Green Marks on the Floor

My family is on our third dog in as many years. We have had a truly bad run of luck where our canine house guests are concerned.

First came Buddy. He was a cute little min-pin and was brought to us as a rescued puppy. We soon learned that he has been abused so badly that he had some sort of personality altering brain damage and soon grew into a very aggressive, bite for no reason source of fear for my children. After the third time he bit one of my children with zero provocation, he was transported to the Humane Society where he reportedly bit two more people. I do not need to expand on his fate.

Second, my neighbor who fosters dogs and cats for the humane society brought us Shasta. Shasta was a chorky (chihuahua/yorkie mix) and was absolutely beautiful. She was slowly acclimated to my children by our neighbor while we saved up for the adoption fee. She house trained in three or four days. Every trick or behavior we encouraged she adopted. She loved my kids and they loved her in return. We lost Shasta to an attack by a large dog while my kids were walking her. It was so traumatic for them to see her killed right in front of them. Recovery and grieving took some time. (And before you ask, nothing was done to or about the other dog as it no history of aggressive behavior.)

That brings us to Gidget. Gidget is another fostered dog from my neighbor. She is a sweet little rat terrier and only about 5 months old. She was malnourished and sickly when we got her, but my wife put that to right in short order. No one is allowed to be underfed in her house!

We've had Gidget for about 3 months now and she is still a little unruly, as puppies are want to be. This brings me to the green marks on the floor.

I came down the hall this morning to find three crayon or marker marks on the laminate flooring in my living room. Each is about six inches long and they are about a foot apart in a straight line with one another. As I geared up to educate my children on why we can't have nice things and how it is not acceptable to write on the floor, my wife says, "Wait, they're green? Like a green crayon maybe?"

"Yes," says I. At which point she begins to laugh.

It seems that Gidget has developed a taste for crayons and had snacked on a green one yesterday morning. She was later seen doing another doggy thing (dragging her fanny across the floor to remove some irritation) and lo and behold three green marks!

Ain't life grand?

Tole