I Can't Compete

Yesterday I took Alvin over for an unannounced visit to my mom's house.  When first arriving, Alvin started dancing around searching for the bologna, but due to his cognitive limitations, he couldn't remember which room had the bologna in it and began frantically searching throughout the house, looking in boxes and on shelves that are low to the ground.  As I was opening the refrigerator my mom informed me that she had bought a new package of bologna just for him.  After feeding him a piece and visiting with my mom, I was getting ready to take him home and my mom put on her best grandma guilt voice and said, "well, give him another piece before he leaves."  It was at that moment that I realized that I am competing with the grandma factor.  Whenever Alvin goes over there he gets all kinds of treats and so of course my house is boring because I'm the mom with the healthy food.  I quit eating meat about five years ago but since I used to eat meat, it doesn't particularly gross me out but I have discovered that bologna is disgusting.  I have also discovered that the grosser the meat, the more the dogs love it.

While we were at her house, Alvin started to do his pee-pee dance and so I went outside and called and called him to come out too.  He becomes so fearful that he is going to miss something that he acts like a child who holds their crotch and dances, but doesn't want to take the time to go to the bathroom for fear they will miss out.  I finally got him on the lawn and he immediately urinated.  When we came back inside I very excitedly told my mom who then crouched down to tell Alvin how smart he is.  I told her that it seemed like he was learning where to go potty at her house but she interrupted me to claim that he already knows.  She was referencing the fact that on two occasions when he had to go, my mom sensed it before I did (I still don't know what she saw), opened the back door and he immediately went out and went potty.  She remains very proud of the fact that she called it before I did, that I argued with her that he didn't have to go, and then both times he went straight outside and pottied for her. 

When we left her house, Alvin didn't put on the brakes or try to run back inside before the door shut.  We both praised him and my mom being on a high from the display of normalcy then shouted, "see if he can find his way back home."  I just looked at her while Alvin continued to loop around me and I asked her how in the world we could ever determine if he was actually headed for home when he won't walk in a straight line.  She then laughed and made fun of us while we looped back home.  Alvin won't hold it against her though because she's the bologna grandma and his loyalty runs deep.