.   Not that I don’t want world peace – but I think we ALL have to wish for that one to make it come true….

It seems that my human has AGAIN placed an order from the place in Sweden that makes dog toys. I guess Santa works in Sweden part of the year.  Remember the insanely expensive interactive board games we got last year?  And the fact that only one out of three games has even made it out of the box?  Because none of us really understood them. Well of course my human HAD to pull the games out again last night– to give them another try.

So she started with Trubble.  That’s the name of the game – and NOT ANOTHER nickname for me.  It has a snake- like track on a board – and in it fits a peg in which you put treats.  The peg can ONLY come out on one end of the board.  The dog is supposed to move the peg along the snake-like track to get it out – and to get the treats.  My human started with the peg AT the point where it comes out of the track.  So I would get the idea.  I figured that out and could hardly compose myself in order for her to re-fill the treats.  When let loose, I attacked the whole board.  Scratching and pushing and pulling.  If the peg came out, it was basically luck.  I had NO strategy.  My human had to hold onto the board or it would have gone flying.  Then I tried to chew off the pegs.  After MULTIPLE tries – with me in a frenzied state, my human gave up.  Then it was Frodo’s turn.  He understood the fact that the peg needed to be in the exact position to get it out of the track.  But if it was moved even a half inch onto the track, he didn’t want to move it.  He just lay on the floor and barked at my human to get it herself.  He wanted NO part of foolish games.  And Pax?  He just tried to eat the whole board.

So my poor dejected human went to put away the game.  It was the lowest level of the games that Santa brought – so she figured if we couldn’t do THAT game, why try the higher level games.  That’s why they have been sitting in the closet since LAST Christmas.  But then she looked more closely at the Casino game – and thought MAYBE we could get it.  It’s a series of little drawers in which you can put treats.  You can also put a peg in to hold a drawer shut, which the dog has to remove to open the drawer.  But first things first – I had to get the idea that the treat was IN a drawer first.  And I had to learn how to pull open the drawer.  Well. Low and behold. I figured it out!  And my human could put the treat in different drawers, and I would sniff and find it.  I actually became QUIITE systematic with it.  She could even put the treats in two drawers and I could find them.  Now I could NOT understand the peg part – which basically requires two steps to get the treat.  But I MAY get it with more practice.  My human didn’t try Casino with Frodo or Paxton– she was exhausted after doing it with me.  Admittedly it WAS a bit of a challenge getting me to back off after I found the treats.  I was just being thorough!!!

I’m not sure I’ll put board games on the list AGAIN this year…but then I’m not sure I put them on the list LAST year.  Something tells me there is a direct connection between my human and what Santa actually brings….Seems she has a lot of clout with the guy in red…So as I continue my list, I’ll also have to add some things SHE might like.  I told you I could be a politician.  Excuse me while I go and continue that list...

©  Linda Wozniak