spirit flows thru -- Alison Rittger's spiritual reflections on finding the holy in the daily

Foxie Now Boxie?

8/12/2017

 
PictureBoxie Foxie isn't being fed as much
My one and only’s oldest son, who is staying at our house, sometimes calls me Boxie because I look puffy to him, and he attributes this look to my being overfed.   My one and only told him I am Chihuahua/Skipperkee mix and that is the reason for my shape. Boxie is not a compliment the way he says it. His opinion must matter because within days of his mispronouncing my name, my complement of string cheese disappeared and other treats went away. I sense a connection between Boxie instead of Foxie and the amount and kind of food my one and only now allows me. Not only is less food in my dish less often; but once emptied, the bowl won’t refill within minutes. New dog food cans are labeled “Weight Management” and vegan.

When my one and only first noticed that my harness didn’t fit, she said it must have shrunk in the wash. There was tightness around my chest, but I could still breathe and walk. Then one day a friend of ours who likes me very much commented on my girth.  “Where is Foxie’s waist?” she asked. Alas, my one and only could not locate that indentation. I applaud my one and only for deep breathing instead of yapping at her friend for finding fault.

While the joy of string cheese has faded, the smell of peanut butter spread on a bagel still energizes me. Just last week, my one and only would have shared almost half. Now, I am lucky, if a bagel edge with a lick of peanut butter lands near me no matter what manner of begging I employ.

Some might try to connect changes in my diet to my habit of scrounging the carpet for dropped food, but it is not a new habit. I am just better at it. Recently, my one and only was on the couch binge-watching “Orange is the New Black” while she nibbled on her allotment of seven chocolate covered frozen Almond Dream Bites, a vegan substitute for ice cream, when three chocolate covered Bites fell onto the carpet. I snuffled up two of them as my one and only leaped at me and tried to pry open my mouth, all the while shrieking, “Don’t do it, don’t do it.”

Did she think I would keel over from eating the thin chocolate shell on the dream bite? If the third one hasn’t melted and isn’t surrounded by ants, I will eat it when I find it. Just to say, scrounging for food is not a new practice, and no one need think I am starving because my one and only has me on a diet. Though adorable at any size, I’m still an animal.





Comments are closed.