Bad Habit

Ninety-five days... that's how long it's been since I wrote to you, dear reader. That's almost two years in her life and I haven't updated you. I feel bad. Though when there isn't much to inform you on, there wouldn't be much of an update. Honestly, not much has happened. So you will then say, something must have happened for the sudden reappearance of a fresh post on the blog. Oh, you're in for a doozy if you care. Settle in with a cup of cocoa or whatever keeps you warm these winter nights....

Annandale, we have a problem!

So, I'll fill you in on the past few months quickly. She's grown to about full size (I hope). She's a little restless on the upstairs levels but settles down very easily in the basement when I'm around. This scenario changes when it's just Chassie in the basement in the afternoon. She walks "decent" on a leash. There are times when she is an absolute angel and then sometimes that Bellzebub returns. She loves Draco. "Loves, loves, loves," as Chassie would say. Draco only tolerates her. Though they do have very cute moments together. Overall, I'm very happy with her progression. She wants to be a good dog and at times she's perfect. There's very few times I've wanted to turn her into the pound.

Now to the story at hand. This past Friday, the third Friday of the new year I dropped Bella off at Doggie Day Camp (DDC) in the morning and called Chassie as I drove to work. This is usual. We take her Mondays and Fridays and as I leave, I call Chassie at work to give her an update. Most of the time those updates include whether or not she pooped in the middle of PetSmart. I'd be curious to know what the exact number is, but for those that care I'd say 40% of the time I'm picking up poop before she makes check in. I believe this particular Friday there was no issue, we checked in and I was out very quickly.

I have no reason to worry during the days she's at DDC. I had no apprehension after I dropped her off that morning. Chassie called that afternoon though and I knew something was amiss. The first thing she said was, "The ring is okay..." (For those that don't know, I finally asked Chassie to marry me and she agreed...phew)

*Bow*

(There's a blog post in that if you care, it did involve a dog, the other dog though.)

Sorry, I digress. Chassie says there's a problem. She wants me to guess. Honestly, I don't remember what I offered. She recounts the story: Jessica (manager at DDC) says, "She picked up a bad habit today. She ate poop."

For dramatic effect, I'll restate that more clearly. Bella ate another dog's fresh poop. Disgusting.

Awesome. That was what I thought. No lie, straight from the brain to the page. "Awesome." We've got a poop eater on our hands. I think back to the last of our latest training sessions with Sarah (the trainer) and how she said that some of the dogs that attend DDC eat poop but none of the class do. Oh, what would she think of us now.

The next part of Jessica's story was, "It didn't agree with her and she threw it up." Well, thank goodness for that...

So, we watched her. So far it doesn't seem to be an issue. It could just be a learned behavior, much like her trying to hump Draco when they are playing. We all know that won't work.

I now refer to her as "Poop Eater." This will hopefully be short lived, like most of the other nicknames I've given her.