HER NOSE CAME OFF

This is Daisy Head Mayzie. She was named after the last literary work of Dr. Suess. The book by the same name was found completed but unpublished in Dr. Suess' desk by his wife after his death. It's a delightful story about a little girl who wakes one day feeling a little strange and goes on to find there is a daisy growing out of the top of her head and the drama that ensues.

Our Mayzie doesn't have a daisy growing from the top of her head. But her nose did come off. *gasp* Yes, I know, it's awful. It happened last Easter.

We decided to treat Mayzie by giving her the ham bone from our Easter ham. One of those really big bones from a spiral cut ham. It had plenty of ham scraps still on it. She was beside herself with happiness. She loved that bone. She couldn't think about anything else but the bone. She became obsessed. The ham bone was her crack.

Apparently a side effect of ham bone crack is that it makes you paranoid. Our dear Mayzie, normally a trusting soul, was suddenly suspicious of anyone who looked her way. She worried that they might want to steal her ham bone crack. She went about hiding her treasure. She would dig a hole in the yard and bury it. But she was so addicted to it that she couldn't leave it be. She had to dig it up. She had to have just one more little chew of this Easter yumminess that had become a disgusting, filthy, stringy mess. She would bring it to the door with those puppy dog eyes. She pleaded with me to allow her to bring her ham bone crack into the house. I responded like any normal thinking woman would; telling her there was no way on God's green earth she was bringing that disgusting thing into my house. Off she would go to bury it again. But not before looking all around to make sure that no one was watching. If she saw me looking at her through the window, she would move to an area out of my sight.

If I had to guess, I would say that Mayzie would bury and dig up that darn bone no less than 30 times a day. She had a hole by every tree, stump and fence post in the yard by the end of the week. She would use her paws to dig the hole. Then carefully place the ham bone in the hole. She would then proceed to cover up the hole by using her paws again and then pat it down with her nose. She repeated this routine so many times, that her nose became raw and sore. Then one day, the black just came off. She was left with a shiny pink ball at the end of her snout. It wasn't long after that the ham bone disappeared. I don't know if another animal found it and carried it away or is she finally buried it so many times, she forgot where she left it.

All I know is our little baby is no longer a ham bone crack addict.

And her nose still hasn't grown back yet. Or at least not completely.

Do you know how hard it is to get a very active SUPERDOG like Mayzie to stand still for a picture?

Poor little nose.