By the Actors’ Table

Today we strolled around the Heartland Shakespeare Festival grounds during lunch. There is a huge white dog there that Pepper desperately wants to play with, but then she gets distracted by the need to destroy plants of all sorts. A couple of photos below have examples of nature rearranging and pestering by Pepper.  

  
    
    
   

Road Trips with Large Dogs

Summer is starting which mostly means that my fridge will begin to feature pitchers of lemonade and tons of salad makings. It also means road trips.

I take a ton of road trips over the course of a year and I like to take Pepper when it’s possible. For any of you who have traveled with dogs you know there are a lot of difficulties inherent in that.

Over the years though, I’ve decided there are a handful of failsafe things you should do when riding in the car with your canine.

  1. No food for at least four hours before the trip.
  2. Crack the windows a little to help with the pressure changes.
  3. If you have a seat that straps the dog in and immobilizes them, face it toward the front or back windows.
  4. Take the dog for a run first.

That last one might be cheating, but it works all the same.

My Dog Cries for Bottles

My dog Pepper is a little obsessed with plastic bottles. If a plastic bottle appears in my home she will stare at it and cry without end.

https://instagram.com/p/2J5gtPySy7/

The bottles don’t even have to have been offered to her. Simply seeing them on the counter is enough to make her sit, stare, and whine for hours. If she gets the chance to grab it, then she will hide in the closet so she can destroy it in peace.

Why do we ever buy dog toys if the recycling bin is just as fun?