Deb D’Andrea, Nederland.  Our pets do the darndest things, sometimes pushing us to the edge of insanity, other times leaving us laughing to no end. One of my favorite Tiki stories was when she was a puppy. She decided the best thing to play with was the toilet paper in the bathroom. Grabbing the dangling free end, she ran through the house, quite literally TPing the house. Her path straight out of the bathroom door provided a long, unimpeded run, unraveling the majority of what was left on the roll. It was seriously funny!

Another time, I was having guests over for my housewarming party. My previous dog, Bandit, was suspiciously nowhere to be found as friends entered the front door. She was a social dog and was always there to greet everyone. As we wandered through the house, towards the screened in porch, I saw that over fifty percent of the platter containing the deli meats had been cleared off, just at dog mouth level. Bandit was eagerly lapping water to wash down her score, giving me the eye as if to say, “Well you left it there!” Hahaha!

In these cases, I’ve taken full responsibility for being a stupid human and leaving things out where they could easily be obtained. It was actually pretty funny. Other dogs I’ve known have gone above and beyond to get what they wanted. I was at a friend’s house for Thanksgiving and the turkey was fresh out of the oven, on the counter. We were setting the table and getting things organized when I looked over to see Koby, a yellow lab, almost completely on the counter, tiptoeing and stretching as far as possible to get his lips on the turkey. I bust out laughing and yelled “NO” before it was too late. He stopped, but almost took off with the whole turkey.

I have a tendency to find humor in these actions, because it’s pretty funny. I hope you can find humor in your dog’s actions when they do something unexpected and not exactly what you want. They are opportunists, and from my experience, it’s usually something we’ve left out that they take the opportunity to explore and enjoy.

Till next time. Deb D’Andrea, founder of 4TheLuvOfDogz & the Caribou Dog Ranch is recognized by the State of Colorado as a Certified Canine Massage Therapist and will visit your home or Vet’s office to work with your dog. Canine Agility may be offered at the Caribou Dog Ranch in 2017 if there is interest. Deb currently has limited availability for new Petz Nanny Clients; and she bakes up fresh dog treats & doggy birthday cakes per order. For information contact Deb at 720-675-7078 or email: info@4theluvofdogz.com.