You’re Going to Need to Earn Your Nose Respect

Our Beagle, Charlie, has a powerful nose. He also has a powerful stomach. Together, they work to make sure no stray food is left behind.

After meeting Charlie I learned very quickly that if he insists there is a small piece of food hiding somewhere (say behind a shut door or underneath the couch) then that something is most definitely present and Charlie is not resting until it is in his belly. Many times Charlie has sat in front of a closet, clawing under the door, trying desperately to squeeze his snout through the oh-so-small opening. He will stare at me with a pathetic look, whining, until I’ve opened the door for him. “There’s nothing there, Charlie!” But sure enough, once the door is open he’ll find and gobble up the lone piece of kibble and happily trot off. I no longer doubt him.

So this morning, when I heard Charlie whining and clawing under the couch after eating his breakfast, I knew a piece of his kibble must have fallen under there. Standard operating procedure for situations like this says I slide the couch out and let him wander around behind it, sifting through the dust and dog hair to find his stray kibble. And sure enough, he quickly found his kibble and wandered off.

Meanwhile, quietly watching all of this was from the front of the couch was our little Layla, so innocent with her giant Cavalier King Charles Spaniel eyes. A few minutes after replacing the couch I heard lighter scratching coming from the couch area. When I walked over I saw Layla’s little butt and tail waving in the air as she had her nose shoved underneath the couch, clawing for who knows what.

I just stood there and shook my head. Layla looked at me, expecting me to move the couch for her. “That’s not how things work in this house, Little Girl, ” I informed her. Under our roof, your nose has to earn its couch-moving respect. If Charlie was satisfied that all the kibble was gone from the couch then so was I.

Fortunately, Layla quickly got the message and decided a nap was a better way to spend the rest of her morning. If there was indeed kibble left behind Charlie would not have given up so easily. The little girl has a long way to go.