My stomach was rumbling the other night, so I grabbed a snack: turkey, cheese, and some crackers. As I often do with a late night snack, I settled down in front of the TV to nibble and veg out before bed.
Then Mother Nature called.
I left my snack plate on top of the nearest bookshelf — it’s one of those four shelf ones, so it stands only a little higher than my waist. One bathroom trip later, I came back to find an important part of my snack missing: the turkey.
I also found one suspicious little girl dog standing on the seat next to the bookshelf, sniffing at the plate. This is the first time I can remember Lally actually stealing food from a plate, and I had to laugh. Of course she left the crackers (Triscuits with olive oil and rosemary, yum).
Dogs ARE scavengers by nature. Wild dogs will eat just about anything, and aren’t above scavenging. Domesticated dogs still have a similar instinct. I remember once, shortly after Lally came home with me, she grabbed a piece of bread I dropped on the floor and gobbled it up. She’s never gone into the garbage or tried to snag things from my plate.
It’s my own fault, really. I should have found a safer spot for my snack — I knew the top of the bookshelf was accessible from the seat. So did Lally, obviously! If you leave food in an accessible place, it is very easy (and tempting) for your pets to help themselves. Keep snacks out of reach and you won’t have my disappearing turkey problem. If your dog is tempted by the garbage, try a covered can or keep your bin in a cabinet instead of out on the kitchen floor.
Really, I feel bad for Moose in all this — he got cheated out of some turkey since I doubt that Lally shared her booty.