Strategical Positioning For Food

Abby's Positions During Baking

They say Mona Lisa’s eyes, though obviously motionless, are always looking at the viewers as they move through the room. Like the Mona Lisa, it seemed like whenever I was eating, Abby was always sitting in front of me even though I would not see her move. She just appeared in my direct line of sight. I don’t know how she did it. She was not a stealthy dog. She was big-boned and plodded along as she moved around. However, when I was eating, she was quite sneaky. She commanded my attention by where she positioned herself. I’d never see her get from one point to another. She just appeared. She also begged.


She had a knack for knowing where the food was or where it was going to be. When I bake Christmas cookies, I take a full day for this chore because I bake hundreds of them. The first year I baked them in my condo, Abby was all over my kitchen, literally. Initially, she sat right beside me at the chopping block where I would roll out the dough and cut the cookies. Abby knew that was the source of the tooties and wanted in on the action. However, she was in my way, so I made her move.

She chose the oven as her next place to sit. She knew the tooties went in and came out of there. She chose a strategical place and went there. Of course she was in my way there, too. Her next stop was the “cooling station.” For Abby, this was the ideal place. The finished product went there. She was just as obstructive there as the other places. Once again, I had to chide her to get out of the way. Finally, she chose a spot where the kitchen and hall meet. Abby wasn’t as close to the food as she would like, but she could keep an eye on me and be in a good position for any tooties. She knew where the food was or was going to be and went there.