THE GENIUS THAT IS THEO

Our dog Theo had a penchant for trash as a young pup, and we made the mistake of training him to trade "trash" for treats in an effort to disuade him from raiding the trash. It worked, sort of. While he hasn't raided the can in I can't remember how long, he definately made the connection and it stuck. Take tonight for example, it was feed the turtles and Sid, the horribly ill tempered blue tongue skink that has been alive longer than any blue tongue skink should be and instead of mellowing with age, becomes even nastier. Long name I know, but he deserves it. Now, back to the ramble.
In the course of feeding them, old paper plates are removed and dropped on the floor as new ones full of dinner are added. Usually, they are picked up and discarded after the rotation is complete. But tonight I was busy preparing dinner for the humans in the house and forgot about the plates on the floor.
At increasingly shorter intervals Theo would present either me or Ann with a dried fruit encrusted plate, give it to us and head for the temple of dog snacks ( also known as the pantry) or alternately the stove (or keeper of the magic chicken...or something else tastey, like tater tots). Where he would wait expectantly, for the trade off. He has no real interest in trash...he's a snackhead.
There's also this other thing he does that I like to call "scratch my itch". If he's laying on the couch with you or in the bed, he will begin to scratch an itch and then, in mid scratch, throw those awesome sad eyes at you and hesitate with the scratching, in anticipation of you taking over the relief of the itch by scratching it for him. There are always kisses from him when it's done.
Theo is such a player.