White Dog was already crabby when when lunchtime rolled around. She hurt and was feeling pretty antisocial. I spoke with Dr. Julia who said that the meds had not yet had time to build up enough to be effective and suggested that in the interim we use Rimadyl to lessen the soreness; we were to pick up the prescription when Steve got home.
WD joined TOWD, AWD, SAWD and YAWD on the chow line waiting for the daily dose of ducky jerky that they always shared as I lunched. I reached to my cart and brought forth...not the familiar purple bag, the grail of jerky...but rather a plain plastic treat jar. Heads swiveled in unison to where the bag normally resides. GADZOOKS! The bag had been stolen! Nuka started a whiny howl and the rest of the WDA squirmed in place. This was not right. "Momma, please find the jerky," their eyes pleaded.
The jar held oven roasted CHICKEN jerky and I opened the lid as I explained that we were temporarily out of duck. YoYoMa almost swooned in the shock. Puff sniffed all around the cart and my chair suspiciously. White Dog moved closer and tapped my leg. "This is PREMIUM chicken jerky," I begged, "we just ran out of time yesterday and did not get to Costco for more duck. I PROMISE we will get some more this week!"
Five noses sniffed the strip I held out and turned their heads in disgust. "It's all I've got," I pressed, "it is either chicken jerky or salmon dog biscuits," scrambling to open the bag of salmon treats to hold one out as well. Still no one moved. "Please!"
Quinn took pity on me and gently took the jerky in his mouth. The others watched as he chewed and swallowed. Then he nosed my other hand for the salmon cookie. When he was finished, he allowed a small wag of approval. White Dog yipped for her share, then took the jerky behind the coffee table where she toyed with it before daintily nibbling it away. YoYoMa shoved his way to the front of the group for his share. The girls, Puff and Nuka, waited and then also accepted the substitute.
Just as I was about to take a bite out of my sandwich, White Dog sat before me and demanded attention. The rest of the WDA closed in around her. "Just WHEN can we expect duck jerky to return to the commissary," the little fluffy general barked? "You know an Army travels on its stomach!"