Tinker Tinkers With His Family’s Emotions

Many years ago, my mom’s aunt and uncle had a dog named Tinker. They had a few kids, so Tinker got a lot of attention, until one day one of their kids got a new dog. Naturally, everyone started fawning over the new dog, and Tinker did not appreciate losing the spotlight to someone else.

One day, my great-uncle was pulling out of the driveway to head to work when he heard Tinker yelp in pain. He immediately stopped the car and got out and found Tinker lying down next to the car. Horrified, he took Tinker back inside and told the kids to keep an eye on Tinker because he still had to go to work. Of course, the kids spent all day fawning over their injured dog.

The workday ended and my great-uncle returned through a side door and went to the stairs to go change. Tinker was lying in the front hall by the stairs, so he tried to be quiet and took a different doorway so Tinker could rest. Because of this, Tinker didn’t notice he was home, so he had a clear view of Tinker getting up perfectly normally. Upon noticing him watching, Tinker quickly lay back down.

Suspicious, he asked one of the kids to call Tinker. Sure enough, Tinker got up as normal to run over, and then froze and dropped back down. It was too late, though, and the act was up.

Tinker had only pretended to be hit by the car to get showered with attention and love from the guilty family, all because Tinker was jealous of the new dog getting so much attention.

My mom says that her uncle called Tinker the smartest dog they’d ever had.