Rosie's Present

Several years ago, if someone told me that I would sleep with a dog that brought me a skinned deer hoof that same afternoon, I would have said you were f-ing nuts.

Not so much anymore. It’s strange what I’ve begun to accept after living with a pack of eight dogs. Yesterday morning, our foster dog Rosie returned from the woods with a deer hoof in her mouth. She was thrilled to show it to me, wagging her tail like she was delivering a dozen daises. But when I tried to get her to drop the foot, she thought it was a game and we spent five minutes running in circles around my car.

Finally, I won, which meant I got to pick up the fleshy stump and toss it back in the woods and hope something carries it off before Rosie has a chance to find it again. That night she slept cuddled behind my knees. I even invited her there.