For three years I have fed Eko twice a day, every day. But apparently three years is not enough time to inspire faith in Eko that I will remain vigilant in providing him food. Eko is the ultimate guard dog, as long as your goal is to prevent mealtime from being stolen by time.
Ever vigilant, Eko has a multitude of fail-safes in place to ensure he is well fed.
Eko has the ultimate selective hearing. No matter what time of day or night and no matter how deep his sleep might be, Eko will jolt upright if anyone so much as whispers the “H-word”
For a time I would spell out h-u-n-g-r-y but Eko quickly caught on to that game as well. If I accidentally say “hungry” it usually means I will be pestered until I feed Eko.
In addition to explicit verbal cues, Eko also uses some implicit cues to cajole me into feeding him earlier in the evening. I used to buy dog food and fill up the container whenever I got home.
However, Eko perfected his “Don’t be a jerk and do this in front of me” face. I guess it was unfair to torture him like that so now I only fill up his container during meal time
Situational awareness is another strong point of Eko’s. The first time Emily worked the night shift, she happened to wake up for work every day right around Eko’s dinner time. So before she left she would feed him. This was all well and good until Eko realized that whenever Emily woke up, he got food. So Eko took matters into his own paws and started breaking into the bedroom to wake Emily hours ahead of schedule.
I give Eko credit for creativity, but he and I were both in the dog house for a while because of that stunt.
Eko’s “But it was a good plan!” mopey face
While Eko will poke or paw me if he thinks I’ve forgotten dinner time, my favorite is when he uses “psychic” powers to compel me to feed him.
Eko will quietly sit by his food bowl and stare at it with such intensity I can only assume he attempts to conjure food with mental powers alone
You might think Eko’s psychic powers are fake, but he hasn’t missed a meal in three years!
Do your pets have any friendly reminders or cues for you when it’s time for a meal?