Dale Explores the Pantry

This is another story from my dog journal.  It happened a little over a month after we got our big blind dog Dale from Atlanta Lab Rescue.  Mr. H. was out of town on 9/16/16, and daughter Lucy was still living at home.    Maggie, our elderly “mini-lab,” still reigned supreme, sleeping upstairs with us, while Dale was kept in the kitchen where he couldn’t get into any trouble, or so we thought.

That morning, I got up early and came downstairs in my p.j.’s, taking the dogs out  and feeding them, before going back upstairs for a catnap, since I had the day off work, no meetings, and I was still tired from working the day before with no air conditioning (a long story, itself, in “Hot’Lanta”).  When I came down about 7 after my second alarm, there was more than piddle on the floor.  Dale had pillaged the pantry!  He chewed up an empty Nilla wafers box  and the local Crier newspaper from the recycling bin, and ate at least 6-8 instant oatmeal packets, thankfully leaving their rubber band on the floor.  He had knocked Lucy’s mac ‘n cheese bowls to the floor, but they were still in their cardboard sleeve, unopened.  Oatmeal dust and scraps of paper were spread all over the kitchen and in the laundry room, with several piles of slobbery oatmeal mud, which Maggie later came downstairs and licked at appreciatively as I cleaned up.  This made for lots of family emails, some of which I will add here, as well as a lot of sweeping, mopping and brush/rag scrubbing.  Lucy was very sad about her oatmeal.  I’m glad I thought to take the pictures!  I’m not sure if Dale was ashamed of himself or overfull.  (It’s a good thing the Apple Cider Vinegar was on an upper shelf!–See “That Dale Dog is Here to Stay…” for the Vinegar Story.)