Over the last couple of months some unusual things have gone missing. A pair my favorite knit gloves, two muffins that were left on a plate for the kids, a sock, a container of spinach dip that was placed next to a bag of carrots, a deli bag with a couple of slices of swiss cheese, a wooden coaster created by an artist depicting neighborhoods in Chicago and the repeated disappearance of Grandma’s dog treat containers that she brings to the house when she dog sits. I have found my coffee cup empty or knocked over when I return to the spot where it was left. A plum was pulled out of Grandma’s bag while she was napping. It had a couple of punctures and then was left discarded in the middle of the room.

With two dogs in the house, it’s difficult to assign blame with complete confidence, but I’m pretty sure it’s all Annie. I have found incriminating evidence in the back of her crate, and up until now, Maisie’s only vice has been the bathroom trash or grabbing the end of the toilet paper roll and stringing it around. She’s more of a rebel when she’s alone, I think Annie is the scavenger.

At least that’s what I thought until the joint supplement episode. When I found the empty container, I was immediately worried about Annie and didn’t even consider that Maisie was involved. The strewn about cotton rounds were her calling card and my son found her trying to get into a dog treat bag. Both of those things came out of a drawer within the dog food cabinet. Maisie has proven to be very handy opening doors and now apparently drawers. It wasn’t until I was talking to poison control and they recommended treating both dogs that I thought there was a possibility that Maisie had participated. Until then, I was convinced Maisie would never do such a thing.  But of course she would. She’s. A. Dog!  These were yummy, beef flavored supplements that I doled out like treats!  Thank goodness we did because Maisie had twice the amount in her system than Annie!

So now, I’m more confused than ever. While it is certainly possible that Annie is the instigator, I’m beginning to think she stands and watches and then cleans up what is left. I am very curious about how they have gotten things off of the counter. Annie’s not that tall, she’s not a jumper and she doesn’t even climb on the couch. The stools don’t have any scratch marks on them. Maisie could easily jump up and grab anything she wants, but she never has. Or I should say, I’ve never caught her even thinking about doing that, and up until recently, nothing has been swiped off of the counter. Is Annie instructing her on what to grab and then sharing the spoils? The crumbs and wrappers keep ending up in the back of Annie’s crate, not Maisie’s.

Hmmm, until I catch them in the act I’m left to my own imagination.