The Prince And The Peas

That's blind and deaf Gabe, in a photo taken back in Montana in 2009. Gabe had just returned home from surgery to remove a nasal tumor that had blocked his ability to breathe through his nose and to smell. Several months later, Paul and Jenny M. from Napa, California, adopted Gabe and gave him an amazing new life (and later adopted three-legged Ella, too!).

Well, Paul just emailed with a wonderful story on Gabe. It turns out he has developed an uncanny way of picking out peas -- and only peas -- from his food. I'll let Paul explain it:

"Now on to the story I like to call the Prince...and the peas!

Our blind and deaf boy Gabe is quite a character. Never complains, and his nub [of a tail] is always wiggling. His sense of sight and sound are gone, which has resulted in a very finely tuned sense of smell and taste! The boy can sniff out a dinner bowl a mile away. Recently, we switched to a different brand of wet food for him. This new wet food has all kinds of goodies in it, and he loves it...with one exception. You guessed it...PEAS!

At first I thought, 'Oh, Gabey must have missed a couple bites.' But, soon we were to learn about his dislike of the little green balls! Could this really be? Hmmmmmm? So every night I would fix his bowl of food, and every time he was done, low and behold, two peas in an otherwise cleanly licked bowl!

I set out to see how just how much he didn't like peas or if maybe he just overlooked them. Can he really pick them out of a bowl of food? So, every night I would do something different. I would mix the food up, I would bury the peas on the bottom, all sorts of little tricks. Every bowl would end up with the same result...two peas in a licked clean bowl! In a purely scientific approach to my experiment, I would actually sift through the wet food prior to feeding, just to count how many peas were in each can of food. Maybe a few snuck past his palette? No way, no how were those peas getting through. That furry blind and deaf boy can find a pea in a mouth full of food, and have it back in his bowl with out even as much as breaking the outer casing! I've seen it.....and I still don't believe it! So now it has become a game. Every night I count the peas before he eats, and every night I find all of them untouched in a cleanly licked bowl! Amazing."

Then Paul sent me some photos of this. First, the full bowl of food with the peas hidden in it:

Next, the final result:

Paul noted, "although this time he left a bit of carrot.....it must have been too close to the peas!"

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New Shelter Challenge Begins

The latest round of the Shelter Challenge began today and runs until October 13. You can vote every day here. To search for us, type in our name, Rolling Dog Farm, and Lancaster, NH 03584.

They have redesigned the contest site and made other changes. Please note that I cannot help with technical or voting problems. I also do not have an "inside track" to anyone at the Shelter Challenge, and I don't know any more about the contest than anyone else does. So if you find yourself having issues, please consult their FAQ page here and their Rules page, which is a pop-up you can find linked on this page.

Thanks for your votes!

Comments

[Kris]

There. Just be something about green things and dogs. We had a foundling Dobie who loved McDonalds burgers but licked the pickle clean before leaving it. Never tried him on peas....

[Glenn Bennett]

Thanks for all the up dates makes me smile when I see these animals so taken care of , Thank you God for all these nice folks.

[Becky]

Mayb these pet foods all use canned peas, & all these pea-rejectors would like frozen or fresh or raw peas--that's how I feel about peas, anyway.

[melanie]

That is hilarious - I don't like peas either - so I would, leave them as well!! :)

[Karla]

My first cat back in the early 80's would do the same thing with the "kitty stew" in a can. He would always eat the few other veggies included, but he would lick the peas clean and push them off the the side of the bowl. I stopped feeding it quickly!

[Shirley * James/Portland, OR]

So amazing Gabe has had such a GREAT life!!!! Makes my heart SING!! Thank you Paul and Jenny!!!

[Ann]

That is awesome! Gabe knows what he wants...and doesn't want! I really enjoy seeing updates of the RDF dogs who have gotten adopted. Thanks for sharing this.

[patty c]

That's hilarious!! Dog are so stinkin funny sometimes....

[Anne in FL]

GABE!! So good to hear from your dad that you are doing so well! Seriously tho...I too hate peas and agree, they gotta go! I do think it is funny all the time your dad spends mooshing around in your food counting veggies, heeheehee. Hugs sweet boy. Paul, thanks for the update.

[Leila K. - Belfair, WA]

That's adorable! My last cat was the same way -- the times I fed him canned food with any veggies in, he would always leave the peas....couldn't pull one over on him for anything!

[Janet in Cambridge]

It's so good to hear from Gabe after all these years. Please let us know how the beautiful Ella is doing, too!

[Lindsay Mathieson]

Clever lad!

[Tonya Allen]

Great story! Picky-eating dogs are so funny. Paul is lucky those peas stay in the bowl instead of being hidden away somewhere. We once got some gourmet dog biscuits, thinking it would be a nice change from Milkbones. Our dog didn't agree, but he also couldn't bear the thought of leaving his treat lying around where someone might steal it. So he buried it under my husband's pillow. This was a doubly surprising find because he was trained never to get up on the bed...

Glad to hear Gabe is so well and happy!

[Glen Johnson]

I had a dog like that. The peas were left in the bowl. She didn't want anything to do with them!!

[Lynn (in Louisiana)]

Thanks to Paul for this update. Glad that Gabe and Ella are both doing well. Funny thing about the peas. I had a friend who's dog spit out one of four different kibble in his food. I can't remember the exact story but the kibble had four different colors/flavors/textures and he rejected one. After every meal there would be pile of the rejected ones on the floor next to his bowl. Needless to say, she changed food! I haven't had this problem with food. But Tammany used to eat all her food and leave her medicine untouched!

[Barb Ribinski]

Knowing how much some dogs just love to eat, I think it's a riot that Gabe actually bothers to not eat his two peas. What could possibly so bad about those peas?? And to eat that wonderful bowl of food and be able to leave just those two peas - what a funny dog he is. I remember when he got adopted and also remember Ella. It's so nice to know they are still doing well. Thanks for the story.

[Linda]

He reminds me of one of my kids, but with mushrooms, picking each little bit of mushroom out of anything it was in!

Thanks for the Shelter reminder!!!