Let’s face it, Asa likes to play by his own rules. Rules that we may never understand. Case in point, I’ve written before about how to cure cabin fever we like to play nose work games, where our humans hide one of three scents in the house and we sniff them out. I am a certified professional when it comes to this game. Asa, well not so much, that is unless he’s playing by his own rules.

The three scents that we normally search for are birch, anise or clove essential oils. How the nose work game works is someone hides the scent, we get the “find it” command, and off we go. I will make big circles, slowly working my way in to pinpoint the hiding spot, and then will lay down to show I’ve found it. Asa, well he runs around with reckless abandon, and will check in with Mom and Dad for hints if he’s on the right track. He’s rarely on the right track. And eventually after he finds a general area, Mom or Dad will show him where it is. But not this time!

Unfortunately we weren’t actually playing the game that day. Mom had received delivery of new rocking chair cushions, and was downstairs happily putting them on the rocker. Asa, who was sitting next to Dad at his desk, suddenly went racing downstairs with a look of determination. Asa never behaves like that, and even Mom was taken off-guard when he came bursting into the kitchen, nose high in the air sniffing! He ran a big circle around the kitchen, then straight into the living room, around the rocking chair, where he laid down and gave Mom a big triumphant smile.

It all happened so fast that it took Mom a moment to realize what was happening. By then he was up sniffing the new rocking chair cushions again, while she put the clues together. Except one clue. None of us have a clue what Asa was smelling that prompted this sudden game of nose work. He’s not telling us. But boy was Asa proud of himself that day!