This was sent to us by awwallace awwallace@earthlink.net. The author is not known.

A gentleman, accompanied by two poodle dogs, entered a bar and took a seat, whereupon his two poodles jumped up on seats to either side. The man told the bartender, “I’ll have a Scotch and Soda, and give the dogs each a Manhattan”.

The bartender, accustomed to unusual patrons, did as requested. The man paid, he and the dogs drank, and departed. This was repeated a couple of times each week for some months, until one day the two dogs came in, without the man, and jumped up on the barstools.

The bartender, recognizing them, served the Manhattans, and the dogs drank and departed. The next day, the man came in alone, bearing a paper bag, and told the bartender, “Thank you very much for taking care of my poodles”, and paid.

He then placed the bag on the counter, and shook out a large, live crab, saying, “To show my gratitude, I brought in this crab for you.”

The bartender said, “Well, that’s mighty thoughtful of you. I’ll take it home to dinner.”

“Oh, you needn’t do that,” said the man, “he’s had dinner. But you might take him to the ball game.”