Why Pumpkin Was in the Doghouse

Everyone knows that Pumpkin Louise is my beautiful little diva dog. With her luxurious hair, lively face, calm demeanor and intelligence: you can automatically tell she is a show dog (although we don't show her). Lilly, on the other hand, from the back looks like Albert Einstein and the weasel from Foghorn Leghorn cartoons had a baby. Her long-haired Chihuahua-ness never quite manifested itself properly. But we love her unconditionally and she has a pretty face and street smarts.

I thought that Pumpkin's good breeding and lady-like ways would rub off on Lilly. WRONG! It seems like the opposite has happened. Hence the reason why Pumpkin is in the doghouse.

A few months ago Lilly got into my work bag and ate an entire Milky Way Midnight bar. 3 ounces of dark chocolate will kill a 10 pound dog. Lilly weighs 7 pounds and the candy bar was 2.7 ounces. It wasn't all dark chocolate but it was enough that I snatched her up and took her to the emergency vet so I could lighten up my wallet. Thankfully they were able to induce vomiting so all of the dark chocolate came up. Crisis averted, and Lilly was mad at me for the rest of the night!

I thought she had learned her lesson until about a week later.  The girls and I had gone out to dinner. When we came back, there was a Dove Dark Chocolate bar laying by their bed with a perfectly shaped bite taken out of it. "Lilly! Are you trying to kill yourself?" Yet the girls blamed me because apparently it had come from my work bag. "You need to put your stuff away! Your dark chocolate is going to kill Lilly!" they cried. "You have to take her to the emergency vet!" Are you kidding me? I didn't notice them pitching in any part of the $300 I knew it would cost me, just like last time. I picked Lilly up and headed out the door.

In the car she looked at me with her huge dark eyes and I couldn't stay mad. She was just a dog, and she loved me to distraction. I didn't want anything to happen to her. I pulled into the parking lot and went in with her in my arms.  "Didn't we just see you not too long ago?" the receptionist asked, rubbing her hands in glee at the thought of more of my hard-earned money going into their coffers.

"Sadly yes, and we're here because she ate more dark chocolate." "Oh no: how much?" "There was a bite taken out of a Dove Dark Chocolate bar. " She looked askance at me. "Why do you leave your chocolate where she can get to it?" "I don't!" I said defensively. "She just goes where she isn't supposed to." The vet tech came out and tsked when she saw Lilly. I explained what happened. "How much do  you think she consumed?" "Only one bite," I answered. "Oh that's not as bad as last time. How about I let you take her home and you watch her very carefully. If she shows any suspicious signs, bring her back immediately." Thankfully, they didn't charge me.

When I got her home the girls took her from me and fussed all over her, which she loved. Pumpkin and I were relegated to the other couch, which was fine with me. Of course my diva girl wanted her belly rubbed, so she turned over on her back and I rubbed her belly. As I looked lovingly at her, I noticed something. Her mouth seemed to be in the exact same shape as the bite from the candy bar! "Pumpkin Louise! Did you frame Lilly???" The girls looked at me like I was nuts (nothing new). "Did you throw away the candy bar?" "No," Brie said, "it's on the table." She went and got it; I held it by Pumpkin's mouth and sure enough: the bite was the exact same size and shape! She had taken a bite out of it and left the bar there as evidence. Yet we knew Pumpkin hadn't eaten the dark chocolate, because it would have shown up in the white fur around her mouth and neck. I knew she was smart, but who knew she was that smart. Little bratty girl! She was definitely too smart for her own good!

So from that point on, I kept the dark chocolate out of their reach. And that's why Pumpkin was in the doghouse: because she framed her poor sister!