Liquorice watched with little interest as I had backed the car from the garage and parked it on the concrete apron in front of the garage and breezeway of our home. When she sees me do that she knows that I will soon be leaving with my parents. It also means that we will be without the pleasure of Liquorice’s company on our trip. If the garage door is opened and the car stays put then Liquorice knows she too will be joining us. They are routines that have been repeated often since Liquorice joined our family several months ago, so she now knows the “drill”.
In due course, Ma and Pa left the house via the laundry-door that opens into the breezeway and went out through the iron-lace gates to get in the car. I left by the back door and walked past Liquorice lying nearby on the lawn. It may have been the sight of a pig’s ear I was holding or the scent of the two ginger-nut biscuits I had for her however Liquorice was up in an instant and trotted into the breezeway where she stepped up onto her “trampoline-type” day bed. I closed the flimsy gate on the temporary welded mesh fence at the back of the breezeway. Having no lock it remains closed only by its light weight. It is only Liquorice’s desire to please that keeps my little darling on her side of the barricade as Liquorice could easily push open that poor excuse for a gate. (She did however, open that gate once. I was not at home and my father “locked” her in and proceeded to hose a nearby garden, splashing water around freely. That was too much temptation and I returned home to a very wet puppy. Poor Dad, he did get into trouble over that one.)
I placed the pig’s ear between Liquorice’s front paws as she lay comfortably on her day bed. Then, with difficulty, broke the hard ginger-nut biscuits into quarters, so there would be more of them for her, and spread them out under Liquorice’s watchful eye as she memorized where each piece was placed. Just to ensure that her Dad did not keep any for himself! Having given her shoulders a rub before leaving I was passing through the iron-lace gates when I heard the distinctive sound of Liquorice’s pig’s ear landing on the concrete floor. Turning I saw Liquorice awkwardly getting up to recover it. “I’ll get it for you” I called to my little darling and with that Liquorice flopped back down and I walked the few steps back and placed her treat in her mouth this time. Liquorice placed it back between her paws and looked up at me expectantly. Placing the palms of each hand over her eyes and molding my fingers to the shape of her skull I pressed gently and moved my hands backward over my little darling’s ears and along her neck several times giving my little darling oriental eyes each time. Liquorice permitted this as my reward for retrieving her lost treat.
Liquorice is very generous with her rewards.
Arthur Witten
Liquorice – Hey Dad! A bit quicker next time, I almost had to get up!