“Goodbye Scout. I’ll be back soon”. Scout’s owner pats him on the head and starts towards the door. Scout stands in the hall watching his owner depart through the door. He hears the car start outside and goes to the window, brushing the curtain back with his nose, as it retreats down the driveway. Scout lets out a heavy sigh as he lays on the ground. Still just a puppy it’s hard for him to be alone.
After a few minutes, Scout goes into the living room to play with one of his toys on the floor. He swings it back and forth between his teeth, but once no one tries to pull it out of his mouth he drops it and retreats to the corner. From his spot in the corner, Scout has a clear view of the kitchen. More specifically the bag of treats sitting on the kitchen counter. Scout lifts his nose and sniffs, ensuring it’s the treats he desires. Upon smelling their wonderful scent Scout jumps up from his spot and sprints towards the kitchen. His paws slip on the polished kitchen floor but that doesn’t stop him. As he nears the counter he comes to a halt. Scout tilts his head and ponders how to reach the treats so far above.
Scout stands a striking 20 inches tall, while the counter reaches 36 inches. A mere 16 inches stand between Scout and his prized possession. First Scout tries the most logical idea, jumping. However, his paws barely reach the top of the chair let alone the counter. He thinks maybe getting a running start will help increase his jump height. So he returns to the living room and wipes his paws on the carpet. Scout lets out a confident bark before charging ahead. He reaches the kitchen floor and leaps forward banging his head on the chair as he does so. Scout hits the ground hard and shakes his head before standing up again.
Frustrated at his progress Scout returns to the living room. Once again sitting in his corner Scout lets out another sigh. He stares ahead at his treats sitting on the countertop begging for him to grab them. Scout puts his head on the ground to the side. In doing so he spots something else that might help his odds. On the opposite side of the kitchen counter, there’s a set of cabinets. The lightbulbs start going off in Scout’s head as he concocts his best idea yet.
Scout will nudge the cabinet open with his nose, balance on its door, reach the counter above it, and then jump to the countertop across from it where his treats lie. Scout closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before starting. He nears the cabinet and gently pushes it open. Carefully he jumps on top of the cabinet door and then quickly transfers to the cabinet. Now he’s at his final step. Jumping across to his treats. Scout goes back as far as he can and jumps. Unfortunately, he overshot his landing just a little bit and hit a set of pots and pans hanging above the countertop. Altogether the pans, Scout, and the treats come crashing down as the front door opens wide.
“Scout! What did you do?” His owner shouts, but Scout can’t bother to answer. In the chaos, he happened to land back first into a pot with the treats plopping down perfectly in his lap. The bag even happened to tear in the commotion giving Scout easy access to them. Amidst his owner’s shouts, Scout smiles happily not caring about the mess he made. All he cares about is that he got his prize.
