Ash
People aren’t the only ones with manners. Us dogs have manners too.
Manners help us get along with each other in this world. It’s s sign of respect.
When people meet for the first time they usually shake hands. Dogs sniff butts.
Dogs with good manners understand they sniff and get sniffed. Dogs with bad manners only want to sniff.
Mom teaches us about manners every day. Don’t jump on people, sit to be greeted, don’t grab treats.
Even meal time has its own set of manners. All us dogs stand around in the kitchen while mom makes our meal. When she’s almost finished we all sit down. One by one our names are called and we get sent to our feeding station.
Because I start first I’m done first. I always stay a respectful distance away from Tess and Jack until they finish eating. Then we all run around and lick the other bowls.
Sometimes you don’t always know what to do in a situation. Like yesterday. Jack was sleeping. I was playing ball. The ball took a funny bounce.
Jack
Jack is deaf and sleeps a lot. Well, the ball landed right next to his head and stayed there. I tiptoed up to him hoping he was awake.
Nope. Sound asleep. I stared at him for a while hoping he would wake up. Nope. Still sleeping.
Oh, I coulda grabbed the ball. It would have startled Jack, but he wouldn’t complain.
Out of respect for Jack I went and got mom. Mom started laughing and grabbed her camera. Then she got me a different ball and we left Jack sleeping.
When Jack woke up I told him what happened. He said he wouldn’t have cared if I took the ball even if he was asleep.
See, that’s what manners can do. You’re polite to somebody and they treat you real nice in return. I like that!