I'll start by saying that I know that chocolate is toxic for dogs. We are very careful on that front, and this story happened in spite of the fact that I thought we were safe by keeping it in a safe place. It was also the beginning of the learning curve for us where Lilac is concerned.
When she came into our house, Lilac earned the nickname, The Mistress of Stealth. She could steal anything from beneath your nose. Her favorite place to steal from was the trash and we learned to secure it or move it out of her reach when we were not at home. Not only was she a master thief, she was bold and completely shameless about it. Every other greyhound we've had here will automatically hang his or her head in shame at even the thought that some misdeed has happened in our home while we are gone, whether they are the offenders or not. Lilac was a different story. She'd look you right in the eye with an expression that said "I did it, you know I did it, I know that you know that I did it, so let's just skip the unpleasantry and move on with life already!"
So, the Saturday before Easter that year, Mr. Taleteller and I had to run some errands. We put the baby gate up so that the hounds were confined to the living room and kitchen and couldn't get into the bedrooms or the bathroom. That is standard operating procedure here. So, I know that Lilac could not have gotten into the bedroom while we were gone. What I do know is that somehow, she managed to steal four bags of candy that I had hidden in the bedroom as an Easter surprise for Mr. Taleteller and the kids in his family. She stole the candy and hid it in The Fortress of Solitude. Then, while we were gone, she got it out and had a party with Treat and Hawk. I am fairly certain that this act is what solidified the bond she had with Treat and Hawk. I believe she became a heroine in their eyes.
We arrived home and found candy bags and little pieces of foil all over the living room. If you've ever wondered how much colored foil they use to wrap up those little candies, let me tell you, it is A LOT! Our living room looked like it had been hit by a pastel snowstorm. Treat wagged her tail softly and leaned against me, trying to offer her apologies. Hawk could not even look at either of us. Lilac stood in the middle of the living room as proud of her accomplishment as if she were a Nobel Prize winner. The only thing that wasn't completely decimated was a small plastic book light I'd gotten for Mr. Taleteller. Apparently plastic wasn't worth chewing up when there was candy to be had.
I felt a moment of extreme panic. I know that dogs are not supposed to have chocolate. They all appeared to be fine, however, so we decided to cancel plans to go to a movie that night and watch them closely. A few hours later, it was time for turn out. Mr. Taleteller reported that he knew which dog had eaten which bag of candy because they each had left different sparkly colored Easter eggs in the turn out pen. For those who are curious, it takes about a week for dogs to quit pooping out colored foil after eating a bag full of the stuff. Aside from a mild bout of the dreaded big D, none of them were any the worse for wear. They had noxious gas that nearly burned our eyeballs out, though.
Strangely, for me, this cemented in my head the idea that Lilac was never going to leave our house. She'd just decided that she was going to live here upon arrival, and something about that incident convinced me. Mr. Taleteller took a couple more months to be won over, but she did. Every Easter, I think about that story and am thankful that we don't have any more candy surprises.
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