Wildlife Intrigue

A couple of days ago, I watered the garden near the deck and three baby bunnies tumbled out onto the driveway!

We seem to have a prolific pair of rabbits in our yard. When the girls were planting our flowers a month ago, they discovered a nest near our deck with five babies! The gestation period is 31 days, so the mommy and daddy wasted no time in expanding their family!

Yesterday, we saw two darling bunnies snuggled together at the curb.

Today we were cleaning out the garage and tied Guinny to a post outside the garage. A while later, we noted that one of our baby bunnies was on the curb at the edge of the deck not even two feet from the post where Guinny was tied. Guinny did not seem to be paying any attention to the bunny, when, normally, he can smell a bunny a mile away and delights in chasing them. It seemed like Guinny was trying to be kind to his little friend and ignored him to not frighten him.

This evening while Grant was BBQing, he saw a hawk dive out of the sky and grab a baby bunny that had ventured out into the driveway. All the little birds in the trees made a ruckus forcing the hawk to drop the bunny! Here you can see some blood on the driveway and the scratch of two talons in the asphalt.

Grant set him on the curb beside the deck, where they like to hang out. The next time we looked, another bunny was sitting there with him. It is the sibling that is nestled down into the crack. You can see a spot of ruffled fur on back this bunny who is lucky to be alive. Maybe we should name him Peter Rabbit because he is audacious.

I read on the Internet that they are weaned after three or four weeks, then they venture out of the nest. At night, they return to the nest to sleep with their mother. The family unit remains together for four or five weeks.

After dinner, we saw the mother on our steps, though we didn’t venture out to see where the babies were. She kept a close eye on us.

Later as dusk was falling, I checked again and found her with one baby directly behind our garage door. Sleep tight, bunnies!

I Can Feel It in My Bones

As usual, I was allowing him to have “free” reign on a long lead. He saw a dog on the other side of a fence, and both were crazy to meet each other. Guinness started running in circles like a whacko dog. When he is about to reach the end of his leash, I yell, “Easy!” which usually has an effect on him before pinching his neck with a jerk as he reaches the end of the line. Eventually he shot off next to the fence in a straight line looking for a way to get through, almost yanking my arm out of the socket and pretty nearly pulling me flat on my face. Some day Guinness is going to pull me to the ground and drag me. Today was almost the day.

He Still Has His Own Language

Guinness wanted a walk today. I knew he did, but I was too busy. I took him out for a potty break; he refused to go potty even though it had been hours. He stood looking at the stairs leading to the driveway. So I decided to give him a mini-prom around the property. We had not gone far when he went potty. Then I turned around to come home. He kept jumping at me and trying to grab the leash out of my hand. In other words, “No, Mom! I do not want to go home! Take me for a walk!” Poor boy…

Hotel Stay, June 24 - 26

We had Cousin Camp with four couples gathering to have a gabbing good time! Gary and Ruth brought little Sam, a Yorkie, and Guinness came with us since the Microtel allowed pets. At 11:30 Saturday night, Grant was in bed, I was getting ready for bed when the room phone rang. It was the front desk saying that the people in the room under us were complaining of thumping on the floor. I said, “That is strange. My husband is in bed and I am washing my face and cleaning my contacts, but I am not thumping my foot.” After I hung up, I considered that perhaps Guinness jumping off the bed could make a thump beneath us.

The next morning, I asked at the desk if the people beneath us were still there. “No, they checked out this morning.”

“I wonder if the thumping they heard was pipes in the wall.”

“I don’t know what they heard, but, when they checked out, they said that they heard thumping at 1:30, 4:30, and 6:30.”

I said, “Maybe it was ghosts!” but I was thinking … uh-oh… Every time Guinness heard something in the night, he jumped off the bed and ran to the door barking. And the timing was about the same as when they heard thumps.

The second night, Guinness was used to the hotel situation and never jumped off the bed to bark at exterior noises. It was somewhat of a treat for us to sleep in a queen size bed instead of a double with a 78 pound dog.

Learning Guinny's Language

Guinny has not had a walk for a couple of days. This morning, after Grant left the house just before 7:00, Guinny would not let me stay in bed any longer. Then he played his Chase Game repeatedly – one thing after another – my handtowel off the rack, an item from an open drawer, and envelope off a desk. I realized that he was telling me in no uncertain terms, “Mom, I NEED a walk!” So we went for a big walk.

Where is Mommy Supposed to Sit?

Guinness likes our new lawn chairs...

Life Almost Ended

Guinny and I almost died today. I was crossing the street beside our house where the highway ramp comes down to our street. A woman had NO intention of stopping for her red light. We were crossing on a white walk light. She hit her brakes and slide sideways to miss us. I got her license no. and called 911. They are SOOO annoying. They ask the most asinine questions that have no bearing on the situation. After I told her I was walking, she asked what street I was driving on. I finally said, "Can I just tell you what happened?" And, of course, the answer is no. They wanted to know what make, color, year, etc. of car. As if I cared!!! I was panicked and focusing on catching her license no.! It sure makes you think about your life ending at any time!

Lots of Company

Guinny enjoyed the activity and people in our yard today! I enjoyed it as well. I love work. I could sit and watch it for hours!

Improvement

When Emmett and Daddy arrived home late afternoon and we all stood around the driveway, Guinness was enormously good. He tried very hard to not jump on Emmett. When it was more than he could take, he jumped on me instead. He looked down the driveway as if he was considering going to see what or who could be down there, but, with my reminder, stayed where he was. Before Emmett left, he did his “happy dance” of running in circles as fast as he could go around Emmett’s car. He certainly had the freedom and opportunity to run away, but he did not! In fact, it almost seemed like he was a bit skittish about running on the far side of the car as that was approaching the barrier line.

Good Morning, Mom!

This morning I was awakened at 6 AM by something warm and furry with stiff, somewhat prickly things mashing into my face. It happened twice before I opened my eyes and jumped up. At least, he didn’t lick me. He simply pressed his face into mine.

Bark Busters

www.barkbusters.com

Scored Survey Results Survey Score: 75

OK... He needs some training... (surprise, surprise)

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A Score Of:	Means:
19 - 27 = A	This dog is extremely well-behaved. Congratulations!
28 - 50 = B	Dogs in this category are typically wonderful family dogs with a few rough edges. This dog could easily move to the "A" grade with some training.
51 - 85 = C	While these dogs need training, frequently they don't receive it because their annoying behaviors are "just not bad enough". It's unfortunate because "C" dogs can improve quickly and bring great joy and happiness to families. And, with training, the owner can be assured the behaviors will only get better -- not worse.
86 - 139 = D	This category of dogs has issues that can be serious if not addressed soon. Owners of these dogs are constantly being annoyed and irritated by their behavior and are beginning to think "Something has got to be done." Fortunately, dogs can change their behavior quite easily, so these owners should seek help immediately.
140 - 200 = F	Most people with dogs that rate an "F" are desperate for change, but many don't know what to do. These dogs are out of control and serious problems can arise if they are not trained. Owners of these dogs sometimes consider putting them down. However, the vast majority of dogs can be saved with training, eliminating the owner's grief and guilt.

Bunny

There seems to be a growing population of rabbits in our area. When we first moved here, we rarely saw a rabbit. Now there often is one in our yard when we go outside. While I was cleaning up sticks in the yard, Guinness was chasing a rabbit. I was standing in the garden, behind the plantings, next to the wooden fence tossing sticks into the woods on the other side. The rabbit was trying to escape by running the perimeter of the yard next to the fence. He tore past me brushing my foot!!! He obviously was less frightened of me than of the big brown dog. Guinness seemed to be confused about where the rabbit had gone. He probably did not expect the rabbit to have run past me either. Clever rabbit.

Crazy Boy

I went to pick up Guinness from Holly’s Pride this morning. He has been there for 10 days. While we were away, I found a golf outlet store and shopped for a left golfer’s glove with open fingers to wear in the summer while walking Guinny. It is pink leather with a mesh back to avert suntan lines. Hopefully, wearing such a glove will prevent me from losing layers of skin again. I put it on when I arrived at the pet hotel, because my finger is not healed up yet, and I certainly cannot handle Guinness without some protection on that wound.

As I entered the office, two couples were waiting to pick up their dogs. First, two great danes came out for the one couple. They were very excited to see their masters AND me! There were jumping on me too. After they left, while we were waiting for the other couple’s two Goldens to appear, I mentioned that the great danes were just as excitable as Guinness. The girl at the desk said, “Well… no one is as excitable as Guinness. He wins the prize for being the craziest.” What?! After paying out bill, I asked if the “mattress” we had improvised is still working well. She said that it was a fabulous idea to do that. “He doesn’t lie on it until bedtime, though. He spends his day lying at the door watching everyone go by. Then after 6:00, he will get up on his bed and lie down.”

Before bringing him home, I had unpacked most of my suitcase, sorted piles of laundry, and had stacked things in different places to be put away. First he found a washcloth in a laundry pile. Next he took some tissue paper that had been wrapped around new clothes. The third thing he stole was a shocker: my blue jeans!!! They were folded up into a neat square; he grabbed them and ran.

The crazy boy was exhausted! This is how he spent his day. We did go for a promenade around the property late in the afternoon. The glove works like a charm! I let him run loose dragging his leash in the yard while I cleaned up some things. I neglected to check if the landscapers had left my jerry-rigged fence intact when they mowed last week. Without warning, he dashed through the fence, as it was not all put together, to get to the street sidewalk! A man was walking his labradoodle. By the time I caught up with him, they were happily dancing around each other and the man was holding Guinness’s leash.

I have been contemplating finding a personal trainer, and now I need to call fence companies tomorrow to see if we can do something more sturdy than my flimsy fence.

Paint Swatches

A painter came today to give an estimate on doing our 3 levels of hallway and foyer. She left a ring of paint swatches for us to decide on the color. When she gave it to me, I set it on the kitchen counter and forgot about it after she left. Yep! You know what happened. I had to chase him around the house. By the time I removed the slimy pages from his mouth, he had managed to mangle one of the swatches and several others were bent a bit. I wiped off the pages and set the blender on top of the book to make the damp pages lie flat. It worked! They looked pretty good after it was all dry. In fact, the painter said that it was fine and I did not need to give her $30 to replace the book.

Near Disaster

My normal way to walk Guinny is to put him on a 20 foot cotton web lead connected to a heavy leather leash which I loop over my right wrist and use my left hand to control him. Since he is pretty good about “leash respect,” this system works well to allow him maximum room to roam on his own and have some fun rather than have to walk at old Mommy’s pace. Tonight we did a prom on the long lead in the back of the property, but, when we come to the front on the sidewalk near the road, I have to loop up the long lead and hold the cotton lead in my left hand with no room to roam. He must have seen a bunny or something, because he uncharacteristically bolted from the sidewalk towards the road. I screamed and tried to hold the cotton leash, but it was cutting through the skin of a finger on my left hand. He stopped short of the road, and I felt like my index finger had been sawed off at the second joint. Many layers of skin were gone, yet it did not bleed. Fortunately, we are going to FL for a week and he goes to the pet hotel tomorrow, which will give that wound time to heal before we venture out on a walk again.

Maturing

Yesterday and today, our walks along the bike path proved that Guinness is growing up and developing some sensibilities. It is almost like reaching age 2 was a magical turning point. Yesterday, we encountered the older man and elderly dog. Today we met a year old Havachon and the blind dog, Winnie, that we have met before. Guinness was very gentle with both dogs.

Later, we were out on our property and met up with a neighbor and her teensy Yorkshire Terrier granddog. We have never allowed Guinness close to Toby, because he is just too rambunctious, but he was calm, and gave Toby a chance to bark at him.

The Gingerbread Man game is slowing a bit and he readily gives up his prize – usually. Grant ordered new business cards for Emmett and himself. Guinness grabbed the unopened pack of Emmett’s cards leaving some teeth marks in the plastic packaging and denting the top and bottom cards. Emmett will love that, because he says that he and Guinness are soul-mates.

Surprises never end

Guinness found a surprise rubber soccer ball on our back driveway. It must have blown there from a neighbor's grandchild. He had a ball with his ball until it popped. But then it was fun to rip apart.
We went for a walk along the bike path today. Along our walk, we met up with an older man and his 14 year old dog. Obviously, a 14 year old does not want to play. BUT Guinness was surprisingly calm around the older dog and older man! He is definitely learning to discern less able dogs and people! The man and I chatted as we walked along, and Guinness slowed his pace to ours (I let him roam on a long lead on the path). He never tugged on me. Sometimes the two dogs would sniff the same interesting spot together. When we reached the ballfield area, I released Guinness to run where ever he wanted. He didn’t run. He stayed with us. He was enjoying having a companion even though it was not a playmate. After we circled the field and headed back down the path, Guinness became his Guinny self and ran like a crazy man in circles around us. He didn’t jump on us, but just raced as fast as he could go. It suddenly stuck me what he was “saying!” He did not want us to leave the ballfield! He wanted to wander around some more with the nice man and congenial dog.

This afternoon, I screwed up the monitor for a new thermometer on the deck. Guinness was extra good while I worked. He wandered the yard, then stood near me until I was done. I patted his head as we walked inside as I told him, “Good boy.” After I put my tools away, I wanted to go out through the garage to clean up leaves that had accumulated there. I called to Guinness to come. No response. I called again and again. No response. So I went looking for him, assuming that he had something he shouldn’t and was refusing to come to me. He was no where to be found. Then I started to worry… did I leave him outside? Before I went to look, I did one more sweep of the house. He was not in the house. As I went outside, and no Guinness in sight, I recalled that he DID walk in with me like a perfect Hershey would have. Is it possible that he followed me into the tiny furnace room when I put the tools away and that I closed him in there? YES!!! Poor baby! And he didn’t even cry! Hershey would have done the same thing.

TWO YEARS OLD!!!

Guinness was treated to special frosted birthday bones. After dinner, Daddy brought home a real veal bone!

Guinness spent the day outside watching us set up our new patio furniture, then using it to share a drink with our neighbors. While he plays with a new toy, a neighbor obliges him with a tummy rub.

Guinness is bad for Mommy's well-being

A year ago, I lost use of my left thumb for a few months. I eventually deduced that it was from Guinness’s leash yanking on it. I am damaged again. When I am away, he doesn’t get a good walk. Daddy takes him on promenades around the property, and the pet hotel takes him on 15 min. walks daily. So he was wild my first time out with him, yanking on the long lead and jerking my ligaments. I was sore for the week before going to NC where I began to recuperate. Now I am home again for him to jerk my sore muscles around again. Not good! My left thumb is close to useless again. Will this Wildman ever calm down?!