Three Bites for Me

From Mia Cope

If you don’t know me well, I suppose you could look at the title for this Note and think that I’m a pretty ferocious dog.

But look at that face! How could any dog with a face like that be ferocious? And I’m not even wearing any makeup in that photo. ¹

Back to my original point. I wouldn’t bite anybody. Although the little boy at the big box pet store where I have my spa days wasn’t convinced. I was minding my own business and walking out the door completely beautified and this mini-dude kept ducking behind his mom and making whimpering noises. I went over to explain to him that I was harmless and friendly. I even offered to trade sniffs. He wasn’t so inclined.

Okay, I kind of thought that last paragraph was back to the original point but it really wasn’t because this Note is actually about things I do like to bite — basically anything that Momma and Daddy eat for supper.

I don’t really get that much from the table because Momma does research and she is pretty much an expert on what I can and can’t eat. And when she can’t remember which is which (and that’s totally understandable since there are literally thousands of things that people can eat) she asks Daddy. Daddy just refuses to make eye contact with anyone and mumbles. So, just to be safe, Momma only gives me a few morsels of things that she knows are okay.

Like salmon. I really, really, really, really, really love salmon.² However, Momma is very careful to limit my people food. So I spend a good part of supper time pointing out things on the table that I think we could add to the line-up.

She does make frozen treats especially for me. I like them almost as much as salmon. They’re made of yogurt, bananas, and peanut butter. I’ve watched Momma mix up a batch and then lick the spoon after she scoops the treats into little muffin papers for freezing. I may get her to share her recipe. Your dog will love them. And apparently from the healthy spoonfuls Momma sometimes gets, you humans will like them, too.

But I always know that Daddy will have three bites for me at the end of his meal. You see, Daddy loves watermelon. And unless there is some sort of supply chain issue,³ he has a piece every night. And the first three bites are mine.

That’s why I love Daddy. He mumbles a lot, lacks some social graces, and walks way too slow. But he shares the first three bites with me. And watermelon is good for dogs. (Daddy asked me to remind you that dogs should get most of their nutrition from dog food. Any food from the table should be limited.)

It’s not the quantity that counts. It’s the love I feel when my people share.

Share some of your food with others today. They will feel the love, too. There will be less hunger. And we’ll all be friends. Next time I see that little boy in the pet store, I’m going to offer him something to eat.

1. I didn’t even try to cover up that little black dot under my tongue. Dr. L says it’s a birthmark but Daddy is convinced it’s a microdot with top secret information on it. That’s silly, of course. We all know that it’s much easier just to have a group chat on that Signal app if we need to make sure everyone knows our secrets.

2. Knowing that I like salmon, Momma told Daddy to buy me some salmon dog food from the pet store. Daddy brought home a 15 pound bag. A month or so later, Daddy gave away what I didn’t eat. He thinks it was about 14 pounds and 15 ounces. I just couldn’t see a reason that I should eat dry salmon dog food when Momma would give me gourmet bites from her plate.

3. You know, like someone imposes tariffs on food or something.