Thursday, January 07, 2010

A "Trifle"ing Matter

I have American Cocker Spaniels - anybody familiar with this breed (and most Sporting breeds) knows that they are ruled by their stomachs. My old dog Quigley (now passed on) was the most food driven dog that I have ever known. He was a very mellow, pedantic dog, even in his younger years, yet he could perform acrobatic feats to obtain food when he wanted to. Some of the stuff he ate was the stuff of legends - an entire box of Bran Buds cereal, a box of Fruit & Vegetable supplement bars, ant traps and more. But the story below is my favourite one.

It was a summer barbecue that my folks were hosting, because it was my best friend's first trip to the city I grew up in. All of our family and friends were invited to come and meet my friend, since they'd heard so much about her. My mom's best friend wanted to do something special for me, and since she's the most incredible cook/baker I know, she decided to make a fruit trifle. She used fresh fruit, full cream, and shaved Bernard Callebaut (high end) chocolate on top. It truly was a thing of beauty. We put it on the dining room table, along with the other food, and everybody went into the backyard to eat.

We were all eating, laughing and having a good time when we realized that Quigley was conspicuously absent. He was a champion beggar, so we knew something was up. My mom asked "Where's Quigley?" and as if on cue, he came running out of the house, very nonchalantly. What made it funny was his whipped cream feet and beard! Now, Quigley was black, so it's not like he could hide the evidence, but he acted like nothing was out of the ordinary - he always walked around like Santa Claus! Everybody was shocked into silence, and then my mom raced into the house to check on the trifle. It had two very distinct paw prints in it, and I swear to this day you could see the lick marks where he'd been self-indulging. My mom's best friend was devastated, because nobody except for me would try the trifle. I figured that I live with so much dog hair and spit that a bit more wouldn't hurt. I could see why he enjoyed it!

Quigley's been gone for more than 3 years now, and I miss him all the time. This is one of those stories that keeps his memory alive for us (my family, friends and I), and it's one that never fails to make us smile and laugh.

Thanks for letting me share!

4 comments:

Visichy said...

LOL!!! I can really appreciate all sides. As a baker I can imagine your friend was devastated after putting so much time, money, effort, and love into a special dessert. But as a dog owner I can appreciate that, especially now, how glad you must be that it happened as it is such a funny Quigley memory. He sure was a sweet ol' guy.

Ange said...

I'm sure you remember, but that picture you have haning in your grooming area is from the same day. That was my first, but certainly not my LAST encounter with the infamous cocker appetite!

{Sarah} said...

Cute cute cute story!

Dani said...

LOL... i love it Kelly!