Monday, September 15, 2014

The Adventures of Lucy the Nosy

Lucy found this while looking through a grocery bag.


Hi all, Lily the Corgi here.  This is a painful thing for me to tell you--I have failed.  As you know, I am the alpha dog in our household.  This means I am responsible for keeping all family members--human and canine--in line, walking the straight and narrow, on their best behavior.  For several years, I performed these duties admirably and we were able to live (mostly) in peace and harmony.  

And then, there was Lucy.  Lucy came to us from the local animal shelter.  In the adoption advertisement, Lucy was shown as a beagle/corgi mix; now I have my doubts she is corgi, but her personality is certainly beagle!  She is a very sweet and snuggly girl, loves to play, loves to eat.  She loves to go around with her snout to the ground, sniffing at everything as she goes--typical beagle behavior.  Lucy doesn't cause fights, doesn't steal food from her fur-siblings, though she does tend to bark excessively on occasion.  

But Lucy has a very annoying trait; she is too nosy for her own good.  Lucy's beagle snout leads her to interesting and often inadvisable situations.  Lucy gets into things that are not her business and could even be bad for her; she eats what she shouldn't eat; she does what she shouldn't do.  I've done my best to keep her in line, keep her distracted, keep her safe, but there's only so much a corgi can do!  Let me give you some examples:

At the top of the page, you'll see the results of Lucy's taking a dive into the grocery bags that mama was bringing in.  She got in it and dragged out a box of brownie mix--brownie mix!  What normal dog does that?  A steak, yes.  A cookie, maybe.  But a box of plain old uncooked brownie mix?  What was she going to do with it, bake?  I've tried to teach her to be more discerning in her tastes, but to no avail.  I'll be over here, waiting for a proper snack while Lucy tries to turn on the oven.

Lucy and her interesting choice of headwear.

Here's another photo of Lucy after getting in to something she shouldn't.  Mama had used a paper bag to absorb something greasy and then threw it in the trash can.  Lucy rummaged around in the trash, got the sack and, in attempting to lick crumbs out of the bottom of the sack, got her head stuck.  Lucy pranced all around the kitchen, shaking her head and trying to fling off the paper sack.  Mama took the time to get the camera and snap a picture instead of helping Lucy remove the paper sack.  Eventually, mama was afraid Lucy would crash in to something so she took the sack off the goofy thing's head.  I always put on a fine example of dignity and grace, but as you can see, Lucy doesn't follow examples very well. 

Mama tries to keep the trash can up out of Lucy's reach, but sometimes it has to be out where it can be used, am I right?  A few days ago, Lucy took advantage of an unguarded trash can and, with ninja-like quietness, helped herself to a big old pork chop bone.  Now, I would be happy to feast on a pork chop bone myself, so I can't fault Lucy for being lured toward it, but it is just uncivilized to go dumpster diving in one's own home.  So anyway, Lucy sneaked the bone onto mama and daddy's bed; mama discovered what was going on when she heard Lucy crunching.  Mama grabbed the bone and then spent several days worrying about the condition of Lucy's stomach and intestines.  I'm happy to report that no ill effects resulted from this dietary indiscretion.

 Lucy nosing around in the swimming pool before it was even filled.

Lucy gets in to everything; mama calls her "nosy Rosie."  The other day Lucy made it her business to tear open a box that came in the mail and toss mama's new bras across the floor.  Lucy was wearing them before mama even got a chance to to take them out of the box!  While mama was working on the computer the other day, Lucy walked across her to take a nectarine pit out of a bowl on the table beside her.  Did Lucy really think mama would just let her walk off with a nectarine pit?   This past Easter mama ended up putting ALL dogs in the house because Lucy wouldn't stop gathering Easter eggs!  Whoa, that's going too far; when your nosiness starts to affect my life, we have a problem!

Sigh...I've tried, I really have.  I understand it is a beagle thing to be ruled by your nose, but all dogs need to use a little common sense.  If you plan to steal food, for example, grab from one of the baby's plates!  If you want to snuggle in the parents' clothing, get something used that has their comforting smell on it.  Youngsters need to be willing to learn from their alphas.

Okay, I give up...right now Lucy and our neurotic sister Sadie was sitting on the couch, barking at HUMMINGBIRDS who are sipping from their feeder on our back porch.   I do love my sisters, but sometimes I dream of being an only child!

Til next time, everyone.

Lily the Corgi

Lucy, aka Nosy Rosie



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