Ted writes about the game Susan and Beacon play called The Pine Cone Game. There is some parallel to Clyde, Stout, and my morning ritual of "Go Get the Paper." This is how that ritual goes:
1. On every business work day, except Thursdays, I get up and poor a cup of coffee so it can start cooling. Clyde and Stout are very excited to see me. I then say "Let's go get the paper." Both dogs run to the front door. I open the door and leave it open.
2. We all three proceed to walk up the sidewalk and then the driveway. Stout runs ahead and back, ahead and back. About 6 feet from the end of the driveway, both dogs stop. This is where the radio fence stops them. I proceed to the paper which is generally in the grass or on the driveway near the mailbox and on the outside of the radio fence.
3. I return down the driveway where both dogs are wagging their tails. Sometimes Clyde will take the paper from my hand, or sometimes I put it back in the grass so he can pick it up. He is happy either way. Stout watches.
4. Once Clyde has a good grip on the paper, Stout rushes ahead. Clyde follows proudly retrieving the paper and wagging his tail. I follow Clyde.
5. Generally both dogs beat me back to the kitchen. Sometimes Clyde drops the paper in the hallway, sometimes in the kitchen, and sometimes he still has it in his mouth when I get to the kitchen.
6. I then reward both dogs by letting them share a cookie-bone. Clyde gets a 2/3 piece and Stout gets a 1/3 piece.
Since I actually retrieve the paper part of the way, and Stout does nothing, I'm not sure why Stout deserves a reward, but needless to say, he as excited as Clyde about the entire ritual and feels he is making some important contribution.
The Thursday paper is packed full of advertising flyers, so it is too big for Clyde to pick up. Clyde is not sure why I don't hand it over, although I offer an explanation... "It's too big." I just bring it in myself, and both dogs wonder why they don't get a cookie.
I've considered trying to figure out how to make the radio fence wire extend to the end of the driveway just so Clyde (with Stout) could go get the paper without me. It would require putting a crack in the pavement somehow and then filling it over. Bob would know how to do it.
When Beacon was playing the pine cone game and I decided to do a blog entry on it, I told Susan about the newspaper game. It occurred to me that your paper delivery person probably thinks he's doing you a big favor by getting the paper right in the driveway, but you could ask him to throw it in the middle of your yard. Of course, if he did it you would probably have to give him a tip at Christmas.
I think you should get at least 1/3 of a cookie bone for the work you are doing.
If you wanted to, you could use a concrete cutting circular saw to cut the driveway about 1/4 inch deep and put the radio fence wire in that groove. That is how the DOT installs the wire loops that detect cars at traffic signals.
I wonder how Google will assign ads to this article?
Posted by: UT at October 15, 2004 05:17 PMwhen you say bob do you mean my father? assuming you do, i'll tell him about it. its so easy to picture the dogs doing this.
Posted by: eric at October 15, 2004 05:27 PMYes... on mac.fiveforks.com, Bob means your dad. Your dad has high standing as one of the parents of Gramalie and Grandad's grand children. The other context clue is that your dad is the ultimate fix-it, tool-time guy in the family. I think he even out ranks Uncle Grant in this context, who makes a living with tools!
Posted by: Jeb at October 15, 2004 09:54 PMbig smiles.
Posted by: Nicole at October 18, 2004 09:28 PM