Peeved Pickle, Eco Pup: Introduced

My name is Pickle; I am a female muttropolitan Cockerpoo puppy and I live with my two lady humans in South Wales. I'm an open minded, left wing pup who loves life and the outdoors.

When I am at home I go mutts for chasing pieces of apple around our living room, sucking on socks I have stolen from my human's clothes horse, sleeping, cuddling, dipping my paws into my water bowl to splash the water around, and chewing bones. I am a big fan of walkies in the forest or on the beach.

Since I have been allowed out and about for adventures in the great outdoors, I have been faced with far more dangerous temptations than a little puppy dog should ever have to. There is litter at every turn when I go for my daily walks and, because I don't really know any better, I often try and hoover it up because it looks and smells interesting. Unfortunately it is obvious by my human's reactions, that none of it is actually any good for me. My human's are often having to wrestle me to retrieve litter out of my mouth, which at the time I always think is really unfair. My humans explained to me that eating litter could make me really poorly and they often remind me about how my best doggy friend Otto nearly died a couple of years ago after he gobbled up a discarded stuffed panda toy whilst on a walk in the park - the head got lodged in his insides and he was very, very poorly.

You name it and I have probably tried to eat it on my walks - I just don't understand why there are so many litter pugs out there and why they would want doggies and other animals to be harmed by what they drop - I mean, we are all so cute after all !! Examples of just some of the things I have tried to or have eaten on walks include: chewing gum, chocolate, a WHOLE camembert, plastic drug baggies, dirty snotty tissues, glass bottles, cider cans, plastic bags, bottle caps - the list is endless. And don't even get me started on how many times I have happened across the poop of another pooch, which has been left there by a lazy human !!! Disgusting (!) well ... actually sometimes a bit tempting to try and eat, much to the horror of my humans.

My humans have discovered that I really enjoy watching wildlife programmes, and I especially enjoy anything narrated by David Attenborough - he always seems to have lots of sensible things to say about animals and the planet we all live on. I have watched the Blue Planet 2 series so many times I could probably woof it all back to you; I personally think they should have called me to narrate the Blue Planet Live tour.

I have realised that the problems I experience with litter in the area I live in, are only the tip of a really huge rubbish iceberg. Thinking about how so many humans are not taking care of their planet and the animals who live here makes me very sad; I can see things need to change. So, I have decided it will be my mission to try and use my good looks and waggy charm to campaign for responsible dog ownership and try to encourage people to reduce their litter pug ways - not just to stop puppies like me from gobbling up rubbish but for all animals and humans too. If people litter less, and are responsible with what they buy and how they dispose of it then the long term health of the world can be helped.

I am going to be repawting about all the litter I come across to raise awareness of how bad it is and hope that some humans begin to think twice before they drop. I will also woofing about any cool environmental topics and eco friendly products I think are pawsitively fascinating.

I would love to hear woofs from other doggies about their encounters with rubbish in places it should not be. All fan mail will be accepted at peevedpicklejones@gmail.com - you know, if you feel the urge.

Best wags, woofs and licks,

Paws out, Pickle