Good Maggie; Naughty Maggie

Maggie is such a lovely girl!  Or is she?!?

I'll start with Good Maggie first (I'm feeling glass half full today):

Maggie and I go back into the Open ring in 18 days (not that I'm counting), so I figure I should work on some of the areas that need improvement.

First up:  the retrieve.  We've been working on "find the dumbbell" games.  Instead of throwing the dumbbell and sending Maggie to it, I've been setting the dumbbell in various places - some out of her sight, then giving her the command to find it.  I'm trying to really have her start looking for the dumbbell when I give the command, rather than just chase after what's been thrown.  Tonight was only the second time we've played the game, and she's doing so well!  She was even retrieving the dumbbell when only one end was sticking out from underneath a pillow, or when it's been hiding in another room.  What a good girl!  No hairball will distract us again!  Now I've got to find more games to play...

Now on to Naughty Maggie:

In a post-apocalyptic world, I give Maggie the best chance of all the dogs of surviving.  She's a very resourceful dog who can hunt and scrounge with the best of them.  Thankfully, it's not a post-apocalyptic world - but Maggie retains her instincts.  This morning she managed to find a plastic bag in the back yard that The Husband used to haul out the compost last night.  One bag didn't make it back into the house, and the Queen of Stink found it.  Rotten food.  Yum!  When I let the dogs in at an hour when most sane humans are still in bed, there was Maggie - standing on the porch, happily ingesting a plastic bag.

After a bit of at-home forensics to determine that no food was left in the bag, and that not too much of the bag had been eaten, The Husband took Maggie to the vet.  They tried to make her puke - to no avail.  So now we're on "poo-watch" - just waiting for bits of plasticky poo to make us feel better.  Maggie seems to be doing really well - eating, drinking, peeing - but of course not doing what we want her to do.  She's enjoying her frequent walks on the flexi - ambling around the neighborhood, sniffing wherever she wants, peeing on everything.  What could be better?  I'm a concerned about her digestive health, but at the same time I'm suspicious that she knows exactly what she's doing...

I love the girl dearly, and partly because I just never know which Maggie will show up at any given time.