We never really do know what sort of mischief our dogs may be getting up to when we are not home, or even when we have our back turned for a micro-second.  To shine a little spotlight on their antics we thought we might share the 'tails' of these rather guilty pooches.

Tuff's cunning plan

Tuff was a Jack Russell Bichon Frise X (or a Jack Frost) who hatched a highly sophisticated plan to infiltrate his (Banks Peninsula) farms central dog biscuit supply. Under a blanket of darkness, Tuff actioned operation ‘Biscuit Reallocation' by redistributing a large quantity of dog biscuits in tactically placed underground bunkers or ‘holes’ (in the dog-verse). It wasn't until a few months later when owner, Paddy, noticed that Tuff’s sides were taking a more 'barrel' shape, that she smelt something fishy. She had always strictly controlled Tuff’s biscuit intake, so it seemed the dog biscuits just weren’t adding up here. The lid on Tuff’s operation was blown right open when he was caught red-handed tucking into a back garage supply of biscuits. He was immediately placed on a low-calorie doggie diet and vigorous exercise regime to rid himself of all those good times he had consumed.  

Polly's unusual attraction

We pop over the ditch now to Victoria, Australia, to meet the Blue Heeler Polly. This gorgeous gal had been a stray before she found her fur-ever home on a large farm. The thing with Polly is that she loved to eat, but unlike most dogs, Polly was not so fussy on whether the object was edible or not. She had a penchant for household items – including a computer mouse, gardening gloves, rolls of fax paper and gravel. It appears Polly had a rather toxic combination of a cast-iron stomach paired with an insatiable appetite. Things took a dramatic turn one day when Polly consumed a 1 kg bag of small fridge magnets (yes, you read that right) while she was left alone in the farm's office for a few minutes. Who can say why Polly was attracted to the magnets? But after life-saving emergency surgery Polly luckily made a full recovery. Phew.

Never-gonna-chew-you-up Charlie

We head back home now to NZ to meet the poster boy for Border Collies - Charlie. At just six months old, Charlie was full of curiosity but never full enough of food. Owner, Diane, recalls that her husband would sometimes take him to his office, where he had built up a reputation for being a wee bit naughty and very food happy. One fateful day, a colleague had their lunch on their desk, they turned momentarily and when they turned back around it was gone. Poof! Charlie had, at lightning speed, devoured the sushi and skewer in one whole bite. Oh dear.

Charlie then starts to look rather uncomfortable (and very guilty), so he is promptly bundled into the car and driven to the vet where they couldn't see the skewer (they don't show on X-rays!). Like Polly, Charlie had to have life-saving emergency surgery to remove the skewer from him and luckily made a full recovery.

Rolling with Molly

To round out our tails, we have the majestic Molly who has a penchant for rolling herself over dead rats from the farm they live on. Very early one morning, Molly was feeling rather pleased with her rat-rolling, so she decided to wake the whole house to share what has been described as the most 'putrid stench imaginable' by owner, Jo. She recalls the surprised look on Molly’s face when she realised that they weren't as impressed with her new eau de carcass.