Frankenpepper

 

I have created a monster. The dry food that is and has been Pepper’s every day every meal ever since she was a pot bellied little puppy has been left untouched of late.She no longer rushes to scoff it down. She would sniff it and then shoot me a disparaging look before slinking off with a theatrical sense of disappointment. At first I didn’t respond. I’d leave it there until she was so hungry she had to eat it and I ignored the baleful stare I would get as I put food in my mouth. In the end though I caved in and to perk up her food I started adding scraps of uneaten chicken or beef or pork  chopping it up fine and mingling it in. For a while it was a genius move. Pepper was back eating with gusto and every meal ended with an empty bowl. Then she started siphoning out the added meat and leaving behind the dry food. And I chop that stuff up pretty fine so she must have the eating skills of an anteater. Now she’s started turning her nose up at some of the meat I’m adding. Turkey? OK if it’s just cooked . Day old? No thanks. And now every time I sit down to eat she’s like the starving face of a famine victim staring up me crying pitiably.I’m thinking of going cold turkey again. Or no turkey. No anything again.But I have this dream that I fall asleep and while I sleep she gnaws the flesh off my arm.When I wake up I have this bony skeleton arm dangling. And she looks at it and I see her lick her lips.I have created a monster.