Threads and Husky games

Hi everyone! My silence lately has been for a more pleasant reason this time. I’m cracking away on my Secret Project, a.k.a. the book I’m not talking about yet. However, I’m still popping up on my socials, and speaking of those, did you hear there’s a new site called THREADS? It only started up yesterday, but it operates much like the original Twitter did before it became The Bad Place. If you want to join THREADS, or you’re already on there, give me a follow HERE. If you’re already on Instagram, it’s easy to import over because they’re run by the same parent company. And speaking of Instagram, I’m also on that HERE,

So far, I like Threads because you don’t need a video or picture in order to post. Oh, you CAN post pics and vids, but you don’t need them, which is good for me because most of my cell phone pics and videos are of my dogs, and cute as they are, no one aside from me wants to see those every day.

Speaking of my dogs, I did a fair amount of research before I adopted my Husky, but there’s something no site warned me about. It’s the game you’re going to play every day, and it’s called “What’s In Your Mouth?”

I’ll explain: You’ll see or hear your Husky eating something she shouldn’t, or you’ll hear her being suspiciously quit, and you’ll go to investigate. Either way, you’ll soon be shouting “What’s in your mouth?” and the goal of the game is to remove the not-allowed item before your Husky swallows it.

But I don’t want to play that every day! some of you might think.

Foolish human! Doesn’t matter if you’re not in the mood, or if you *thought* you Husky-proofed your home to where there are no problematic things within your Husky’s reach. You’ll still be playing “What’s In Your Mouth?” Here an example of me and my Husky, Leia, playing this game yesterday:

*Me, turning around to find only empty countertop where moments ago, there had been the last piece of warm, delicious Carrabbas bread*

*Leia, runs away while chewing frantically.*

Now, that one was a gimme, since Leia made it easy to guess “What’s In Your Mouth?” But, the day before, Leia made it more challenging.

*Me, hearing some aforementioned suspicious silence*

*Leia, chewing on something small and hard while darting away guiltily.*

A round of “What’s In Your Mouth?” ensued. After a minute, I won by claiming a small, hard piece of gray plastic from her mouth. I still don’t know what it is or where she got it from. What’s been broken? Is it important? As I said, Leia can make it challenging sometimes.

I should add that berating Leia does not make her stop instigating the “What’s In Your Mouth?” game. Some dogs can be shamed and/or scolded into stopping unwanted behavior. Not Leia, and I don’t know if that’s true of all Huskys, but it is with her. In fact, experience has taught me that berating Leia while playing “What’s In Your Mouth?” only makes her chew faster, and then she wins by swallowing the object.

The best chance I have of winning is if the item is large enough for me to grab (see some of the list below), or if I trick Leia into wanting something else more. Then, she’ll forfeit by dropping whatever’s in her mouth. So, if I can get to them in time, tempting her with some unsalted peanuts will usually ensure my victory, and if you think she only picks mundane items, here’s a brief list of the things Leia has chosen to play “What’s In Your Mouth?” with:

Knives (she likes to steal them from the dishwasher when I’m loading/unloading, and you haven’t lived until you’ve yelled “Stop her, honey! She’s got a knife AGAIN!” at your husband while chasing your dog.)

A shard of glass (NO idea where it came from)

Cigarette butts (swiped from the sidewalk; I don’t smoke)

Reading glasses

Gloves

My mouth guard

Hairbrushes

A dead rat (found near the sidewalk)

Screws (that she pulled from the back of our new, foot-pedal trash can)

Horizontal blind slats (she plays “What’s In Your Mouth?” all by herself if left without a way to look out the window when we’re gone, apparently.)

Shoes

Too many food items to list (she stands on her hind legs at the kitchen island and swats them off to the ground, and her paw reach is impressive.)

Oven mitts (this one was cute and non-dangerous, so I snapped a pic)