Earning Her Keep

Ben's always complaining that our dogs are worthless and need to earn their keep. Hank's been newly appointed as the Monkey Butler and is expected to get his lazy butt off the bed and greet us when we come home, but Kimber gets crated. She would love to take on Piggy Butler duties, but we're not willing to replace the burber carpet she keeps pulling up when we leave her out. Darn separation anxiety.

Every time I open up the front door to go downstairs and get the mail, Kimber follows me all the way down and back up just in case I pull a fast one. You never know when I might sneak away and never come back. The other day we got a bunch of junk mail, so I decided I'd see if she would carry it. She did it all too happily, but then tried to run off with it I assume to tear it to pieces. Kimber loves getting into paper. With a few treats and lots of encouragement, she actually picked up what she was supposed to be doing pretty quickly and hands it over as soon as she gets in the door. Meet our new Mail Dog!