Pre Treats

This morning, after returning from the gym, I found Oates on the living room couch where he'd slept last night and Willie was still in my bed, where he had spent the night.  Willie's hearing must be going a bit because he used to leap off the bed as soon as the apartment door opened. Now, sometimes he doesn't know I'm home until he sees me. Then he leaps for me.

I walked them down the street and had the idea for a picture of them sitting on the steps of one of the brownstones down the street. But the steps had less depth than I realized and sitting two old dogs on them just seemed unwieldy in the morning rush.

My small apartment building doesn't have steps up to a grand front door, just a small step down and then the red door pictured here. They were antsy to get back home and Willie as usual was more anxious than Oates. I tried a few pics but after a couple Willie refused to look up and back at me for the camera. In this pose he looks tired and maybe a little annoyed.

Minutes after this, I dropped treats in their bowls and ran out the door.  I can't remember when I started the ritual of giving them treats every time I left the apartment, it must have been when they were very young. Maybe from the beginning.  But they expect it now, in their gentle and polite way. They don't bark or act out, nothing more than a long look if I've forgotten. I almost never forget, in fact I do it almost without thinking now, as instinctive as leaving with keys.

Sometimes I've left the house and gone a ways before I turn around and go back to make sure they have their treats. I'd hate to leave them wondering even just once whether they had done something to not deserve them.