Hide-And-Seek With A Giant

Have you ever tried to play the game hide-and-seek and continuously been ratted out by your dog?

Let me just back up a little. For those of you that may not know, we have three dogs. Sloane, who is a 13 year old char-pei/lab mix, Ziggy, an almost 8-year-old Boxer mix, and Reis, a 6 year old Great Dane.

All three of our dogs were rescues and they all have their own story. If you are not familiar with Reis’s story, he was rescued by NaNook & NaKoda’s Big Paws Rescue and within a couple of days we brought him to our home to foster him. Not long after we adopted him.

He was severely malnourished and for the first couple of weeks, would not hold his head up or meet your eyes. We nursed him back to health and today he is a 130-pound lap dog. That’s been almost 2 years ago.

I was the first one he bonded with. He loves our whole family, but if I am not in his line of sight… the search is on. It sometimes makes for an interesting time. For example, when I am in the bathroom. I never fully close the bathroom door, unless we have company.

Often when I take a shower in the morning, if I have not made an appearance in an acceptable to him amount of time, he pushes the door and noses the shower open to check on me. Just in case I might have somehow managed to slip out through the drain hole.

We love him dearly. He is protective of our family. If I decide to sit next to Aaron on the couch and lay my head on him… Aaron gets an earful. Reis will sit up on the couch, stare at him and begin to grumble deep in his throat. He does the same thing if Kiera and Aaron are wrestling. It’s hilarious but comforting at the same time.

This weekend, Kiera asked if we could play hide-and-seek. It’s been a while since we had done that so we agreed. Kiera bounded to the designated counting spot and begin to count.

Aaron and I split up and I headed for Kiera’s unmade bed.

“…13….14…” Kiera yelled from the living room.

I jumped on her bed and slid under the comforter piling pillows on me as fast as I could.

“…18…19…”

At the end of 19, I heard a jingle of dog tags and then felt the bed dip as Reis hoisted himself on top and laid down as close to me as he possibly could.

“…20! Ready or not, here I come!” Kiera yelled as she laughed out loud. I could hear her skipping on the hardwood floors.

Meanwhile, I was trying not to suffocate, as my one air pocket had been smushed down with the unexpected arrival of a giant. I heard Kiera’s footsteps get closer and I tried to slow my breathing and not burst out into a fit of giggling.

“Hmmm… I wonder where Mom is.” Kiera stated loudly. If you weren’t clear, that phrase was dripping with sarcasm when she said it.

I couldn’t help it. I begin to shake as I held in the laughter that was trying to bust out of me.

“I don’t know where she is, but I think I will lay on my nice, soft bed.” She continued on.

That did it. I couldn’t stop the giggles. Kiera flung the blanket off me, grinning from ear to ear.

“I saw Reis and I just knew you had to be under there.” She said laughing, before skipping off to find Aaron.

We reset and decided it was Aaron’s turn to do the counting. Kiera headed one way and I ran into the living room. We have two couches in the living room. They are put together in an L-shape, with a spot between them for an end table and blanket storage… perfect hiding spot.

I slid down on the floor, twisting and bending into a fairly uncomfortable position. I tossed a blanket over me and once again, added a couple of throw pillows to try and disguise my hiding spot.

Then came the unmistakable jingling of the dog tags and I felt the couch dip as Reis climbed on to it.

I restrained myself from laughing as I felt him settle down and lay his head on his paws, knowing that if I peeked out from under my blanket, he would be staring straight at me.

It didn’t take but just a couple of seconds before two paws slid under the blanket and straight into my line of vision. The next couple of seconds there was a snuffling and a large nose slid under the blanket.

I was done. I began to shake with laughter, knowing that I was never going to pull this spot off. It was too late to do anything else though. I heard Aaron’s footsteps as he walked through the kitchen and closer to my hiding spot.

By this time, Reis was peeking under the blanket at me… quite possibly wondering if his Mom had lost her mind. I began to giggle harder.

Then I heard Aaron as he began to laugh. Busted. I pulled the blanket off Reis’s head and mine while laughing uncontrollably. Aaron continued to laugh as he turned and went in search of Kiera.

“Wait! You can’t leave me here! I might be stuck!” I shouted at his retreating back.

I managed to untangle myself and take my turn at counting. Best part about my turn… Reis ratted out Kiera’s position as well.

Rowonna McNeely works as the Communications Manager for the Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce. She and her husband, Aaron are regular volunteers in the community, and have their hands full with their daughter, Kiera, along with three dogs and one cat.

Thank you for sharing in our weekly journeys. If you have missed any of our past stories, check out our blog page at www.lifea2k.net or drop us a line at lifea2k@yahoo.com.