Photo Upload

Having recently been schooled in the likes of mini-SD card technology, I can now share with you a picture that has been on my phone for roughly seven months.

We have two black labs, one of which is rather adventuresome. She thrives off of finding things to get into that are not suitable for dogs. Over the years she has opened a can of white paint and single-handedly transformed both she and her brother from black labs into white dalmatians; she has chewed off the heel of one of my favorite sandals; she has run away to play with our neighbor’s dog more times than I can count; she has opened the refrigerator and helped herself to its contents; the list could and does go on.

Mia’s most favorite pastime – is trash diving. No matter what I tried at our old house she would always find a way to get into the trash. It got to the point where I had to take out the trash every time we left the house. When we moved into my parent’s home last year, I knew that the trash would be an issue. It is just too tantalizing for her to resist. She waited a few weeks to test her new proving grounds, but strike she did, and I’m embarrassed to admit I thought we had won that fight and was ill-prepared for her attack. It seems she discovered that after Steve would feed her and let her out in the morning, he would leave for work – thus leaving her alone until either my parents or myself would get up. This became her prime striking time. Soon, we were locking the trash can in the laundry room so that she would not be so tempted. As with any disciplinary action, our guards were let down and the trash can was left out on more than one occasion. Fast forward to December.

Steve had let the dogs out and fed them and then left to go to work. I, being all of seven months pregnant, was enjoying my rest and sleeping in. I heard Mia come back upstairs and lay at the end of the bed, but I drifted back to sleep. Soon, I heard my Dad asking if anyone had seen the trash can lid. That’s weird, I thought, why would the trash can lid be missing? I rolled over and felt Mia and reached down to pet her, only it wasn’t soft and warm – but hard and cold. I switched on the light to see better, and there is Mia laying on the bed - with the trash can lid around her body. It seems someone enjoyed an early morning trash can delight, and left the lid on as evidence. There was no denying this troublemaker!

It just doesn’t get any better than that. It’s a darn good thing that I love her so much.