Lily Scarlett

A- Z Challenge – ‘L’

Lily is my daughter’s youngest dog, the one I have to teach how to behave when we visit this summer. Since the beginning of April I have had two emails from the other dogs with stories of her escapades.

The first was from Cody who loves fishing and who is thirteen years old.

“I wanted to tell you a funny story. Lily is in BIG trouble. Well, Mummy and Daddy aren't really sure who the culprit is but the odds are clearly against Lily Scarlet. Anyway, you know how we Golden Retrievers always have to carry something around in our mouths? And you know how we like to drink out of the toilet?

At the beginning of last week, Lily (or someone) clearly got a little confused when she went for a drink in Mummy and Daddy's bathroom. She dropped a big rock (or some other yet-to-be-identified item) right into the toilet instead of on the floor. Daddy spent three whole days with all manner of tools and stinky bleach liquid trying to dislodge whatever was stuck in there.

Mummy blamed Daddy and Daddy blamed Mummy. The toilet was closed for business. Then a few days ago, Daddy actually removed the whole toilet from its foundations because the toilet just wouldn't work. Mummy and Daddy then spent an entire evening in the bathroom with this "*******" toilet on its side trying to work out what was in there and how to get it out.

Mummy and Daddy now have a brand new toilet.”

The second email was from Scout, the second youngest in the pack, who is named after Scout in ‘To Kill A Mocking Bird’ even though he is a boy.

“I am the perfect dog (ok, perhaps not as perfect as Cody).I come, sit, never jump up on the bed without being asked, and never (almost) beg for food at the table. Looking at Lily and Gem, I assume that this is because Cody trained me and not Mummy and Daddy. My name is Scout Samuel Scotney, but for some reason, I've been called "Chubster" recently. Mummy says I'll be better when I start swimming again. I'm not sure what that all means except I know that swimming is a good thing. Cody and I like to hang out in the pond.

Anyway, there has been another "Lily Incident" this week. I guess this means that I have to admit that I'm not exactly a perfect dog because I do lick the dishes in the dishwasher. But Mummy lets me because I am a good boy. So, I was doing this on the day in question and Lily decided to join me. Daddy was cooking and Mummy was loading the dishwasher (nothing shocking there apparently). Anyway, all of a sudden, Lily's collar got caught on something in the dishwasher. She panicked and ran away. Unfortunately, the entire bottom tray that was FULL of dishes was still attached to her collar. She dragged the whole thing out of the dishwasher and across the kitchen floor, taking Mummy out on the way. It made such a loud noise that I swear that Cody almost heard it. Amazingly, no dishes (or bones) were broken. And luckily, unlike the toilet, Daddy was able to fix the dishwasher so it will continue to serve as a buffet for years to come. Whewy.”

Now you know what I am up against.

 Cody and Scout