I think I’ve written this before but, in case you missed it, I’m in San Diego dog sitting Sam and Abby, two pug dogs for my friends that are at Burning Man. My mom is here for the week also. Abby has pancreatitis. She eats special food and can only have apples and carrots for treats. They have to be separated at feeding time. Abby goes crazy, jumping, snorting and crying while the food is being prepared while Sam sometimes doesn’t even start eating until five minutes after the food is put down. If I wasn’t forewarned about Abby’s behavior I might have made a 911 call to the vet. She practically goes into convolutions at the sound of food pellets hitting the metal dog bowl.

The other day in the living room my mom bent over to pick up something and a package of chicklets in her shirt pocket opened up and spilled all over the tile floor. To me, it seemed to be happening in slow motion. All I could think about was Abby getting to the gum before me, eating it all and her poor little pancreas failing. I threw myself arms and legs splayed, face down on top of the spray of gum pieces like it was a granade and wildly flailed to sweep up the stragglers before Abby hoovered them up.

I was successfull and no gum was eaten. The pugs are safe for another day.

I wish I had video of the event. It was truely heroic.