I watch as they start out for a walk.
Babe, the Chocolate Lab, dancing
and prancing and tugging hard on

the harness, which is attached
to the leash at the chest, which
gives my wife much more control

than she would have if the leash
was attached directly to the collar.
On the walk, my wife tells Babe

to heel, sit, and go slow. They
return about forty-five minutes
later and Babe walks much more

slowly, hardly tugging at all.
An hour later Babe sleeps on a
comforter between us as we sit

watching a New Year’s Day college
football game. My wife asks Babe
if she wants dinner. Babe raises

her head, perks her ears, stands
and looks toward the kitchen. Then
she goes from her food bowl to the

counter where she knows there is a
container of her dog biscuits which
she knows as “cookies.” She waits

for dessert. Heel, sit, go, slow,
no, good girl, dinner, cookie. Babe
still doesn’t understand “Bad girl.”

Maybe she’s just ignoring us.