'Meating' Out a Punishment

The other week, when Bart was doing his level best to try my patience, Mabel Lou found it necessary to point out the inequities in my parenting skills and punish me justly.

It had been a trying night... in my mind, it was either the night of the biker or the jogger incident. We had also run into a leash walker (yes, my favorite curse word!). One of the folks that is mortified of meeting off leash dogs so they leash up and hike in the vast open area where all the off leash dogs go! They aren't social and they aren't pleasant.... as opposed to someone with a problem furchild that they can't let off leash but are happy to socialize and are friendly upon approach.

We had finally made it back to the car when I ran into what I thought was the same leash walker from  the levee. I grabbed Mabel and secured her in the car and waited for Bart to reappear. (He loves to disappear just before we get to the car  so he can dash in and harass the dogs that live near the parking lot... we call them the holocaust prisoners. They are fed but never exercised or even played with except by passersby. They actually LIKE Bart and his antics and whine at me on days I hike without him!)

As I hiked back in to get Bart and make sure there was no issue with Ms. Leashwalker, I found it was actually a different woman with a very nice dog. She had only leashed up when she became aware of US. I petted her dog and started chatting when I saw Bart. Mr. Bigshot was scared of the dog I was petting!

 Mabel Lou does love a good tussle. She and Atilla go at it while Chloe and Bart watch.

I went and leashed him and gave the two the chance to meet properly. Bart loved the new dog! We unleashed them and let them play in the parking lot. They were so cute dashing about. Soon Atilla joined us and the three dogs played... all the while Mabel Lou was whining in the back of the car!

I said my goodbyes and drove Bart home giving little thought to the new dog. At home, I fed the girl and headed to the computer to return some customer emails. BUMP..... CRUNCH.

That's strange... 

CRUNCH, CRUNCH POP...

I wonder what that is...

Pop pop POP.

What the???

I headed into the living room only to find that my good dog who only dug in the garbage ONCE as a puppy, had opened the cabinet, turned over the trashcan, rummaged a bit until she found a turkey package at the bottom of the can and had eaten the bloody paper bit and was working on the Styrofoam!!! What the heck??

I phoned my hiking buddy to kvetch. She was the one to figure it out... I had to be punished for failing to allow Mabel a/k/a "Queen Bitch of Everything" to meet and play with the new pup! I've learned my lesson. I won't do it again!

The Great Eyeball Fakeout

I know everyone (save for Bart's mom) thinks their dog is smart. But there is something about "the oooh" a/k/a my Mabel Lou. My hiking buddy tells me she wants to flip Mabel over and check her for a zipper i.e. she thinks Mabel is a human in a dog suit!

Recently, we ran into the hiking buddy and her Rhodesian Ridgies Hank and Sue at a fork on the trail. The HB was very excited... she had a ball for me - an "eye" ball. She picked it up for me because I love to make glass eye beads and she thought I would get a kick out of it.

Mabel Lou spied the exchange and got excited. I distracted her and Bart and pocketed the ball in my cape for closer examination later. Before I walked 10 feet, Mabel had set up camp in front of me, demanding the contents of my left pocket... that's where the ball was. Realizing I wasn't going to walk very far, I tossed it to her.

Suddenly Atilla and my pool man joined us and the pack moved toward the river. All four dogs were very interested in that eye ball in Mabel's mouth. Realizing she was outnumbered, Mabel Lou attempted evasive action. But she's older and not as fast as she once was. So she opted for the next best thing - a fake out!

She dug a hole, sucked that ball deeper into her jowls and "buried" it.  Hank and Sue fell for it. But Bart and Tilla weren't so sure... so she repeated the motion further downstream. And both boys fell for it! With all four hiking buddies digging for balls that weren't there, Mabel went off on a ridge where she could play with her ball alone and bury it in secret.

I know she's mine... but I do think she's rather clever!

Bad Bart

It's been a trying few weeks.  I'm always overwhelmed this time of year prepping taxes, sales taxes, commission reports, etc... the chore I despise most of all. Add in my illness and my sister being so sick and the insurance claim on my downed fences, the fact that my neighbors across the way can see right in my once private back door and the niece's wedding and you get one stressed Creekhiker.

And then there's the dogs. I have so many dog adventures from just the last SEVEN DAYS that my head is spinning! WHY can't I ever just have a normal hike... do I beg for trouble??

So much has happened and I'm too pressed for time to deal with many pictures so, I'm going to give you some bit-tids and a few teasers.

• Some days I think Bart has gone slap dab crazy. He bowed up and threatened to attack a biker and a jogger during two different hikes this week! The biker was very nice... the jogger? Not so much.
• WHY, when someone (such as a biker or a jogger) sees you trying to gather your dogs and get your leash, do they just barrel right on into the pack??? Do they want to get bit??? Or heaven forbid, when you ask them to stop... WHY keep on going??? Are they really that absorbed in their own little world?
• And while Bart does need some serious training, the bestie (Bart's owner) is in no shape to do the job and quite frankly, if I wanted a leashed dog, I wouldn't hike where I hike. But if the task has to be done, it's pretty much up to me to do it. Ugh.
• So, we've started training him with the electric shock collar. Bart does not obey on leash... he bucks and jumps so much that we've actually considered creating a workout video featuring "Bart moves." They are THAT funny.  
• After two walks with the collar on, he's already figured out that the buzzer is an audible warning to behave "or else." So... the Barticus hears the warning and ...stops the annoying behavior and non-nonchalantly does... anything else. And after a minute or two, he goes right back to the annoying behavior. I've decided to instead train him so that my voice is his only warning. 
• It wasn't ONLY the incidents with the jogger / biker that brought us to this decision...but you'll have to wait for that story!
• I'm so happy to say, we had an uneventful walk tonight! 

{Updated 2/1 - I felt the need to add... we RARELY see joggers and bikers! Maybe twice a month....not enough to punish the pups with leash walks but we do want to control Bart to protect him and the other people.)

Teasers from the last week:

• The great eye ball fake out or how to outwit four dogs at once.
• Mom put in her place as Mabel "meats" out punishment.
• What's freaking Bart out?
• Who's Dead Dog Is This? (Don't worry! It's funny! I swear!)

Laundry Day

After I finally stopped hacking up my lungs, I wanted some clean bedding.  I have so many comforter covers to prevent dog hair on the actual pricy part of the bedding and it can take the better part of a day to do all that laundry.

As I was going back and forth from the laundry room to the bedroom with my many loads of wash, I was kinda surprised at what who I tripped over...

 It seems Sweet Baby May thought that nice duvet was curled up just so she would have a thirteenth another softie bed for a nap. It was a rather chilly day and she napped there all morning. It took a late breakfast of bacon to make her rise!

Mabel Lou's Opinion

...on rising early on a cold windy morning....