Thank Goodness for the "Leave It" Command!!!!

[Gail and Bailey]

I just took Bailey to play with her friend Rudy in his fenced yard.  I always unleash her and make her sit and wait about 10 feet outside the gate until Rudy's mommy opens the gate then I say "OK" and she runs into the yard to play.  Well...tonight she ran to the gate but about 3 feet shy of the opening she cut to the left and grabbed something from the ground and started to run away with it.  I yelled "LEAVE IT" and she stopped and dropped it and looked at me!!  I caught up with her right away as she had only gone a few feet from the gate and I saw that it was a disgusting dead bird crawling with ants!!!  Bless her heart that she responded so well..... I am so proud of her and thankful to everyone who has said how important the "leave it" command is!!!   Guess who is not going to be giving her mommy kisses tonight until teeth are brushed and face is washed??!! 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's amazing the food items I have seen just lying on the ground in my neighborhood when JD and I are out walking. I too have wondered if someone has deliberately left something to try to harm animals. Over the years, I've seen chicken legs, rib bones, bread, cookies, and all kinds of partially eaten fruit just lying on the grass on the parkway. And of course, we often see the remains of small animals that the coyotes have killed. 

What scares me the most though is fluids on the pavement that have leaked from cars. Especially at night when you can't see them. 

[Gail and Bailey]

That is a scary thought!  Just a bit of antifreeze on a paw can be deadly if the dog licks it off!  

[Heather & Brinkley]

Yes! I find the strangest stuff along the walking path in our neighborhood! It would have to be left there deliberately because the walking path is on the perimeter of the neighborhood in the woods.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Oh, and we also have an elderly couple who apparently live on egg whites, and feel bad about throwing food away. They were regularly scattering the crumbled yolks of what looked to be two or three dozen hard boiled eggs on the grass in front of their house, "for the birds". There are very few things in life that JD loves more than hardboiled egg yolks. When some of us tried to explain to them that the eggs were much more likely to attract mice, raccoons and coyotes than robins, they turned a deaf ear to us, perhaps literally. It required a visit from a representative of one of the village commissions to put a stop to it. 

[Bonnie and Kona]

Oh Karen! Thank goodness your representative got through to them. :(

[Pat and Traveler]

Awwwww....poor Bailey!  She just found the bestest, tasty treasure and her mom made her drop it!  LOL

[Gail and Bailey]

LOL!  I know.......I am a big party pooper!  Don't worry...Bailey got plenty of tasty treats after that!  (and they were not covered with ants!)

[Camilla and Darwin]

Good girl! Leave it is a very important command I agree!

[Gail and Bailey]

  :>)

[Judy, Meg & Polly Wolly Doodle]

Uck?  What is it with an animal, Meg's most recent was a dried dead toad, she brought it in the house and spit it out like a gift.

[Gail and Bailey]

I guess "beauty is in the eye of the beholder".....or in the case of our dogs... it is in the "nose" of the smeller!   At least Meg brought it to you and did not eat it.....or maybe she was saving it for later?  LOL

[F, Calla & Luca]

Believe me "leave it" doesn't work so well when my dogs have killed a rabbit. After I pried the last one from Calla's jaws, Luca grabbed it. He ran around tormenting me and disappeared. I got a sinking feeling when I realized the porch door was open. Sure enough he was in my bedroom, on his bed and thankfully not mine, with his prize. Although I once saw Calla licking the partially skinned side of a rabbit she and Luca had killed, they have never eaten what they've caught. Thank heavens for small blessings.