Everyone knows Electra is a food whore. And if they don’t know it, they figure it out pretty quick. Most of the time, people think we’re kidding when we tell them they have to keep an eye on their dinner plates when they come over. People think we’re crazy when we leave a long list of instructions for our dogsitters, giving them very specific details on the frequency and amount of Electra’s feedings and treats.
Yeah, they think we’re crazy, right up until Electra pulls a ninja move and steals an entire cheeseburger right off their plates, or they keep feeding her until she doesn’t act hungry anymore (which is right about the time she’s eaten 18-pounds of dog food and the lining of her stomach is stretched so thin it’s ready to burst).
Seems even the elves have figured out how crazy Electra is about her food, so they decided to tease her a bit, and dangle one of her dog treats just a few feet out of reach.
It’s the simple things in life that make our sweet hound Electra happiest…a little food in her bowl, a warm place to sleep, some people to snuggle with, and a scent to track.
So, I know I may be biased, but I happen to think that my dog is one of the most adorable dogs out there. In fact, I think she’s so cute that she’s a shoe-in to win the Concordia College New York Cutest Pet contest, so I entered a photo of her.
To win, Electra needs the most “Likes” on her photo. So, I’m asking all friends, family, and followers to head over and cast your photo for the one and only Electra. Just click on the photo below and you’ll be taken directly to the Facebook page where you can vote for Electra. All you have to do is “Like” her photo. Come on, show this sweet ol’ hound dog some love!
And feel free to share the link with all your friends and family on Facebook. Vote Electra! 🙂
So today was neither the first nor probably the last time that our dear Electra’s hound dog nose got her into trouble. But this too funny not to share…
Apparently, something smelled pretty good on the other side of the gate. Too bad Electra couldn’t figure out how to get her big ol’ head back through. Luckily, we were all outside when it happened, so all we had to do was unlatch the gate and open it an inch or two to get her unstuck.
Of course, you know I had to snap a couple quick photos first.
Don’t worry, no droopy-faced hound dogs were harmed in the making of this blog post. 🙂
When Steven and I were still living in Arizona, we were going out of town for a few days, and decided to leave Electra with Momma Dawn and my step-dad Mark. I got nothing but crap for leaving a booklet of detailed instructions. In fact, Momma Dawn not only laughed at me, she also showed the booklet to anyone who dropped by the house so they could have a good laugh too.
In my defense, I originally made The Everything Electra Handbook (yes, I gave it a catchy title) when Steven and I left Electra with our friends Erin and Ervin and their daughters. The girls were so excited to take care of Electra, but also nervous that they were going to forget some of the information I’d been giving them in response to their hundreds of questions about Electra’s habits. So, to make the girls feel more confident, I made a cute little book full of instructions, telling them everything from the basic commands that Electra knows and where she likes to sleep, to exactly how much and how often to feed her.
See, that’s really the important part–the feeding. Everything else in The Everything ElectraHandbook is really straight up common sense. But the food? Yeah, the food is always an issue.
Unfortunately, Momma Dawn spent more time making fun of the handbook than actually reading it, so when we returned from our trip a week later, we found Electra 5-pounds heavier and looking more like an overstuffed sausage than a 2-year-old dog. Apparently, Electra inhaling the prescribed 1/2 cup of food in under 30 seconds made Momma Dawn think that she must not be feeding her enough, so she ended up doubling and even tripling the amount.
And then, there were the treats. Electra will do just about anything you ask for a treat. And if you don’t ask, she’ll just sit and look at you with those big, brown, mournful eyes until you finally give in. And you always give in, because you have to be a heartless, soulless SOB to resist a face like this…
See, people who aren’t familiar with beagles or basset hounds don’t realize that the only real drawback of both breeds is their food obession. And by “food obsession” I mean counter surfing, garbage digging, sandwich stealing, treat mongering, tear into a bag of kibble and eat ’til you burst food obsession.
No joke people. These dogs will eat and eat and eat if you let them. So, if you really care about them, you have to be the responsible one and put on the brakes.
I’ve written about Electra’s obsession at length before (click HERE and HERE if you want a chuckle at my sweet dog’s expense), but sometimes it’s hard to visualize without seeing it for yourself. So, tonight, let’s go to the video tape. If you want to have a little fun, keep track of how much time elapses between the moment she takes her first bite, and the moment she’s done and licking the empty bowl. 🙂
Next time, I’ll post a video that shows how much time she spends licking her empty bowl, the floor around her bowl, the plastic container her food is locked in, then the floor and her empty bowl again. Believe me, if Electra’s saliva was Lysol, that would certainly be the cleanest corner in my house.
And that, my friends, is why anyone who dogsits gets a copy of The Everything Electra Handbook.
I very well might be biased, but I happen to think that Electra is, without a doubt, the best dog out there. She’s got the sweetest (and and downright mopiest) face you’ll ever see. Yeah, she’s a bit of a food whore, and she tends to be a bed hog, but she’s also adorable and loving and so very patient.
She puts up with a lot, our droopy faced hound. She puts up with Steven when he twists her ears up to the Princess Leia-style buns, or ties them in a loose knot on the top of her head. She puts up with Cadence grabbing handfuls of her loose skin to stand up and taunting her with food. And she puts up with being my model whenever I decide I want to test something out with my camera.
Bribe her with a cookie, and she’ll pose as long as I want.
Just today, I had her sit for a few shots in front of the patio door while I tested out my new zoom lens. I wanted to make sure the focus was accurate before I headed out for my photo shoot, and after a few requests to sit and a promise of treats, Electra was happy to oblige.
I have to say, I love this lens, though not nearly as much as I love my dog.
Tonight’s 365 Project entry is dedicated to my dear Electra. Call me psychic, but I see a long modeling career in her future.
Lori Romano 