With all the discontent, arguing and disagreeing going on in the world, I guess it was bound to happen at my house sooner or later. Didn’t expect the source that it came from however. 

It’s no secret that our Boxer, Rosie is one spoiled, rotten dog. We admit it though David and I both say it’s the other person who has done the most spoiling. Just when we think she just cannot possible become more spoiled, she does something we don’t expect. She will turn eight in May this year, so she’s had almost eight years of spoiling.

We have two different kinds of treats for her; one bacon and one more healthy which is a biscuit type and has sweet potatoes and carrots in it. She likes both and it usually doesn’t matter which one we give her, she’ll eat it. I usually give her the bacon one after she goes out and comes back in first thing in the morning. Before I leave for work, I will give her the other one.

One day this week, as usual, I gave her the bacon one first. Then as I was leaving, I tried to give her the biscuit. She was not having it.  She turned her head away. I placed in on the floor in front of her and told her she was going to have to eat it or she was not getting another treat. She proceeded to pounce on it and then started whining as if arguing with me. I gave her a lecture and finally reached down to pick up the biscuit and she scooped it up and ran off. As I was leaving I noticed she was eating it.

She has also gotten persnickity about her food. We were giving her dry food but she was having trouble with one of her teeth so we switched to wet food until the tooth came out. She would not eat the dry food again. David kept saying she would eat it when she got hungry enough but after a day and a half, I decided she needed to eat and gave her the wet food.

That made her happy, so now we are on a wet food and fresh food diet with her. Of course, this is more expensive, but what can we say or do otherwise. Our children are all grown and she is our four-legged baby and why shouldn’t we spoil her?

I switched her to Freshpet which we got at Tractor Supply but something is going on with them and we can’t get it anymore. Supposedly, there are reformulating. I was afraid Roxie might refuse the canned food, but so far so good. She may just get up one morning though and decide she doesn’t like it either!

She has already pretty much taken over our bed at night. We even went from a queen sized to a king sized bed but she still manages to spread out between us. Some nights she has to get lots of attention before going to sleep, other nights not so much.

When she does want attention though, you can guarantee she will get it. One night,  while sitting on the couch, I was scrolling on my phone and she came over to sit by me and next thing I knew, she had knocked the phone out of my hand. 

She wanted attention and it made me think that if dogs realize the phone is getting too much attention, how much more do children and others realize that. That’s when I began cutting back on phone time. It’s a process and I’m still working on it but made a whole weekend without checking social media! One step at a time, one day at a time.

Dogs are great stress relievers and there are sometimes I wish they could talk, but other times I’m glad they can’t because there are some things I wouldn’t want repeated. They seem to know when you are not feeling well and are always willing to provide comfort and snuggles. Like all dogs, she is so very happy to see her humans when they get home, even it’s only been half an hour.

The Boxer we had before her was an outside dog. He had a pen big enough to romp and get exercise but there were two other large dogs with him. I always wished he could be an inside dog but there was just no way with all the others. So, I guess I go a little overboard with Roxie. We have never been on a vacation that she has not been on with us. 

Some dogs just seem to know more than others and have more personality. Our Roxie is one of those. Roxie may be spoiled but the smiles she has brought are enumerable. She’s ours and it’s okay that she’s super spoiled.  

VICTORIA SIMMONS Is a columnist, author, motivational speaker, minister and publisher of The Georgia Post/Byron Buzz. Contact her at: vsimmons54@gmail.com