For the Love of Carrots
My dog, Scout, loves carrots — specifically slightly chilled baby carrots. He won’t refuse a cooked carrot either but, he really loves them raw and right from the refrigerator.
They certainly are his favorite treat. When Scout was a puppy, he would snatch a carrot from your hand and run to “his spot” where he could happily savor every crunchy bite. As an adult, he sits in front of the refrigerator, ready to run through his repertoire of tricks, in the hope of earning a little orange treat.
So, I should not have been surprised by what he did on a walk after the first big snow of the winter season.
The snow fall was over a foot deep and wet enough to pack into perfect snowballs or even snow people. Some of the neighborhood children quickly erected a tiny snow family from the freshly fallen snow. The snow people were about two feet tall, complete with hats, scarves, stick arms, button eyes and, you guessed it, carrot noses.
When Scout first encountered the frosty family, he seemed perplexed. They looked like people but, they didn’t move or smell like people. He cautiously crept forward; his nose was twitching. As he got closer, his tail began to wag. Then, he quickly snatched a carrot nose right off the face of the unsuspecting snow person!
He must have thought, “Wow! People are leaving carrots for me to enjoy while I walk!”
Fortunately, I was able to stop him from making a snack out of the next snow person’s nose.
Now when we go on walks, Scout must thoroughly inspect any pile of snow he sees to ensure there are no carrots buried there. Sure, he ends up with a cold nose, wet paws and snow stuck to his fur but, that is a testament to how much he loves carrots!