Posts Tagged ‘dog mischief’
What Love
Cyndie went to see The Chicks in concert at the grandstand at the Minnesota State Fair last night. You need to buy a ticket to the fair to get to the grandstand so she got a chance for a little taste of the fair. Last year we went in the middle of the week with anticipation of touring the barn to see some horses. Making our way slowly toward our goal we came upon closed doors and access denied signs because they were cleaning the barn that day.
It didn’t take her long to find horses last night. This is the first picture she sent me after her arrival:
I was home and in charge of keeping the dog out of trouble. I didn’t score very high in that regard.
My session of being in charge started badly enough when I found him standing in the middle of the fenced-off compost area eating fresh manure that I’d dumped in there earlier in the day. The perimeter fence was perfectly intact so he must have simply leaped over it. I’m beyond caring at this point.
I opened the fence to let him out, appreciating his obvious posture of acquiescence telling me he understood he wasn’t supposed to be there. I don’t think he has a clue that we don’t want him messing with manure but that’s another issue.
After that, all went perfectly as I finished mowing and he lolled about patiently. He stayed in the house and out of trouble while I tended to the horses and put equipment away in the shop garage. I was able to shower and have dinner while he lazed around and entertained himself in a manner that was nothing short of ideal.
When I took him outside for the last time of the day, I gave him a reward for his good behavior and tossed balls for him to chase until he tired out. I tried coaxing him toward the house by moving our play to the front yard. I was getting eaten alive by mosquitos and was desperate to get inside. Asher still wanted to play.
I threw more toys for him to chase in the front yard until I couldn’t stand it any longer. I went in and watched him through the glass storm door. He chomped on a few toys, ran off into the woods for a time, came back, laid around for a bit, then disappeared again.
He showed up soon after with the filter from the pond pump in his mouth and started tearing it apart. He had pushed down the fence Cyndie erected around the pond and made a mess of things back there in a few seconds of chaos while I waited inside the sunroom door.
I give up.
I forgot. Why did we get another dog?
Cyndie brought me a souvenir from the fair. She got in long after I was asleep so I got this treat for my breakfast this morning. What a love she is.
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Horses Easier
My first day of solo Asher duty was not a pretty one. He got the better of me more than I’d like to admit. It seemed to start well with his perfect off-leash companionship on the morning walk through the woods to the barn. I emptied over 2.5 inches of water from our rain gauges on the way.
Asher waited patiently in the barn for me to finish feeding horses and cleaning up manure. I got him to stay with me on the way back to the house for both of our breakfasts. I confined him to his crate in the house while I mowed down by the road and then let him out with me while I mowed around the barn.
He took advantage of my being fully occupied to find manure out in the hay field and completely smeared his orange vest as well as his body, face to feet. I tried to wash him off despite his vehement objection to the process and ended up feeling like the smeared horse shit just went from him to my soaking wet pants and shirt.
That stink just sticks to everything it touches. I couldn’t wait to get out of my clothes and thoroughly scrub with soap in the hope of clearing that stench out of my nose. Well, Asher’s collar still stinks so the smell just lingers.
In my clean clothes after the shower, I was hoping to avoid contact with the dog for the rest of the night. He took that as a sign he needed to up his antics to get me to give him a hug. First, he got into the bathroom trash and shredded used tissues.
I took him outside where he could chase thrown balls. When he tired of that exercise, I offered to head back inside where he would have the choice of many dog toys. He didn’t want to come in with me so I sat outside with him. He found a stick to play with. Next, he grabbed the Jolly Ball that was in the yard.
He would pause to chew acorns or think about digging into the mole tunnels in the grass. Then he disappeared for a while.
What else could he find to coax me into a wrestling match? Well, there’s always the landscape pond that Cyndie resorted to fencing off to keep him out of it.
He came running into the front yard with the pump intake filter in his mouth and proceeded to shred it before my eyes. When I tried to negotiate an alternative chew option, he knew the game was on.
“Keep away! My favorite game,” Asher says to himself.
All I wanted was to be clean and dry and all Asher wanted was for me to get wet and stinky again.
I went around back and saw he had flattened the netting that was supposed to keep him out of the pond. He figured out how mad I was getting and decided it was time to bolt out of sight. I don’t know where he went but assumed it likely would have something to do with getting dirty or stinky or both.
Honestly, I was prepared to leave him outside all night at that point.
Taking care of the horses is so much easier than watching Asher. He finally returned just before dark and I avoided checking too close before ushering him to his overnight crate so I could be done with him for the day.
Only two more days until Cyndie gets home. I wonder how dirty he can get in that amount of time.
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Relative Something 