Audrey Ellis, a Leader intern this summer, said her two dogs have contrasting personalities. She and her dogs are from the Des Moines area.
Pepper, 5, is an English setter and Mabel, also 5, is a retired racing greyhound.
“Pepper is very calm,” she said. “She’s very sweet. We got her during COVID and she’s very attached to us. She hunts with my dad.
“Mabel is really weird. She doesn’t know how to be a dog, because she’s been racing. She’s learning something new every day.”
Ellis believes Pepper learned to behave from dogs the family had when she arrived.
“When we got Pepper as a puppy, we had two other older dogs,” she said. “She had a bit more of a mellow upbringing.
“Mabel plays more aggressively and has more energy. They tolerate each other.”
Pepper and Mabel are valued members of the family, she said.
“They are both very important members of the family,” she said. “When my dad works from home, he says Pepper is his secretary and Mabel is an unpaid intern.”
PET SPOT invites readers to tell a story about their pets or nonprofit animal adoption agencies to write about an adoptable pet and submit it, plus an attached photo, to news@myleaderpaper.com. Please include a phone number and city of residence for submissions from individuals and contact information for organizations.
