It was the end of a lazy Sunday and The Man and I were enjoying the last of the daylight, sitting out on the Vista, before we headed indoors. The Man was eating peanuts and tossing the shells on the ground for the Goaty Boys to eat in the morning. A thought flitted through my head but I wasn't fast enough to grasp onto it. A couple of minutes clicked by. The next thing we know the dogs are fighting; they're at it again, tooth and nail. (Belatedly, the thought was, "Maybe it's not such a good idea to eat around the dogs.")
When the dust settled we checked both dogs over carefully: Two puncture wounds on Mele's right leg; not a single scratch on Mattie. I patched and wrapped Mele up and gave her an antibiotic pill from the Emergency Vet Hospital (they gave us quite a bit extra - go figure). In the morning The Man took Mele to our Vet when we noticed the leg had swelled overnight. The leg wasn't broken (yes, X-rayed) but the Vet changed Mele's antibiotic (yes, more expensive), kept her wound open to air instead of the Coban wrap I had used. We put her back in an e-Collar.
Sadly, we're back to square one again. The dogs spend most of the day separated with only brief periods together. They do sleep in the house together but in different corners of the room. We're hoping that once Mele's e-Collar comes off they'll be able to work it out and be friends again.
We've learned that the dogs cannot be trusted around food, no matter what kind of "food" it is. Even though they had been eating meals together, we'll feed them separate from now on. The Goaty Boys and The Girls will get their treats in the pen. For us, no snacking around the dogs. Absolutely. Period.
Last evening The Man and I noticed Mattie sniffing around the shoe rack and sticking her nose into one of my shoes. Not once, not twice, but several times. The Man said, "Maybe there's a dead mouse in your shoe." (Yes, that has happened.) I picked up the shoe and out fell a few dry dog food pieces. Luckily, only Mattie was with us in the garage. I looked at the kibble, showed it to The Man, and we both agreed it looked gnawed on. Probably mice. I tossed the food in the trash.
A few moments later, Mattie started sniffing a different pair of shoes. Yeehaw, the mice sure have been busy!
We found a quarter-sized hole in the unopened Science Diet dog food bag.
Sheesh, I'm worrying about the dogs fighting over peanut shells, apple cores, and other non-edibles and a mere inches away from their super-sensitive food-seeking noses, mice are storing dog food in my shoes.
It's hard to be vigilant when the Universe is against you.
