Charlie and Beatrice

Some years ago, my friend Jennifer acquired a beagle called Beanz. Beanz had belonged to an American family who were returning home and could not take her with them. She was a large, ponderous, matronly, sneaky dog who lived solely for delectation of food. Having said that she was in fact quite a nice girl who happened to love her tuck a little too much.

Once Jennifer and her son got to know her, they changed her name from Beanz to Beatrice which seemed to suit her right down to the ground. And right down to the ground was not far for Beatrice as she suffered from duck's disease - you know short legs and built really close to terra firma! Even her tummy was in imminent danger of touching earth as she plodded around the garden. Now Jennifer had a friend living with her who owned a black Labrador called Gulliver, and Gully had needed to learn and adapt to living with Beatrice and her unfortunate food-stealing ways.

Fact is it got so bad for Gully that whenever he wanted to take a stroll around the garden, he would take his half-filled food bowl in his mouth and carry it with him; this was to stop Ms. Greedy from helping herself to whatever he happened to leave for his own later afternoon delight! Even so ever hopeful, she would sally along in his wake, slipping, plodding in behind him to hoover up whatever might happen to land on the ground.

Hysterically for us we would laugh as we watched this little procession of Gully trekking around the garden, carrying his food bowl and being followed closely by the ever hopeful, crumb-gobbling Beatrice. But because he was well-aware of her treacherous and greedy ways and also because he was a smart boy, he had cottoned onto her antics and his food was safe.

Well, the next player to come onto the scene was Charlie, my beautiful ridgeback, whom you may have read about earlier. She came to stay awhile with Jennifer, her son, Gully and Beatrice as we (as in my two sons and I) were moving back to Canberra after a twelve month stay in Queensland. And at Jennifer's suggestion we happily sent Charlie ahead to stay at her house while we were finalising our move back home.

Poor Charlie also had to learn the hard way that she was not the only dog who loved her food and that Beatrice really loved food, in fact she loved everyone's food. And just because she was a visitor Charlie was not exempted from the beagle's thieving ways. In fact, she learned very quickly that it was most unwise to leave her food unattended. And being a quick learner, she watched and copied Gully the resident Labrador, who never left his food bowl unattended, always took it with him, carrying it around the back yard in his mouth to both thwart Beatrice and save his dog biscuits. He carried it straight, he carried it tall, and he carried it proudly. Nothing ever dropped out of his bowl!

And as he was such a great example on how to be a true dog in the manger about his food Charlie copied his ways. She started to carry her bowl in her mouth, usually still half full of dog food, keeping it well out of the reach of Beatrice. You could almost see our beautiful girl smiling as she cantered around the garden putting to use those great avoidance tactics that she had learned from her friend Gully...

Unfortunately for Charlie she had not watched Gully closely enough; she did not carry her bowl straight like him. Rather because she carried it at such a jaunty angle, she was sprinkling her dinner behind her; like doggie treats for the personage behind. In fact, quite unknowingly and most generously she was sharing her meal with Beatrice who was hot on Charlie's heels hoovering up every mouthful she could as it dropped out bountifully out of the sky, just like proverbial manna from heaven.

Well as all good things must end so it was that we moved back into our house and Charlie returned to being only dog with no food bowl issues.

But what about Beatrice? That concrete battleship - that double-dipping diva – well she just got fatter and fatter and grew closer and closer to the ground!