by Barb Beck

The other day when I returned home from work, I walked into a complete disaster! My little devils, Maxx and Carley (my Yorkshire Terriers) were not there to greet me. I knew as soon as I backed my car into the garage and didn’t see our “little greeters” at the patio door jumping with joy, that something was not right. Panic was striking me as I ran to the door.

Gated Quarters
We keep Maxx and Carley gated in the kitchen with a baby gate during the day while my husband and I are at work.

Our other dog, Bear, has the run of the rest of the house and has no desire to be around two active young pups.

Who Flung the Potatoes?
I walked in the kitchen door and my mouth literally hit the floor. Miss Carley, I thought to myself, is the devil. I know she’s the one that usually causes all the trouble. Maxx, on the other hand, is usually a perfect Yorkie angel.

There were five pounds of potatoes scattered about all over the kitchen floor. I noticed a few gnaw marks on a couple of them. Apparently, we had forgotten to put the potatoes away the previous night after we went grocery shopping. Shame on us again! So much to remember!

I just stood there in dead silence, trying to scrape my mouth off the floor; trying to absorb the situation. No Yorkies to greet me. Where were they? They should have been there somewhere among the potatoes. They weren’t.

Greeters Hear Mom
Then I hear the pitter-patter of eight little paws. First on the scene was Miss Carley wagging that little tail of hers and no doubt saying, “Hi, Mom.”

But where is Maxx? He’s not with Miss Carley. I walked further into the kitchen around the microwave stand and to the living room/hallway door. There’s Maxx, with Bear, on the other side of the gate. Now how in the world did Maxx get out of the kitchen? What the heck happened?

Yorkie “Key” to Leave Kitchen
Then looking down I discovered a big hole in the gate. I looked at Maxx, then at Miss Carley and then said to them: “Did we chew through the gate and have FUN today??????? LORDIE, LORDIE!!!” What else did the Yorkies do while I was at work today?

I quickly let them all outside, and felt extremely frightened as I knew I had to walk through the rest of the house to check for signs of other “no-nos.”

The Walk-Through
Thank GOD they didn’t get into anything dangerous. Miss Carley had been in the bathtub leaving her little paw prints as proof of her delightful romp in the tub. She loves bath time, and probably thought all she had to do was jump into the tub and she’d get a an unscheduled bath.

One of my bottles of conditioner was also on the bottom of the tub. Do you suppose Miss Carley is aware that she gets her beautiful silky hair conditioned after she’s thoroughly shampooed and rinsed?

I found a couple of little “presents” for me on my office carpet. I laughed aloud at the thought of two little poop piles deposited as “gifts.”

Hi There, Our Names are “Bad Puppies”
What a scene it was that greeted me that night. Those two Yorkie puppies knew Momma was upset with them.

Their actions were so cute; they knew they had done something wrong. They just stayed out of my way as I cleaned up everything, while repeating “BAD Puppies, BAD Puppies!”

They scuttled about with their heads hanging low. Miss Carley just sat there and looked at me with her sad face. She looked so pitiful, so contrite. Maxx’s look was the typical sibling which seemed to say, “But mom, I didn’t do anything. It was Carley.”

Moms Don’t Stay Mad
My Yorkies are too darn cute, too spoiled, and too loved for me to stay mad at them for very long. I sat down on our little Rubbermaid stool and motioned to Carley to come to me. She instantly leaped with glee, gave me a BIG smile (yes, of course, Yorkies smile). Then she jumped into my arms to nuzzle against me as if to say, “Sorry, Mom. But we did have FUN!”

Maxx didn’t take long to smile and run to me either, and with both of their “apologies” accepted, each Yorkie was hugged and kissed, and my evening was back to normal.

Conclusion
Let this be a lesson once again that puppy-proofing a home is of the utmost importance. I was indeed thankful my two fur children did not get into anything which would have been harmful to them.

When I think back on that day, I still laugh about it. The joy our Yorkshire Terriers bring into our lives is endless. The unconditional love, priceless! I would not trade them for anything!