It Was Dogdad's Birthday, but Mom Aged a Hundred Years!

This was supposed to be a post showing what a good time we had celebrating Dogdad's birthday on Sunday. And yes, we did have a good time. Just Harry and I didn't get to have too much food (everyone was asked not to feed the dogs, imagine!!) -- but we had lots of loving and everyone was really happy.

That was Sunday.

Yesterday, Mom left us alone for two hours while she went shopping for a few presents for Dogdad (today, the 22nd, is his actual birthday). When she came home, she found a very scary surprise. One of the gifts Dogdad had gotten on Sunday from my human brother and sister-in-law (that's her below) was a pinata (a burro) filled with Ghiardelli chocolate squares and other sweets. Once Dogdad had extracted all of the candy, Mom put the squares into a secure container with a closed top and left it in the center of the dining room table with a few other things.

The surprise she found when she got home was an abundance of opened -- and empty -- chocolate wrappings all over the floor. She panicked, but then took a deep breath. She picked the wrappings up and counted them and looked at the weight of each (.375 oz per piece). Then she called the vet. After some discussion, she was reassured that the total quantity (nine squares in all plus some other non-chocolate candy that apparently the "perp" didn't like because the wrappers were opened but most of the candy was still there) and the type of chocolate -- only two dark chocolate, the yummiest but the worst for dogs, was within tolerable limits for dogs of our weight.

And now that 24 hours have passed, without any untoward symptoms, I guess Mom has relaxed a bit.

So who was the perp? Or perps?


We know the perp's motive, right?


THE EVIDENCE AS RETRIEVED FROM THE FLOOR

But what were his means?

THE MEANS: A TIPPABLE EMPTY WINE CONTAINER (WITH NO OPPOSABLE THUMBS, PRETTY COOL, RIGHT?)

And what was his opportunity?

THE OPPORTUNITY: A CHAIR NOT PUSHED UNDER THE TABLE!

Two dogs. No tattletails. Where is Inspector Butcho when we need him? When Mom discovered the empty wrappings, she forced open each of our mouths to sniff who had a chocolaty breath. Both of us seemed to, but she was pretty sure that it was I who had done the deed and not shared very much with my brother.

I did wake Mom up early this morning (5:30 am) with some heavier than usual panting -- but that was because I had to go outside really bad 'cause I had drunk more water than usual last night. And I had a little bit of runs (hard to see outside in the dark at that hour). That, combined with my previous trolling experience and excellent chair-jumpng prowess (plus an abundance of smarts), was enough to convince Mom that I was indeed the perp.

THE PERP!!!

SO, even though I seem to be OK after 24 hours, thank Dog, with no runs, hyper behavior, or anything else, I am definitely in the doghouse. And my doofus brother, who may or may not have shared in the escapade (I won't tell), is just his usual goofball self. But Mom has aged a hundred years -- which makes her a lot older than Dogdad at this point -- and has been kicking herself for doing everything right -- except forgetting to push one of four chairs under the table.

Foxies, gotta' love us, right pals!!!

Jake