Children Come in All Shapes, Sizes and Fur Coverings

Amy and I have 1 dog (Dynamo), 2 cats (Kirk and Scottie – Spock died 5 years ago) and 5 chickens

Amy feeding "The Children". 

(Zooey – short for Zoolander, Matilda, Tinker, Evers and Chance. Hansel died a couple of years ago). Along with bird seeds, Amy feeds the chickens various table scraps and Dynamo steals his fair share.

Last week, Dynamo’s vet put him on a strict diet to treat a bout of Pancreatitis. That led us to answer the question “How do we keep Dynamo from eating what is meant for the chickens?”

A few years ago, Amy erected planting boxes so she could grow vegetables and the chickens love jumping into the boxes to scratch around and eat the bugs and worms they happen to dig up. In a rare moment of brilliance, I suggested Amy dump the food for the chickens in the planter boxes and away from Dynamo. Of course, that “moment of brilliance” was only brilliant in my mind, because Dynamo quickly figured out he could jump into the boxes like the chickens do, shoo them away and then feast.

So this morning, Amy threw down some food for the chickens and after I saw Dynamo jump in the planting box, I yelled from the back door “DYNAMO! GET OUT OF THERE!” which he promptly did.

Dynamo then ran quickly past me to the other room where Amy was getting dressed and gave her a look on his face that said “Daddy yelled at me! I wasn’t doing anything wrong! He’s so mean to me!”

Ah, the life of a Puppy-Parent.