So, Where are the Treats?

I keep treats for Emme in the closet in my sewing room. Her favorites are dried sweet potato chews. We started with a bag of "Sam's Yams Sweet Potato Dog Chewz" (frontporchpets.com) that we got from the kennel. The chews looked like slices of the sweet potato cut long ways. They were very hard and required a lot of chewing. We stopped giving them to Rudy because instead of chewing them, he broke them into large chunks and bolted the pieces down. I was afraid that he would hurt himself with the jagged pieces of hard dried sweet potatoes going through his intestines. So I moved the sweet potato chews upstairs to the closet in my sewing room and a few times a week when Rudy was downstairs I would break off a piece of a chew and give it to Emme. When she got the treat, she would do the "treat dance," play with it, pounce on it, throw it up in the air and finally chew it for a long time. She got the chews so infrequently and had such small pieces that the bag lasted two years.

We finally finished the bag and I wanted a replacement. I went back to the kennel and they had stopped carrying the dried sweet potatoes. I looked on line and found a holistic veterinary practice in North Canton that carries Sam's Yams. We stopped there a few weeks ago and instead of buying the same size treats I had purchased originally, I got a bag of "Bichon Fries Sweet Potato Dog Chewz," perfect for my Bichon Frise. They look like crinkle cut french fries but they are orange and very hard. I snap each one in half or thirds, so I think these will last a long time too.

Every time Emme comes into my sewing room she stops at the closet to remind me what is stored on the top shelf. She doesn't get a treat every day, but hope springs eternal. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.