"Here Jack. Nice Jack.  Come here Jack"   Jack with tail in motion chose to ignore everyone and climb higher looking for a tree borne cat.

"Wait a minute" said I.  "I think I know how to get him down."   I ran back into the house and grabbed a handful of dog biscuits and stuck them into my pocket. 

I climbed partially up the tree and extended my hand clutching a dog biscuit.  "Here Jack.  Food.  Come on; you hungry?"

Jack looked at the biscuit clutched in my hand and the next thing I knew, the biscuit was gone and my hand was covered with slime.

"Come on Jack, come on.  Here, have another biscuit."   I could see that I defiantly had his attention.  Jack and I worked our way down the tree. 

Jack reached ground before me and became a creature of constant motion.    He was up and running down the middle of the street before I could draw out my next biscuit. 

He was already a block away.  His owner tried to call him back, and it seemed obvious to me that he was ignoring her. 


"Hey Jack!" I yelled.  "Look, I have more dog biscuits.  I have more food for you."     You would think that Jack was equipped with anti lock breaks. He stopped.  He stood for a minute looking at me from a block away and then started running back toward me.

I held out my hand and the very next thing I experienced was the dog running by me, grabbing the biscuit, and not slowing down one bit.   Jack was once again a full block away.   

"Hey Jack.  I have some more.  Look more food," I yelled.

I could see that he was enjoying himself.  His tail was moving at a tremendous pace and he turned around for another run.   This time, I tried to outsmart him by holding my hand up in the air.   That was no problem for Jack, he made a running leap for the dog biscuit, snatched it in mid air, and continued on his run. 

Jack was truly enjoying himself.  I could see that he saw "get the biscuit" as a new game. 
I turned to my neighbor. "I have one more idea get your leash ready."

I held up a biscuit for Jack to see.  He started to run toward me.  As the animal got closer,   I covered the dog biscuit with my hand, and then said: "Sit Jack. Sit."

The dog came to an immediate stop and sat.  "Stay Jack, stay" I said as I fed him another doggie morsel.   I grabbed his collar, his owner then snapped her leash on him.   I petted Jack and gave him another doggie treat.

"Good dog Jack.  Good dog."

It was a hot summer day.  I really didn't feel all that ambitious. Our cats had eaten, the neighbor's dog was back where he belonged, my wife, Claudia, was free to do wife things again, and I did what was right.  I had experienced enough excitement for the day.   I lay down on the couch, turned on the TV and allowed my mind, once again, to turn to oatmeal.