I had saved two eggs that got cracked in the coop when the chickens were pulling all the hay out of their nesting boxes to lay eggs on the bare wood. The longer the chickens were on adult feed the thicker the shells seemed to get, but a couple of these early eggs had cracked and i saved them for the dogs’ monday brunch. The dark one was Daisy’s egg and the light one was from Buttercup. I wasn’t feeling especially well and i overslept through all of the alarms…the one to take meds at 3, the one to let the chickens out of the coop at 6:30, and the one to get up and make breakfast at 8. So, i was late to everything. I had absent mindedly fed the dogs at dawn, though i’d already made the decision not to feed them on mondays until i got up so they could have their once-a-week egg brunch…so i ended up giving them a little extra dog food around 10 am with their eggs. As i pulled the eggs from the fridge both dogs appeared in the kitchen licking their lips. They knew what nice brown orbs i had in my hand and they knew what they were for too. Eating! Every time i collected eggs the dogs came to see what i’d gotten out of the coop and they would stare with interest, licking their lips through the chain link fence. Sili and Cashew loved eggs. I had decided that it would be a weekly late breakfast treat for them on my day off every Monday.
I put the skillet on the stove and cracked buttercup’s egg into it. I heard a whimper and this is what i saw when i turned around:
Both dogs were sitting at attention watching the skillet on the stove, watching me crack each egg into the skillet and then slide the precious cargo into the dog food bowls on the spatula. at one point they lost it and became very noisy and rowdy, whimpering and jumping about. I consider myself a very no-nonsense dog mama. To maintain control when out-numbered you’ve just got to hold the authoritative position and there’s got to be rules to have order. I turned around and in a very stern and raised voice announced that no-one was getting eggs if they didn’t cut it out. Both of them immediately went back to their places, side by side, in the sit position, absolutely silent. They stared at the skillet in anticipation as if to say “we got this! We’re being good! So good! We’re gonna be really good, i promise!”
I opened the doors and each dog climbed into their crate, turned around, and watched me like little four-legged hawks. I placed a bowl in each crate and closed the doors. The dogs went to town!
Both Cashew and Sili broke the yolk with their teeth and licked it until all the good stuff was gone.
That’s where the similarities ended. My wild, muscular, bull-in-a-china-shop aussie placed the entire fried egg-white on her tongue and swallowed it in one gulp. My dainty brindle-mix broke the egg white into tiny little pieces and ate each one with a few dog food kernels attached to it.
I enjoy the differences in their personalities. I maintain there’s no right or wrong way to eat an egg on top of dog food. I just know that my girls are coming to really look forward to mondays and during a time when i can’t really afford to buy them antlers or biscuits, i think its important to give them something to look forward to.