Dog Gone Brilliant!

So I've got this new dry cleaning service that picks up the dry cleaning one day and delivers it to my door a few days later and I'm very happy with their service, so far. But that's not what this post is about. This post is about my dogs.

I leave a purple bag on a hook, filled with the dry cleaning, twice a week for pick up and lately I notice that my dogs will go berserk, barking furiously when the big purple van pulls into the driveway. The barking is not unusual. My dogs bark at everything that passes by; runners on the street, people on bikes, UPS and Fed Ex trucks, but not like they do when the purple van shows up. I can always tell when the Zoots guy is here because they go crazy; like they are up scratching and clawing at the window crazy.

Today I needed to ask my dry cleaning driver a question, so when I heard the dogs causing a rukus, I knew he had arrived. I carefully stepped outside and shut the door behind me, but it just barely drowned out the mayhem that the dogs were creating on the other side. I proceeded to talk to my pleasant driver and take care of business. When we were done, I apolgized to the driver for the dogs and I said, "I'm so sorry. I'm not quite sure what it is about you or your van, but my dogs seem to have a problem with you."

The driver smiled and said, "Oh I'm sorry. Well, would you please give the dog these?" In his hand he held two Milk Bone dog treats. " I always leave them on the front porch stoop, by the bag and I don't want to forget today." he said.

It was like a light went on in my head. I sort of chuckled and asked him to wait a second and I walked over to the door and let the clamoring, barking dogs outside. The same two dogs that were ferouciously clawing to get out  immediately turned into calm, sweet,  tails wagging dogs who went over to the driver and gave him a hearty welcome. I immediately understood. They were friends, and their Pavlovian response to the purple van was not at all what I had thought it was. My dogs wanted their twice weekly treat from their new friend the dry cleaning guy.

I was happy to know that my dogs aren't at all ferocious. In fact, it just solidified the "man's best friend" thing in my mind. Because before today I'm not sure that the driver understood that when he visited my home to pick up/dropoff , he was being anxiously awaited by his two new best friends.