Introducing Murphy and Bella - the Garbage Dogs

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Ever have one of those days when your dog/s do something so annoying that you can't even look at them? When you've found something so "after the fact" that yelling like a banshee would be meaningless? And of course, you find this annoying, disgusting and downright unimaginable deed when you are nicely dressed, in a hurry and had just cleaned that area a few hours ago.

Well yesterday, in my hurry to leave for my first appointment of the day, I must have left the pull-out trash cabinet open enough for the my dogs to be able to pull out a full bag of garbage. We had a rotisserie chicken the night before and the whole finished carcass went into the trash. Along with 2 burnt bags of popcorn, rotten strawberries, cucumbers, apples and lettuce, and left over fetticini alfredo, many assorted wrappers, and it was topped off with a nice big heaping of coffee grounds!

Oh the feast they must have had....I can just picture them gobbling it up as fast as they could, in case mom came home unexpectedly and caught them. When I did get home, I found two very dirty faced dogs, coffee grounds all over my newly dry cleaned wool kitchen throw rug and steam cleaned kitchen floor, as well as in their water bowls and on my bed and couch. There were half eaten wrappers all over and every single bit of that chicken carcass and everything else was no where to be seen. Not one morsel anywhere.

After I calmed down enough to realize my yelling was futile, although they both looked guilty as hell, they had no earthly idea what I was ranting about. I spent the next hour cleaning or let's say RE-cleaning my kitchen floor and then realized the extent of damage all this might bring on my poor doodles. I kept picturing big chicken bones stuck in their bellies, all the fat from the Alfredo causing pancreatitis, the impending vomiting we could expect in the next few days.....my mind ran rampant with ideas. So I spent the rest of the day with them, taking them out to go potty, waiting for some sign that everything is passing without any issues. I am still waiting actually. And not really sure for what, but it seems some signs of this chicken should appear doesn't it?

What was funny to me, yes I actually found something funny about this... Is that I really wasn't sure which one did this, and ofcourse I will never know, but as I was giving them each a bath, I found evidence on each one. Bella had coffee grounds deep in her beard and Murphy had a fruit sticker from one of the apples stuck to the back of his paw. No denying, they each partook of the garbage. Now I have nicknamed them my "garbage dogs" . Geez. I had never ever thought of rehoming my dogs before, but I sure wished I could have sent them somewhere yesterday.....for a few minutes anyway. Gotta love those doodles. We now latch the trash cabinet too. Like closing the barn door after the cows are gone. Oh well.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Oh dear, I hope the doodles remain fine. I think about all these things when I crate my doodles before I leave home.

[Gail and Bailey]

Ditto!   I was just thinking about starting to let my doodle have the run of the house when we are gone....but now I think NOT.

[Jennett Pulley]

You just made my OCD self shudder from head to toe.  I feel for ya!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Murphy and Bella, WTD, doods????? It would serve you guys right if you did get sick, but for your poor mom's sake, I really hope you don't!

Sue, I hope everything comes out all right, and I admire your restraint; you would have heard me screaming all the way from Chicago if I'd come home to that, and I don't even have any wool rugs, lol.

[Ginny Nightingale]

Ugh!! What a mess! So sorry you had to experience this--I don't want to jinx it but we have a garbage can with a steel lid and a foot pedal right in the kitchen and the dogs never touch it--not sure why, but i am very glad that it has never occured to them--one less thing to worry about. But, I would be very concerned about those chicken bones--that can really make a mess--I hope it doesn't but I would watch them carefully for the next few days. Maybe if you can swing it financially, you should have a GI Xray done? I hope it all passes thru without a problem.....good luck!!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I just hate it when they get into the kitchen trash!  It doesn't happen very often here as we keep it behind a closed door, however it does happen and I just hate it.  I have tile floors and no rug so at least the clean up is fairly easy.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Yes F , crates are starting to look really good to me about now.
Jeanette, I'm your OCD sister! But even I hate cleaning something twice in one day!
Ha Karen, if only they would get sick and associate Garbage = upset tummy. I came home to diarrhea on the bedroom carpet tonight, so someone is feeling it and couldn't hold it. And believe me I yelled!
Ginny, an X-ray of Bella's belly would be frightening at best. Who knows what treasures are locked away in that gut! I won't hesitate to get one if things go downhill with either one. Watching diarrhea right now. Gee, just how I wanted to spend my weekend off....checking poop. Can you tell I'm still pissed? We had a metal container with lid and foot pedal, but when we remodeled the kitchen we had a built in trash cabinet made. Only problem is the humans have to remember to CLOSE the cabinet now.
Nancy... It just isn't fun whether its tile or rug...so I'm with you, I hate it too.

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

Poor doods. Hope they are okay. I totally understand how you feel, Sue, but then again, the point is not to give them an opportunity to make a bad decision (humans, close the trash cabinet!). Hope everything goes well and the diarrhea is the only outcome. After all is well, the whole thing will be funny. 

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

So true Jarka, I think I stopped yelling when I realized I should be yelling at myself! That door will be pushed in from now on you can bet your kibble on that!

[Lynda Kamrath]

Oh, yeah, animals can be like that.  One of our poodles got into the garbage under the sink when we all went out and ate a complete turkey carcass.  He also grabbed a pinata full of candy off the shelf in my son's bedroom, opened the pinata and ate all the candy.  The doodles have not been so mischevious, but we have learned to put everything up and behind closed doors when we are out of the house.  Another funny one - My friend had a potbellied pig that shared her home and had a igloo on the deck where he generally stayed when she was away from home.  One day the back door was left open and he came into the kitchen and had a ball.  He could open the refrigerator so he went through the refrigerator and helped himself to whatever he thought he might like.  Then he opened a drawer and got a bag of apples and ate them.  Also found some potatoes in the pantry and tried them for dessert.  When she came home, what a mess in the kitchen, and the piggy was back out on the deck asleep in his igloo.  Your dogs will be fine.  Dogs will be dogs!

[Jennifer and Jack]

Uggg!

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Oh gosh Lynda, my two are like pigs anyway. But i do agree with you that they are just dogs, doing what dogs do. Many dogs survive eating out of garbage cans so mine will be just fine too. Thanks for the reminder