Laundry Room Mischief

 

    I love having a laundry room.  When the kids lived at home, it sometimes resembled a Laundromat or a popular dry cleaner.  It’s easy to hide mounds of dirty clothes by closing the door!

  The laundry room holds something completely different for my “boys.”  It seems to be a mysterious, but mischievous place.  Let me give you some examples.

   One chore my human children had was to bring their dirty clothes to the laundry room.  My son hated this chore, so he taught our Golden Retriever, Tucker, to do the job for him.  Tucker would to go into his bedroom, gather the dirty clothes, take them to the laundry room, and drop them in the laundry basket.  It reached a point where he

“retrieved” clothes as soon as they touched the floor.  My husband started putting his clothes on the floor of his closet when he changed from work.  Not to be deterred, Tucker taught himself to stick his snout into edge of the bi-folding door and edge it open.  He would come walking into the living room like King Arthur after he pulled the sword from the stone!  He would prance past us a couple of times with his head held proud, his tail wagging over his back and undergarments in his mouth!  

   Once he mastered that mischief, I would simply tell him “It’s time to do laundry and he would take off to each bedroom gathering clothes.  He did have a special fondness for white cotton tees and socks!  If the door to the laundry room was closed, that meant he had to prance around with a mouthful of clothes to each family member, until someone opened the door and he could drop off the laundry.  I know there are photos somewhere!

   When Bentley moved in, the laundry room held adventure.  There were baskets he could climb in and out, shelves to crawl on, AND it’s where we keep their food.  Tucker quickly taught baby Bentley that the laundry room also held their leashes, treats, and grooming supplies.  Bentley decided early that he was going to make this special room his office.

   Tucker liked the laundry room, but Bentley absolutely LOVES his laundry room office.  It usually takes a treat or his toothbrush to get him to leave willingly.  He is over the climbing in the baskets and getting on the shelves stage.  Mainly, it’s because he doesn’t fit on the shelf and if you’ve seen his toothbrush video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM5HhhWGYuY, you know he has issues with climbing over edges.

   Anytime that he hears the door open, he isn’t far behind.  The first thing he does is put

his paws up on his grooming/treat/leash table.  He lets me know that it is way past treat time, but I explain the table is for unopened treats.  When he is satisfied that nothing new has magically appeared, he sits in front of the dryer.  It doesn’t matter to him that I can’t open the dryer door all of the way with him plopped down under it.  Once I’ve hung the clothes or folded the towels, it is time to leave his office.

   “C’mon Bentley, let’s go.”  I urge him while making kissy noises and patting my leg.  He

looks at me with a Basset smirk.  “Yeah, I’ll come out but it’s gonna cost you.  I smelled a flavor of treats on my table that I haven’t sampled.  Mom, we’ve discussed you holding out on the treats before.”  I’d like to think that he is teasing, but I know that he is serious.  I once tried to sneak some bones, frosted dog cookies, and pig ears into the laundry room without him knowing.  It was a birthday surprise!  He smelled them on me and went straight to his office door.  He was not happy to discover that I had tried to hide something from him.

   You can set your watch within ten minutes at my house each day between 1:15 and 1:30.  That is Bentley’s lunch break.  He is the most adamant dog I have ever seen when it comes to lunchtime.  When his stomach bell signals that it is 1:15, he will climb on me, smother me with kisses, and put his paws around my neck.  I am usually writing in the afternoon, but he makes it impossible to get to my keyboard.  He will actually throw himself across the keys in the depths of starvation.  All I have to say is, “”Are you ready to eat?”  He hops down and waits at the kitchen entrance for me to follow him.  If I don’t, it’s more serious loving until I actually get up to follow.  He leads me to the laundry room door and goes to stand by his food.  He couldn’t speak any clearer if given a human voice.

   Over the years, I have come to trust letting Bentley sit in his office, if I am in an adjacent room.  That is, until a couple of weeks ago.  I was in the kitchen brewing my umpteenth cup of coffee when I heard a rattle and crash.  Hoping Bentley’s not hurt, I race to the laundry room.  I find him with only his tail sticking out of his giant bag of dog food!  Luckily, the bag was almost empty.  He was chowing down when I finally pulled his obviously, still starving body out of the bag.  He didn’t even have the decency to look guilty.  Currently, he is banned from his office unless I am in there watching him.

There is just something mischievous about the laundry room…

A special thanks to the hosts of Mischief Monday’s blog hop, http://mybrownnewfies.com/ , http://www.alfiesblog.com/ , http://snoopysdogblog.com/

All three are super blogs, so be sure to join in their fun along with these other mischievous bloggers!