Bone Thief

Marley and I went for a walk about 8 last night. I was all bundled up and he couldn't be happier in his birthday suit. The wind wasn't as fierce as the past few days, so it was enjoyable for both of us. Marley played with a couple of pugs on 2nd Avenue and a young golden retriever coming up the hill on 41st Street. We turned the corner onto Tudor City Place and passed the entrance to our building.

Circling back, we came upon Percy and Melissa. Percy is a 2 1/2 year old vizsla and one of Marley's best dog buddies. Melissa is Percy's mom. They live at the far end of the hall from us. Percy and Marley are almost exactly the same size now.

Melissa walked Percy around for a few minutes and Marley followed excitedly, pulling me along. There's a low wall between the road and the sidewalk at the end of the street. Marley jumped up on it twice and walked back & forth along it as he followed Percy. Percy was pretending to not be excited.

We all went back into the building and rode the elevator back to the 3rd floor. Melissa took Percy's leash off and I dropped Marley's leash. Marley trotted down the hall with Percy following close behind. Melissa's door was ajar, and Marley pushed through. So we all went into Melissa's apartment and the dogs started to play. Percy grabbed a toy and dared Marley to take it away from him. Marley barely paid any attention to Percy.

Suddenly, Marley trotted over to Percy's toy box and grabbed a bone. He walked all around the apartment with the bone sticking out of both sides of his mouth, looking for a place to hide it.

"We get those meat bones at Petopia. They come frozen, but we heat them up in the oven to 350 degrees and drain off the fat. The marrow is actually the best part. Percy's done with that bone, so Marley can have it."

Marley couldn't have been happier. He walked around the apartment for another minute and then decided it was time to go home. So he walked down the hall to our apartment.

"Thanks for the bone. Happy New Year."

Marley chewed on that bone until 11 pm, only pausing for water and a quick trip outside. We all went to sleep, but Marley got up at 3 am and got that bone again. He chewed on it for 40 minutes, until Debbie got up and took it away from him. He chewed on it some more this morning, before I left for work. I know a dog who's going to be getting some frozen meat bones regularly.