When Mattie was adopted, a veterinarian guesstimated her age at 6 months, predicting the rescued pup would weigh around 50 pounds as an adult. By the time we met, Mattie was 2 years old and 80 pounds of meltingly affectionate dog.
I was hired to walk Mattie when the owner worked away from home because her sweet dog had an expensive chewing habit. In the early days, the owner confined her to a crate, but the growing pup broke out of it so often the crate had to be replaced, twice. Eventually the owner gave up, repurposing a third, slightly mangled XL crate as secure storage for throws, blankets, and toss pillows. Taped on the bedroom door was a photo of a young Mattie under a circle-backslash symbol, a permanent reminder to never, ever leave the door open. One of the few things Mattie did not treat as a chewable was the couch.
Hidden talent
In the beginning she stayed out of mischief and proved to be a terrific walking buddy. Eventually I began to wonder how long my luck would last when I found Mattie snoozing on the couch surrounded by ripped snack bags and crumbs. Standing on hind legs she was almost 5 ft tall and I assumed the snacks were stored on top of the kitchen fridge. I was wrong.
Somehow Mattie managed to scale the open shelving in the cramped kitchen to pilfer snacks the owner had stashed on the top shelf, believing they were well beyond the dog’s reach. The sleek base cupboards offered no toeholds, the countertop was narrow, and the upper shelf was mounted 18 inches below a 10-foot ceiling, yet Mattie was able to reach food the owner could not without a ladder.
Unsure how she did it, we were impressed nonetheless. The bigger mystery was how she got down without harm.
Countermeasures
The owner arranged an uneven stack of serving trays on the countertop and waited. Several weeks passed without a food raid convincing her that Mattie would not chance another climb to the top shelf. Not long after, I walked in on another living room picnic: Mattie was blissed out on the couch surrounded by poly bag remnants, chewed up cracker boxes, and a whole lot of crumbs. The kitchen floor was crunchy with broken glass. Miraculously, Mattie survived the climb, the junk food, and the splintered glass unscathed.
The owner decided she and Mattie needed more kitchen cupboard space. Months later they moved to a distant suburb where Mattie was photographed enjoying her new backyard.
Photo of Mattie provided by her owner.
