Hide and Seek

I have many fond memories involving dogs. My jack russel terrier who loved to hold his own leash when he went out for walks. Every time my cousin's giant pitbull laid down over my lap to ask for belly rubs. If I had to choose my favorite memory though, it would be teaching my dog "Yogy" to play 'Hide and Seek'. Many years ago in 2010, when I was young and in elementary school, my mom had gotten my sister and I a dog named Yogy. He was a tri-colored beagle who loved to eat everything including his toys, my toys and my family's wash clothes. Which, spoiler alert, came back to bite him in the butt. He was a pretty hyper dog at times, and I loved playing with him whenever I could. We obviously played fetch like all dog owners do, but one day I had a weird thought. "I wonder if I could play Hide and Seek with him." Now most people would just go "Nah that's a stupid idea", but I was determined to make it work.

Now obviously it would be very hard to get a dog to stay in one spot facing away from you while you go to hide in some room. Even so I, unsuccessfully, tried to make that work. Finally, after a while I realized Yogy wasn't going to be able to stay still, so I came up with another plan. If I couldn't get him to stay still while looking away, then I would just make him go away as I hid. So, to make this plan work, I would throw his toy into the kitchen and then run quickly to hide in a room. This worked perfectly! By the time he got his toy and came back, I would be already gone. The house we lived in was just one story so there weren't many places for me to hide and he didn't have to look for me very long. Usually I was hiding behind the door in my room or in the bathroom, but sometimes I would switch it up by hiding in the laundry room next to the kitchen or in my mom's room. I would always try so hard not to laugh as I heard the little pitter patter of his paws walking around the house as he looked for me. Then eventually he would walk into the room, turn around and see the 10-year-old making trying to make himself look smaller in the corner, and run over to him happily.

I was so happy that this game was actually working, and I remember the day I told my mom about it. I threw the toy and hid, and she watched Yogy find me, and was actually surprised it happened. Thinking back on it now though, that could've been her doing the typical parent thing of acting surprised by something their kid did and cheering them on. Either way though it made me feel good, so thanks mom. There was even a time when I would be over at my dad's house, and my mom would tell me how Yogy would be looking for me by going to the spots I would always hide in. Hearing that made me feel so happy and sad at the same time. After that I even tried to teach him to hide while I looked for him. Which of course didn't work at all sadly. Yogy died a couple of years later due to all the wash clothes he ate but remembering all the times we played together brings a smile to my face.