After Mike wrote this post about his adventures at home with Rigby while Annabel and I were in New York, a number of readers seemed up in arms over my banning Mike from eating on the couch. Well, in my defense, it should be noted that:
A) We have a new couch; and
B) Mike spilled on it less than one hour after it was delivered.
Making matters even worse, Mike didn’t spill something harmless like a glass of water. Nope. Mike had to make a spillage of epic proportions by overturning an extra large bowl of cheesy marinara and meatball spaghetti.
Cheesy.
Marinara.
And Meatball.
Spaghetti.
ON OUR NEW COUCH!!!
As you can imagine, an intense period of frantic cleaning followed, one which neither Mike nor I ever want to repeat. Because of this Mike eats most of his meals at our work desk, and despite his bluster in his post, he actually ate there even when I was in New York. This he admitted to me before adding, “I may have followed the rules while you were gone, but Rigby did not.”
Rigby, if you remember, had to have surgery last year, and afterward the vet said she could eat nothing but prescription dog food ever again. This order did not make a professional table scrapper like Rigby happy, and it took a long while before she accepted it. Or at least until we’d thought she’d accepted it.
It turns out that one night while I was gone Mike woke to hear a creepy scratching noise emanating from our living room. He sat up, spooked, and the scratching intensified. It was then Mike realized that Rigby, instead of sleeping at the foot of the bed, was gone. Freaked out that whatever was making the awful scratching noise had done something to Rigby, Mike grabbed his baseball bat and snuck into the living room. Upon nervously peering around he saw TWO EYES – about five feet off the ground – staring back at him. Mike screamed, then stumbled backward and flipped on the lights convinced he was going to see a Danny Devito sized intruder ready to attack him. Instead, he saw Rigby on the work desk, lapping up a bowl of – you guessed it – cheesy marinara and meatball spaghetti that Mike had forgotten to put in the kitchen sink.
The amazing thing about this though is that Rigby is a tiny six pound dog that somehow Indiana Jones’d her way onto the work desk which stands high off the ground. Mike and I could only imagine her risking death defying leaps from our couch to our bookshelf to our work desk, all so she could break her diet. That’s some serious food cravings. And she’s not even pregnant.
Somewhere, Maddie is giggling at Rigby’s antics. After all, she was known to help her doggie break the rules with food from time to time.
{ 59 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh this made me laugh and laugh. I’m sure Maddie is watching. Precious photo.
Alison´s last [type] ..Overload
That sounds like it is a great rule for your house Heather! Thanks for posting the picture of Maddie, it’s refreshing to see her beautiful face!
1. If the couch has already been christened with spaghetti marinara and meatballs, then surely nothing else Mike does to it will matter?
2. You made me laugh out loud! I can just see Mike and the baseball bat and the glowing eyes…
Adorable pic of Maddie and Rigby. Hugs to you!
Kate @ UpsideBackwards´s last [type] ..Wiggle wiggle wosie
Love the photo of Maddie and Rigby. So adorable
love it made me lol also, well done Rigby!
Best buddies forever, and I’m sure that Rigby still misses precious little Maddie every single day,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
As he picked up the baseball bat did Mike yell “it’s go time!?”
I love the picture of Maddie feeding Rigby. It reminds me of something you would see in a Norman Rockwell picture. I guess it is not surprising that she can master the desk since she can also open peanut butter jars. I wonder if she can open the refigerator, too!
Jenny´s last [type] ..Typhoid Mary Goes to DC
That’s funny, I thought of the emergency staff of peanut butter incident too!
charlane´s last [type] ..BBQ Cake
Oh, Maddie was definately giggling at that one.
Jill´s last [type] ..Hallmark doesn’t make those kinds of cards
I “requested” my husband not eat on our new couch for about 2 years. Now that we have kids though he is the least of my worries.
Capital Mom´s last [type] ..Cheeks
I’m sure that especially since Rigby is on her “special” diet, she can’t wait for the day that she can get some “help” from Annie. We have had to cut some pretty interesting things out of our dogs hair. Fruit snacks, suckers, he really loves chips and french fries. Poor Winston. Now he’s been getting licks of popsicles, and then gets caught eating the wooden sticks!
Kelly´s last [type] ..Losing my Marbles.
My son goes to my mother in law’s when we work and since they have a dog he got used to dropping food on the floor for the dog. We don’t have a dog so now he just throws food on the floor that Mommy has to pick up!!
tanya´s last [type] ..Not a happy camper
Rigby is counting down the days to Annie starting solids! I love the pic of Maddie. She always makes me smile.
Rigby is a pretty impressive pooch!
Love the picture!
AmazingGreis´s last [type] ..Wordless Wednesday – New Life…
Children and dogs- my grandson has already figured out that he can feed our old boxer dog from his high chair and it makes them both so happy.
Ms. Moon´s last [type] ..Ah Lah
so so funny
You know, you should seriously leave something tempting out and leave a video camera rigged to record and get Rigby’s athletic moves on video.
Great idea!!!
Love that picture…she is precious.
Where’s there’s a Will,
There’s a way!
And Rigby found it!!!!
Thanks for the pic of Maddie. She was so tiny. Her little feet and hands…..I didn’t realize just how small she was, until Annie came. They are both beautiful, wonderful little girls…and why wouldn’t they be with parents like you guys!
Thinnking of you and yours Always!
Love,
Jenn
Of BP proportions
Amanda´s last [type] ..Readings from Papa.
Wow way to go Rigby! I do have to say though that Mike did not disclose that this was a new couch, so in that case I would have to make that a rule too!
I am sure Maddie is just giggling with delight over this! Hugs to you all
Great picture!
Nicole´s last [type] ..Rough Water’s
What a great picture. It’s only a matter of time before Annie is conspiring with Rigby, as well.
And six pounds, nothing. Dogs are amazingly inventive, especially when it comes to food/treats…
J+1´s last [type] ..Getting along
Until I had one, I always thought the little beasties were supposed to give us comfort and protect us, not make strange noises in the middle of the night that scared the crap out of us!
Gorgeous picture!
Neeroc´s last [type] ..The 842nd way motherhood has made me lose my mind.
My husband is the opposite…he doesn’t allow (but the kids still sneak) anyone to eat on our couch!! I guess its good because we don’t have any spaghetti on ours! lol
Great pic of Maddie!
Java´s last [type] ..Me Time!!
Hehe, love, love, love that picture of Maddie and Rigby
Our cat is diabetic and on a strict diet of not so yummy prescription cat food. She will go to great lengths to steal food from where ever she can. She managed to get her rather large self onto our counter one time and ate through about half a package of hamburger buns. Apparently being subjected to strict diets makes our animals take crazy measures to get something that tastes halfway decent
Lisa´s last [type] ..The Chimes at City Garden
My dogs are amazingly inventive, too. It’s amazing how they open doors/climb on top of things/I dunno, steal nuclear technology in order for a snake.
That picture of Maddie and Rigby is adorable. She just looks so focused on giving her the food!
That is exactly why we bought a couch that has that microfiber stuff you can wipe stains off of easier. We don’t even have kids yet. My husband is enough to almost start baby proofing. lol
Cabin Fever in Vermont
Jen at Cabin Fever´s last [type] ..Morbid but True
The picture of Maddie is ADORABLE!! Oh yes, she is definitely giggling at her puppy!
LMBO @ Danny Davito!!!!! LOL!!!!
I think one of those massive backseat-carseat-covers is in order. Yup, blanket it in protection and whip it off only for visit from, umm, from, oh hell, just stain the damn thing.
Amanda´s last [type] ..Schooled
That’s a dog after my own heart. Who can blame her? Cheesy marinara and meatball spaghetti is irresistible.
I love that photo.
Laney´s last [type] ..Whenever we’re on hiatus, Dubin and I like to meet up…
Love to see new Maddie pictures. So precious and pretty….
the word “Somewhere” made me tear up…horribly unfair that Maddie is not feeding Rigby at this very minute
I love the photo. Beautiful, teeny tiny Maddie. I wish that “somewhere” was in your arms right now. Made me tear up, too.
This post made me laugh and tear up at the same time.
What a precious photo.
Love to you all.
Momma Lioness Michele´s last [type] ..Sums It Up
Unless you’ve gotten a new one very recently, I’ve noticed your sofa because I’m pretty sure I have the exact same one in the same color. When I was picking out the fabric (I think it’s called eversuede or something like that?) the lady at PB who sold it to me went on and on and on about how her daughter has had one for years with kids, dogs, etc… and EVERYTHING comes off of it. I didn’t really pay much attention at the time but now that I have a child who seems to have made it his personal goal to get some form of bodily fluid on every square inch of our house, I am singing her praises.
Ok, I giggled at the idea of Mike and the baseball bat. That is too funny.
Awwww….
Maddie looks like such a big girl feeding the pooch!
Rebecca´s last [type] ..Too Close!
Mike is lucky to have been married to you… I think I might have strangled him and quartered… Guess you forgave him and you lived happily ever after, with no more food in the couch… ;o)))
Love the pic of Madeline in her chair!
Catherine Lucas´s last [type] ..Sunkissed and pooped
I can relate. In so many ways. My guy has a bat next to the bed. A USC bat, especially good for warding off any UCLA grads who break in, I guess! However, it’s one of those small wooden bats so he looks kinda ridiculous brandishing it. But we’re not gun people, so I guess that works!
And one of our dogs, our very “hungry hungry hippo” beagle will go to great lengths to get to food too. We had a pizza box on top of the dining table once and we’re still not sure how she got to it. She’s a small beagle, only about 14 inches tall. We eat at the couch pretty often and she sits patiently and waits. Waiting and watching, silently, for us to forget there’s food on the coffee table and walk away from it. She’ll even pretend to be asleep. No joke. We’ve tested this by “pretending” to walk away and watching her sneak up to the food after she thinks we’re gone.
Once my nephews were staying the night and I made crescent roll wrapped lil smokies. They were on the coffee table. I walked out of the room for a minute, came back, and the last 3 lil smokies were gone and she was sitting back in her same position as though she had been there the entire time. She ate them with my nephews right there! Smart girl she is. She knew they were distracted playing video games and would never see her! Once when she was a puppy she swiped a piece of pizza straight from our neighbor’s hand. The neighbor was standing near the couch. She leaped onto the arm of the couch, swiped the pizza slice from her hand in mid-air, landed, chomped the slice as far into her mouth as she could while running under the dining table to eat it safely.
I love the Rigby/Maddie stories. Talk about best buddies. Also: I am craving a bowl of cheesy pasta now. DAMN YOU DIET!
Aunt Becky´s last [type] ..Scavenge ME!
Aw, I love that picture. … Ok, you should totally write a book. It is obviously a lot of work so probably you don’t have time to work on that right now, but you (get ready to hear something you’ve heard before) really have a gift for writing and story-telling. You should definitely write a book – about anything. The other thing, Rigby is the female Maltese version of my brother and sister-in-law’s male Beagle. That dog has pulled of some amazing stunts in his day to get to banned food. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, I guess.
What a precious picture! I need a new couch…. but with my kids, there is not one anywhere in our near future.
Diane´s last [type] ..blog
Too Funny!!
She probably gave him a little lift.
Oh MY, that soooo made me laugh out loud, for reals!! Such a cute story, and as ALWAYS, I LOVE the picture! I am sure Maddie is giggling over it!
I love your dog and her crazy antics. And I love that photo of Maddie feeding Rigby. Beautiful. <3
You are cracking me up, and on a rough day to boot. So glad you share your daily stuff with us.
Keeping the couch clean is the bane of my existence!
I love the video idea that someone suggested…Can you imagine! Hehehehe
Michelle Pixie´s last [type] ..Monday Minute ~ The Kid Edition
Oy. As I read this, I’m sitting beside my children who are EATING ON THE COUCH.
Hope Rigby’s okay!
That photo of Maddie is priceless.
Jen´s last [type] ..I should change the title of this blog to LIFE SUCKS AND THEN YOU DIE because all I seem to do is whine and complain, but this time I have a legitimate excuse
I don’t allow my husband and kids to eat on my couches either and one set is leather and easily cleaned. Still not allowed.
Steph´s last [type] ..The Fire Day 1 – Part 2
Rigby sounds like my miniature dachshund, Captain. He will go to any lengths for a few leftovers!
Aimee´s last [type] ..Father’s Day Giveaway
My Mike isn’t allowed to eat on the couch either!
That’s one talented dog! First the jar of peanut butter, now this!
Oi! So far the worst we have had on our couch is dog pee and vomit- and five bajillion potato chip crumbs under my husband’s cushion
I bet Maddie is going to find a way to teach Annie a thing or two about sneaking snacks to Rigby
That photo is so sweet, especially her little tootsie sticking out as she stretched WAY over to reach her pup 
Karen´s last [type] ..As advertised by RudeCactus… Come and delurk if you should visit
Oi! So far the worst we have had on our couch is dog pee and vomit- and five bajillion potato chip crumbs under my husband’s cushion
I bet Maddie is going to find a way to teach Annie a thing or two about sneaking snacks to Rigby
That photo is so sweet, especially her little tootsie sticking out as she stretched WAY over to reach her pup 
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