May 03, 2003
Stopping to smell the flowers
7:45 p.m.
Puppy is a bit cranky today. Actually, she was fine this morning, but her mood deteriorated as the day went on. She gets her pain meds in the morning, so I have a feeling that by evening hours, the pain hits her. She's sleeping right now.
In the morning, she was downright 'peppy.' She was jumping and romping and having a good time on our morning walk. She slept a lot today, mostly in her crate. After her naps, she wanted to play though.
She's eating and pooping and doing all of the doggie things she usually does, including eating garbage off the ground. This has been a huge problem. About 95% of the time, she'll drop whatever she's gotten into when I ask her too.
But if it's interesting/putrid/dead enough, she'll just ignore me. Some stuff isn't a bit deal - I've resigned myself to the various small sticks, greens and dirt my puppy ingests (her poo is full of twigs and bark and unidentified debris). We live in the city, though, and I'm really not comforatble with her eating garbage.
Today, it was a rotten apple. *sigh* As I dug that thing out of Dusty's mouth, I was so pissed off that I lost my temper with her. She looked absolutely amazed: "Geez, Mom, it was *just* a bit of gargage, no big deal."
Yes, I've tried teaching her 'leave it' and 'drop it' and she does listen most of the time. (the peope in the park think that her name is 'Dusty Drop-It') It's likely that this problem is only going to get worse in adolescence, and she's right on the verge of it.