Bena Mae’s Kitchen: Is your dog or cat psychic?

If you are a dog or cat owner, it’s tantamount to raising a child. Among other things, there is the problem of keeping it healthy. It seems my kids are regulars at the vet with one or the other of their pets needing medical attention. Even dental work, for Heaven’s sake.
Two weeks ago, Sadie, the lovable boxer — another stray they took in — that always seems to be the way they acquire the menagerie of animals in their household–pulled a tendon in her leg and had to be hospitalized. She’s getting along fine now with lots of TLC from the family. 
They don’t know where she came from and after posting circulars around town and getting no response, they decided to keep her. They know when a bad storm is coming up because Sadie crawls into a pet carrier and hides her head and starts shaking. They assume that in her earlier life she was traumatized by a storm, but how does she know when one is on the way.
Rocky, the older boxer can lie around docile all day but when my daughter-in-law starts  talking on the phone he starts jumping and barking for attention. When my son was two years old, he did the same thing. Well, not barking, of course, but you know what I mean. 
And why does a cat hop up on the window sill 30 minutes before its owner comes home each day. Or why does a dog bark before the phone rings. Or sit by the door when it’s time for its owner to come home? How do they know when an earthquake is imminent?
When a co-worker gave my husband a little red dachshund that we called Snoopy, he brought him home and he was so tiny he slept in my husband’s shoe until he out grew it.  My husband always preferred the runt of the litter, said they made the best pets.
They became inseparable. My husband was a star gazer, and many nights when he was watching the sky, Snoopy would be lying beside him, a bowl of popcorn between them. My husband would take a bite and then give the little dachshund a bite. This was their nightly ritual whenever the sky was clear.
Sometime later when my husband was hospitalized for several days, Snoopy disappeared. My son and I looked everywhere for him but failed to find him anywhere.  After his being gone for three days, the third day my son looked up from his desk in high school and low and behold, saw Snoopy walking in the door of the class room. He had obviously walked every street in town looking for my husband and his instincts finally drove him to where my son was. The school being a couple of miles from our home, he had never been there before, I couldn’t help thinking about the little dog wandering the streets of town looking for his master.
And then there’s the story of Greyfriar’s Bobby, the little Scottish terrier that laid on his master’s grave, no matter the weather, snow, sleet, and rain, until he died. This went on for years and the townspeople could not coax him to leave no matter how hard they tried. That one makes me cry.

Your family will love this.

Chili Cheese Dog Casserole

8 hot dog buns, torn into pieces
8 beef hot dogs, cut into round slices
1 1/2  cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 lb. lean ground beef or turkey burger
1 (16oz) can Chili Beans
1 (8oz) can Tomato sauce
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 packet Taco seasoning

Preheat oven to 350.
Cook turkey burger or lean ground beef until meat is browned and cooked through; drain. Stir in chili beans, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, taco seasoning mix, and 1/4 c. of cheese.  Let simmer for a couple of minutes then remove from heat and set aside.
Spray a 9 x 13 in pan with Pam.  Lay the hot dog bun pieces across the bottom of the pan.
Layer the hot dog slices on top, covering the bun pieces.
Pour the Chili over the top of the hot dog slices and cover with remaining shredded cheese.
Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, removing foil for the last 10 minutes.
Serve with mustard on top.
*** If you don’t want to make your own Chili you can use 2 (15oz) cans of your favorite canned Chili.