Puppy Experiment

How could you not love an adorable face like this?

I'll tell you how:  when you look at an otherwise beautifully landscaped and maintained yard that is completely dotted with burned patches of grass.  Dead grass, killed by Sheila.  Sheila, just out doing her business.

Don't get me wrong - I'm grateful that this puppy was an easy one to housebreak.  She came home with us from the breeder when she was the cutest little thing, having just turned eight weeks.  We can probably count on one hand the indoor accidents she has had since then, and they were mostly our fault.  As I said, she was easy.

But even though we are fertilizing our yard, adding amendments, and turning our pockets inside out for professional lawn care, there are still those dead spots.  All.  Over.  The.  Yard.

So.

Today son Caleb, owner of said puppy, found a new product in the pet store which came home with him, along with a car-sized bag of puppy chow.

DOG ROCKS is a 100% natural product of Australia.  According to the package, "When placed in your dog's water bowl, they can help stop those nasty burn patches on the lawn which are caused by your loving pet taking a pee.

Dog Rocks are made from a naturally occurring paramagnetic igneous rock.  When placed into your dog's water bowl these rocks will remove any nitrates and tin found naturally in water.  This will give your dog a cleaner, healthier source of water supply.

Dog Rocks do NOT alter the pH balance in any way."

I, of course, am skeptical, for I see that word "can" in there, and right away I am wondering if there is any possible truth to the claims on the package.

We will see.

So, we did as the directions indicate.

We rinsed the two stones.

We set them into clean water in her water dish.

We stood back watched.

We watched as Sheila's tail started buzzing back and forth in her "oh look, I have a new toy to play with" mode.

We watched as Sheila fished one rock out, none too carefully, and in doing so flooded that corner of the kitchen floor.

We marveled as she ran throughout the house with a stone in her mouth, happy with her new toy.

I looked in the bowl and saw what now appeared to be dirty water.  I wouldn't think of drinking that stuff.

I'm scratching my head, yet this is a very reputable pet supply store.

So, we will give this a try.

The package even includes a reminder sticker so you know when to replace your rocks, and a directive to "ENJOY YOUR LUSH GREEN LAWN."

Is this the doggie version of having an olive in the bottom of your martini, or a worm in your tequila?  I don't really care for either of those two options.

All I know is we just bought a bag of rocks.

Feelin' silly.