I’m sure I’ve told the story in this column about how Patti brought home a Shih Tzu. She came across the dog during a home visit with a family for whom she was serving as an attorney ad litem. In short, they told her they were taking him to the pound, and she brought him home. I’ve known Patti for 27 years, and that’s pretty much the same way every animal that has come into our home got there. Chase has been in the James home for close to a decade. That means he is the all-time leader in terms of the length of stay.
About 18 months ago, we were in the middle of Patti’s campaign for judge, and I went to the store for necessities. I’m pretty sure I was really there for Diet Coke, but somehow I found myself on the dog food aisle. I started looking at dog treats and eventually picked out some that I thought the puppy dog would like. My recollection is that it took a few trips to the store until I finally found treats the dog really liked.
After going through several variations of dried chicken chews, I finally brought home the treats shaped like porterhouse steaks. They looked like beef and were just a bit more than a mouth full. When I threw the first one to the dog, he immediately ran over and grabbed the treat and ran under the table. It took him 15-20 seconds to eat the treat, and he did not immediately come back for another one. We had a winner.
We store the treats in a container right by the refrigerator. It didn’t take long for the dog to realize that, if he came over and begged for a treat whenever we were filling a glass with ice, we’d give him one. I immediately liked the game, and the dog started acting a lot nicer to me within the span of just a couple bags of treats.
For a while, I was concerned that the treats were not particularly good for the dog and that he might be ignoring his food bowl in anticipation of getting a treat. I try to moderate the amount of treats I give him, but I figure he’s nearly a decade old, and the way he runs around in traffic when he sneaks out of the house makes it unlikely that the treats are going to be the cause of his death.
The real problem is that the dog is becoming quite aggressive and pretty much demands the treats whenever he feels that I have been home too long without giving him one. That’s usually about five minutes after I get home. If I don’t give him a treat, he barks at me and gets a crazy look in his eyes until I give him a treat. You might not know this, but a Shih Tzu can be pretty scary when they don’t get what they want. Besides, I hate to see him suffer. I’m sure he’d do the same for me if he could.
Even though Patti brought the dog home without “asking,” and I was not a fan for a long time, I have come to truly love the puppy dog, and my generous distribution of treats to him has really made him my dog and no one else’s. That is until William comes home from college. When William is home, I’m not the master; I’m only good for treats.
Who am I to interfere between a boy and his dog? Besides, I’d rather have William home than having a dog barking at me. Plus, the boy can get cokes from the store. That’s good for everyone, especially those of us way up in the CHEAP SEATS!
Bill James is a co-founder of the James Law Firm with offices in Little Rock, Conway and Fayetteville, Arkansas. His primary area of practice is criminal defense. He can be contacted at Bill@JamesFirm.com