crazy dogs, crazy grandma!

Remember, these are 'catch-up" posts from when we were moving in Belen.

Tuesday afternoon, June 8
I tried to take Chloe out in the western courtyard this morning while I sat out there. THAT was confusion redefined!

First I got my coffee and my birdbook and my binoculars and went out calling the dogs. Huck came and Gable came, except little Miss Contrary Ears was too busy chewing on her pink pillow to come. So I put my things on the bench and came back to get her. There was some fuss with the new lead which she didn’t like AT ALL. When we finally got out the door,--not without an exorbitant amount of screeching from Chloe like the leash was killing her, I discovered Sadie was in the courtyard. She has found a place to squeeze through the gate from the eastern side. I put her in the house and discovered Gable was gone! And Thain was rattling the gate because he couldn’t get through.

Good grief. Why do I even try? I called a couple times—no Gabe. I put Chloe back inside, made Sadie go back inside. Let Huck wander. He doesn’t know which end is up anyway; I didn’t even want to try to mess with him.

I called Gabe again, went to the gate by the garage and called. No little black and white dog that way. I started back down the courtyard and as I went around the corner I heard a gate rattle a little bit and here came Gabriel Felix! Puffing! He either went through Sadie’s hole or found one of his own. He must have gone a ways because he had hustled to get back. But there he was all proud of himself. I gave him a treat and put HIM in the house.

Finally I sat down with Huck to drink my coffee and see what birds were out. And about the second thing I did then was slop my coffee! Merciful Pete! And with all that ruckus every bird on our eleven acres had headed for safer territory! I saw a couple flycatchers and the I-think-maybe-it’s-a-light-colored-mockingbird, but mostly I rested up from all the chaos. When my coffee was gone, I went back inside.

Don’t get me wrong. All of our dogs are good—well, except maybe Chloe, but she is too small and cute to beat yet. Besides she really isn’t bad, just doesn’t know quite what she’s supposed to do. The thing is they are still dogs and do the things that dogs do-check out every wandering smell, pee on every available bush and truck around following scent trails. And all of those things tend to get them in trouble sometimes—especially with grandmas who can’t get around very well. Sigh. . .