Chet Baker Suffers for Our Art

 Chet Baker tries. Oh, he tries so hard to please us. This video neatly encapsulates his relationship with Phoebe, who torments and bedevils him for her own (and her mother's) amusement. It is subtle, but it is all there for those who know this little gentleman. Like a fine actor, he can convey raging emotion with the twitch of an ear or the turn of a flew.

This particular evening, Phoebe had the idea to offer a bikkit to Chet Baker, without telling him what she wanted him to do to get it. So The Bacon ran through part of his trick repertoire, casting about until he settled on the one that would unlock the bikkit hand. Play Dead and Stay Dead was the key.

Do not miss the disgruntled look he gives me, the snickering videographer, at the outset of the bad dog training session. Why do you let her do this to me? Nor the stink-eye he levels at her. You and your stupid hand signals that don't mean anything.

 Phoebe often proclaims that Chet Baker secretly hates her, but we don't think that's true. When she gets home from school he's a black inky streak out the door to greet her.

At the end of the session, we had to wipe up a small pool of Baker drool on the kitchen floor. How this dog suffers for our art.

As I write, Chet has a red bow around his neck and a cookie sheet sticker on his back. He is working on getting the neon-green fur off several tennis-ball type dog toys, using a wadded-up Christmas stocking as he platform. He started raiding all the presents, taking each one to the back of the couch, and chewing holes in the paper at about eight this morning. As soon as he figured out there wasn't a dog toy inside he was on to the next. He made an exception for a Hickory Farms summer sausage... Don't worry. He got five of his own presents. It was a very Bacon Christmas.

Merry Christmas, Chet Baker fans everywhere.