Part of the nightly preparing for bed ritual in our home is giving Nip and Tuck, our two bunnies, their ration of fresh food. We feed Nip and Tuck a quarter cup of kibble per day each—an eighth of a cup each twice a day—as much timothy hay as they want, and two cups of fresh food. The fresh food is usually Italian flat-leaved parsley or cilantro. But occasionally they’ll get apple, carrots, cabbage leaves, or banana.
On the nights that we give Nip and Tuck carrots bedlam breaks out. Not from the rabbits but from the dogs. As I clean and prepare the carrots the dogs become more and more excited. There’s no disguising it from them. They can smell a cut carrot from anywhere in the house.
Qila, our most exciteable, will begin barking. The others will take it up and start barking or, possibly, howling. As I bring the carrots to the B’s the dogs crowd around me. Mira, our youngest, may start to jump. That cannot be allowed.
I put all of the dogs into a sit, give the B’s their carrots and then solemnly give each dog—oldest to youngest—a two inch piece of carrot. They each gratefully accept their carrot and take it to a quiet corner where they can happily chomp down on it without fear of Mira creeping up and stealing it from them.
Peace returns to the house.
