#begging dog

It's not her fault; I taught her to do that. It's so hard to resist the big, brown Pug eyes when she sucks in her gut and lets me know how terribly, terribly hungry she is. I should have resisted. I should have taught her, instead, that she can never count on treats from this source.

But, the damage is done. She automatically wants what I'm having. Guiltily, I indulge her with a small piece.

She looks and sniffs, and rears back and gives me the side-eye. WTF?! What is this?! Dogs don't eat this! But I continue to hold it out to her, and eventually, she takes it, very politely, and wanders off somewhere with it. It's not a big apartment. She isn't gone long.

Hours pass. I go to work. I come home. I'm tired. I have a drink and go to bed, Miss Betty following close behind, Dogging my footsteps, like they do.

I pull down the covers in the welcome dark and start to fluff up my pillow... and find...

a dried up piece of food, carefully buried under one pillow and on top of another. A rejected treat, lovingly saved and donated by the Canine Treat Fairy.

I am less wildly grateful than one might assume.

We don't make eye contact while I politely save it for later disposal.

Peeta: *engages sad dog eyes* Can I have your sandwich?

Me: No.

*Sad eyes intesify*

Me: I am immune... you are nowhere near as sad dog eyes as the spaniel who came before you.

Me: See...

Photo by Kat Nijmeddin Jeff Kleinman, known for his work in Choir Boy, has stepped out with his new indie punk project, Begging Dog. Today, Dais Records gives the underground hit DEMO 1 a wide vinyl release. The record is a 26-minute journey through raw, homespun sounds, featuring rolling synth lines and motorik beats. Influenced by Bruce Springsteen’s direct lyricism, Kleinman trades flowery…