Lily's Green Chili Peppers

I had planned on writing about a new ring design, but puppy had other plans.

While I was prepping the outside wood trim on the house for painting, Lily was playing in the backyard. I was a few feet from her, going up and down the ladder. She was romping through the grass and happily running along the fence line chasing squirrels and grasshoppers.

Suddenly, I noticed she was lying in the grass with a green branch that had a few white flowers and something long and green. Lily had taken a portion of one of my chili pepper plants. The chili's hadn't turned red yet, so I left them on a little little longer before harvesting them. Puppy does like vegetables, but never showed any interest in the hot peppers.

Take a look. She ate three hot peppers. One almost completely and just a portion of the other two. She seems to favor the part with the seeds - the hottest section!

This resulted in me calling the vet right away. Apparently, red chili (and green chili) peppers are not toxic to dogs. I just have to watch for lethargy, diarrhea and vomiting. Rather than lethargic, Lily seems energized by the peppers and a little more interested in water. Can't wait until she passes this - burns in, burns out.

I made certain she stayed inside while I completed my painting although, she did sneak out once. And where did she go? Straight to the chili peppers and grabbed another off the plant - happy as a clam. I bribed her with a doggy treat back into the house while I harvested the peppers (there were enough to fill an apple bag). Now, I just have to get them to turn red. Any ideas?