The resourceful snout

Last Saturday morning Diesel and I took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and went for a long walk south through the woods. Before getting to the woods we walked through our neighborhood where we came across a leaf pile someone had raked to the roadside for pick-up. As he usually does when he comes across leaf piles, Diesel dove his snout in for a good sniff. Sniffing and sniffing some more, I couldn't figure out what was so intriguing to him in this particular pile. Eventually I urged him on and we took our long walk through the woods.

On our way home our path crossed the leaf pile again. The snout dove in once more, this time tugging to bring something to the surface. Just as I was about to command "Drop it", the object of interest became apparent. Diesel retrieved the biggest pig's ear I'd ever seen (gross, I know, but think rawhide dog chew and it's not as bad). Basically he was stealing from a neighbor. A Miniature Pinscher lives in the house the leaf pile was in front of. The owner must have inadvertently raked his dog's treat to the street. Part of me wanted to return it to the rightful owner, but after seeing the pride Diesel had in his find I didn't have the heart. He carried it home with his head held high and a spring in his step.

The "ewww" factor kept me from actually buying pig's ears at the pet store in the past but the resourceful snout managed to get his paws on one in the end. He loves a good gnaw on his treasure ... especially when his "pack" is reformed at the end of the day and all is well in his world.