"Here Jack. Nice Jack.  Come here Jack"   Jack with tail in motion chose to ignore everyone and climb higher looking for a tree borne cat.

"Wait a minute" said I.  "I think I know how to get him down."   I ran back into the house and grabbed a handful of dog biscuits and stuck them into my pocket. 

I climbed partially up the tree and extended my hand clutching a dog biscuit.  "Here Jack.  Food.  Come on; you hungry?"

Jack looked at the biscuit clutched in my hand and the next thing I knew, the biscuit was gone and my hand was covered with slime.

"Come on Jack, come on.  Here, have another biscuit."   I could see that I defiantly had his attention.  Jack and I worked our way down the tree. 

Jack reached ground before me and became a creature of constant motion.    He was up and running down the middle of the street before I could draw out my next biscuit. 

He was already a block away.  His owner tried to call him back, and it seemed obvious to me that he was ignoring her. 


"Hey Jack!" I yelled.  "Look, I have more dog biscuits.  I have more food for you."     You would think that Jack was equipped with anti lock breaks. He stopped.  He stood for a minute looking at me from a block away and then started running back toward me.

I held out my hand and the very next thing I experienced was the dog running by me, grabbing the biscuit, and not slowing down one bit.   Jack was once again a full block away.   

"Hey Jack.  I have some more.  Look more food," I yelled.

I could see that he was enjoying himself.  His tail was moving at a tremendous pace and he turned around for another run.   This time, I tried to outsmart him by holding my hand up in the air.   That was no problem for Jack, he made a running leap for the dog biscuit, snatched it in mid air, and continued on his run. 

Jack was truly enjoying himself.  I could see that he saw "get the biscuit" as a new game. 
I turned to my neighbor. "I have one more idea get your leash ready."

I held up a biscuit for Jack to see.  He started to run toward me.  As the animal got closer,   I covered the dog biscuit with my hand, and then said: "Sit Jack. Sit."

The dog came to an immediate stop and sat.  "Stay Jack, stay" I said as I fed him another doggie morsel.   I grabbed his collar, his owner then snapped her leash on him.   I petted Jack and gave him another doggie treat.

"Good dog Jack.  Good dog."

It was a hot summer day.  I really didn't feel all that ambitious. Our cats had eaten, the neighbor's dog was back where he belonged, my wife, Claudia, was free to do wife things again, and I did what was right.  I had experienced enough excitement for the day.   I lay down on the couch, turned on the TV and allowed my mind, once again, to turn to oatmeal.


xxx30xxx

Bill loves to read your letters and answers them too..  You can email him at
eaglew@sthelensupdate.com


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