Beasts of the Air-Conditioned Wild

They quietly stalk the area, their ancestral wolf instincts coursing through them. Reaching thousands of years back into their pack mentality, both of my dogs lunge for the door. It's lizard time! With just the mere mention of the word "outside", they both perk up knowing that on the other side of the kitchen door are lizards lounging in the sun. But it isn't just the hunter that is bred into these beasts of the air-conditioned world. They most definitely have some jackal or hyena DNA, because later in the evening they both sit attentive and drooling in front of Mark as he pounds down a bag of Cheetos while watching a Real Housewives episode. When it has become apparent that the Cheetos bag is now empty and Mark is not going to share another crunchy orange treat, they resort to the most basic of instincts, scavenging. With the first clink of a dish being inserted into the dishwasher they appear in the kitchen. First the little one who was already in the kitchen earlier, scouring the floor with her tongue, looking for bits of food dropped during the preparation of dinner. Moments later the big dog shows up, however he is too late. Despite his size, it is the schnauzer who rules things and she is already halfway in the dishwasher licking up a soupy mixture of gravy, soda drippings, and a bit of coffee left in Mark's mug. I'm not sure just how nutritious that is, but it seems to make her happy. They've come quite a ways since their ancestors roamed the world, attacking and eating all that they came across. As I lay in my bed looking at the ten pound hairball sleeping so innocently next to me it is hard to reconcile that she is descended from the beasts.