March 23, 2009 ~ Charlie’s Carb-Loading Day

Charlie has revealed a new aspect of his personality to us today.  He evidently finds Jewish Rye Bread impossible to resist.  Now, mind you, Charlie is usually a very well-behaved dog and we’ve grown to trust him to “mind the manor” while we’re out.  He’s never given us a reason to doubt his ability to handle the responsibility.  Until today.

Yesterday after church I stopped in at Kroger and bought a new beautiful loaf of Jewish Rye and a package of jumbo hamburger buns (with sesame seeds) along with a few other groceries.  I was looking forward to that rye bread, in particular, because there’s just something about toasted rye bread in the morning that tastes really good with a fried egg and a piece of ham (I know, I know.  I’m sure it’s just wrong to eat Jewish Rye with ham, but I’m not orthodox.  Or Jewish.)  I looked forward to that hearty flavor.  I didn’t get the chance, though. 

Today while I was running a couple errands, Charlie found my stash.  When I came home at around 1:30, I found the new loaf of Jewish Rye had been opened on the kitchen rug, and about half the loaf was gone!  GONE!  And Charlie didn’t seem the slightest bit remorseful either!  And I thought I’d raised him better!  By the way, I was astounded at the precision with which he’d opened the package too.  He had opened it rather carefully along the end where it was intended to be opened, and he’d removed the slices precisely, too.   The remaining loaf was as intact as if I’d made a few sandwiches and put it back in the basket.  Except it wasn’t in the basket anymore – it was on the floor.  So I pulled the package together and set it on the kitchen island, waiting for a time when I could decide whether to throw it all away, or try to salvage what was left (yes, I know, some of you would never even consider trying to salvage it, but I’m telling you – it was left in really good condition so I thought I might be able to save most of what remained.)

Then tonight when John came home, he said he wanted to go out for dinner, so I left Charlie again, but I felt confident knowing that the bread was on the island.  Well, I shouldn’t have felt so comfortable because . . .

When we came home, the entryway rug revealed that Charlie had been at it again.  The remaining Jewish Rye was virtually all gone (well, he might’ve left us enough for one sandwich, but it hit the trashcan pretty quick!), but he had also found that loaf of jumbo hamburger buns (the ones with the delicious sesame seeds!) that I thought I’d secured, AND he also found the motherlode of all hiding places – the one where I keep the special goodies!  Yes, he had found the new Frey Supreme Cinnamon and Blood Orange White Chocolate Swiss candy bar that I had bought today and squirreled away for a little treat for John and me to share.  Note that this was a treat meant for John and me!!!  Not Charlie!  But who ate the whole thing?  You guessed it – Charlie ate it all up!  Every last crumble, and the only thing left on the rug was the wrapper – and I have to say that he impresses me with his ability to neatly open these wrappings!

You might think that Charlie was hungry today, and you might even be feeling a little sorry for him if you think he had no other food to eat.  Well, don’t pity poor ol’ Charlie – his bowl was full of kibble, and he even still had a few Honey Nut Cheerios left over from breakfast!  No, clearly Charlie was just on a culinary adventure today and treated himself to all sorts of new taste sensations.  And I have to say, that he seemed particularly enamored with that loaf of Jewish Rye.

So, what’s Charlie doing now?  What would you be doing if you’d been carb-loading all day?  What would you be doing if you’d just eaten an entire loaf of Jewish Rye, a couple hamburger buns (with sesame seeds!), and an entire jumbo Swiss candy bar?  Yep, we found him sound asleep in the hallway, his tummy bulging from his evening’s diverse taste tour – and he’s been sleeping ever since.

Tomorrow, two things are already on my “to do” list”:

1.  Replace the goodies that Charlie consumed today

2.  Find higher shelves to store the baked goods!