My Dog Ate My Homework

Just got home from writing group. We were kicked out of the top floor of the cafe by the square dancing group! How wild is that?!

As I pulled up to my house after the meeting, I saw the usual sight - the silhouette of my dog Ru in the front windows. She's on the couch, guarding the house, barking at passersby and eager for my return for it means a trip outdoors and maybe a treat or two.

Several years ago, when she was 3 and I would be out gallivanting at night after a full day at work, Ru would search the house for things to chomp on. Call it boredom, separation anxiety, or retribution - it was a slightly destructive phase. Apart from the usual (trash can and pantry raiding), she once ate the cordless phone. I found it in pieces. The back flap which covers the battery pack was in the living room, not far from the ledge where the phone base sat. The battery pack, complete with fang marks puncturing the yellow wrapping of the battery, rested in the dining room. And the rest of the phone was in the kitchen.

Luckily any toxins in the battery pack had no effect on her. She's a pretty hardy dog having been a stray with puppies and heartworm before I adopted her. What was amazing to me was how delicately she had removed the phone from the base - almost like she had fingers instead of paws. The phone and its base are booby trapped - surrounded by wires, pens, a notepad, a clock - all of which were intact on the six inch wide ledge, just as I had left them. Amazing wonder dog, she is.

Sometimes I wonder if my dog is actually a little person zipped into a dog costume. Though I haven't noticed any seams. Yet.