Rocky Adventure – Excellent Trade

bones-307870_640And the trade was no good. I knew I wanted at least the bone and the ball, but Izzy was holding out on me. It didn’t help that Buck had some pretty good stuff too, sort of making me compete against him while trying to get the really neat squeaky toy he’d found. We all had something the others wanted, but it was hard giving up the treasures we’d found while out on the hunt.

“How many times do I gotta tell ya,” Izzy ruffed, “I’m not giving up any of my bones.”

“But you have three!” Buck whined.

“So.”

“Well you’ll probably just eat them all and then what will you play with? Those bones won’t keep you entertained forever,” I commented, trying to get Izzy thinking long-term.

“I’ve still got the ball, and what if I use one to play fetch or something?”

Buck made the face and bellowed, “That’s absurd! Whoever heard of fetching a bone? You fetch the stick, every dog knows that.”

“No, I can fetch the ball too,” Izzy retorted making his smart face.

“That’s what’s wrong with you, always bouncing off the walls and such,” I quickly ruffed, giving Izzy the most accusing stare possible without giggling.

Izzy stuck his nose in the air and pretended not to hear any such comments. He was playing a hard game, but we were gonna get at least one of those bones. There had to be something Izzy would want, something he liked more than a bone.

“Look, I’ll throw in one of my stuffed carrots,” I anted up.

“Well, maaaaybeee…” Izzy considered, “But only if it’s the new one, the one with the extra fluffy leaf.”

Oh how the tables have turned. I knew he liked my carrot collection, the most excellent squeakers surrounded by the squishiest fluff and most chewable fuzzy cover. They were the best of my toys, my most prized, but I wasn’t about to give it up for just one bone.

“Hold on one moment,” I went into deep consideration expressions, “my pal gave me that carrot just last week, and it’s in perfect condition, only squeaked twice. I don’t know if I could just give it away for such a meager bone.”

“Now hold on there,” Izzy made his frustrated face followed by the exasperating yawn and head shake, “You want the bone, I want the carrot, let’s trade!”

“What about this squeaky,” Buck chimed in, “It’s totally brand new,”

“Naw, I want the carrot now,” Izzy ruffed, looking at me sternly. “So what about it?”

“Well if I give you the carrot, I’m gonna need at least two bones,” I replied with a very confident tone.

“Oh no, I see how it is,” Izzy layed down on the bones. “You just want two bones because you’ll trade it to Buck to get his squeaky and then I can’t trade for that squeaky.”

“How clever, I guess that would be a good trade, wouldn’t it?”

“Yeah, and that’s why I’ma do it before you can,” Izzy barked. “Okay, Buck, gimme your squeak and I’ll give you the treat.”

“Done!” Buck bellowed happily.

“Ha, an excellent trade.” Izzy smiled, “Now how about that carrot…you give me the carrot and you got yourself a bone.”

“Yuppers, you got me on that one I guess,” I sighed, “Well, you can have the carrot for one bone, nothing more, nothing less.”

“Done! An excellent trade!” Izzy wooped and went to fetch the carrot.

Indeed, I do like it when a plan falls in place so well. I was just wanting Buck to have a bone too, and would have just let him have it so he wouldn’t be left out. This is mostly due to the simple fact that it would allow all of us to chew our treats in peace, because there’s nothing more distracting than a pair of big eyes and floppy ears drooling all over the floor beside you while you savor the flavor of a fine bone such as this. And that’s what we did, all happily chewing and chomping our treats while the world around us would never even comprehend the most excellent deal that had just taken place.

 

Author:

Jason Duron is a short story writer and author of several fiction stories. Curious and lovable as dogs can be, the Adventures of Rocky, Nixi, and Dante give you a chance to see daily life from a “dog’s eye view” and share in their thoughts.  Please enjoy, and we hope that you’ll feel free to comment and give us insight into your dog’s very own adventures.