A Burst of Freedom by Pocket

When our parents are away from us, it seems like every minute lasts an hour.  We don’t know if they will return.  It is terribly frightening.  I don’t want my parents to know that worry because I Iove them.  But last Sunday I did, inadvertently, given them a taste of that fear.

I have a different harness since the previous one injured my trachea.  When you get a new harness all those annoying tags that we are forced to wear have to be transferred from one harness to the other.  Earlier that day my Mom did just that using one of those little wire ring things.

My Dad did not notice the tags.  When we left for our walk Daddy clipped my leash to the small ring with the tags.  We were on our usual walk when we passed my friend the Corgi’s house.  The Corgi came to the window to bark at us.  I went ahead, pulling the leash tight, and barked back at him.

Suddenly the little ring holding my tags gave way.  My tags flew in the air.  I kept walking, now unleashed.  Where we live has very few cars, and there were none in sight.  I crossed the street where Corgi was barking in the window.  I went up the house, which was ten feet from the road, barked at Corgi, walked to the side lawn, peed, and got picked up by Daddy.

It was not long at all.

But to my parents this is what happened:  My tags exploded, and the leash came undone.  I crossed a street (thank God there were no cars coming). They yelled at me to come to them, but I ignored them.  (They also forgot the word come and just started screaming random words like “banana” and “rankle rotary engine.”)  I would not listen and ran away from them.

Daddy was also holding River’s leash while he was trying to run after me and River was having none of it.  She sat down like a ten-pound boulder and Daddy was trying to drag her and catch me.  He still pulled River an Olympic distance before Mommy, who was frozen watching me, stepped forward and took River’ leash.  This entire horrible process took about three seconds, but to my parents, it seemed 20 minutes.

Daddy then walked onto the stranger’s property where I was barking.  He went to pick me up, but I darted away from him.  That is when I took a few steps to my right to pee but Daddy saw me running down the street and disappearing into the woods while he posted my picture on Facebook and on every lamppost in town.

I finished peeing and waited for Daddy to pick me up and put the leash on me to continue our walk.  My, did they make a fuss over me.  I was only loose for a few seconds.  My parents reacted like we dogs react when they come home.  I felt very loved.

I hoped they learned their lesson and never leave the house again.

Wordless Wednesday

Beat This Caption

I don't care how you do it you are taking the next feeding

Monday Question

What is your most common sleep position?  Stretched out?  On your back?  Curled in a ball?  On your side?  On your tummy?  

If you sleep with your parents or another dog do you snuggle with them?  Do you sleep with your butt on them on your head?

Pocket:  I sleep curled up in a ball.  I like to sleep in the crook on one of my parents' knees.  I like to have my butt against them when I sleep.

River:  I like to sprawl out when I sleep.  I like my whole body against my humans.

August 27, 2017 Pup of the Week: Beast, Lux and Bruno: The Hero Dogs

All dogs are heroes to their parents. This week I want to celebrate three dogs who saved their humans because they recognized it is our duty to put their lives before ours.

The first dog is a nine-year-old American Staffordshire Terrier named Beast.

Beast’s mom, Sandy Ruggerio, was outside with her two other dogs at her North Port Florida home when she heard the terrifying sound of a rattlesnake about to bite.

Beast jumped on the snake, and after a brief struggle, he killed it. He was injured, and he is at the vet’s where he is responding to treatment for low blood cell count, but the doctor is confident that the amount will rise and soon Beast will back in family’s yard once again protecting them.

We find our second hero dog on the lovely beaches of Salerno Italy. A father was playing on the shore with his two young daughters. A rogue wave pulled the girls out to sea. The father swam out and found one of the girls, but he could not see the second. 

Fortunately, Lux, an accredited lifeguard dog was on patrol. He saw the missing girl, Caterina, and he jumped in the water. Lux reached Caterina and dragged her back to shore where she was revived. She spent the rest of the vacation happily with her family. When she had arrived at the beach, she had been afraid of dogs. Lux not only gave her life back to her but also instilled in her a love of dogs.

Heroic dogs don’t just save children. Bruno, a 15-month-old Bernese Mountain Dog, was at home with his mom Jayne and his dad Andy in Sunderland Australia. Jayne’s 82-year-old father, Terry, was staying with them because Jayne’s mother was in the hospital after a fall.

Jayne and Andy thought that Terry was happily napping while he snored loudly from the spare bedroom. Bruno recognized that it was not peaceful snoring and continually barked. Jayne went to check on Bruno when she realized her father had slipped into a diabetic coma. Jayne called the paramedics, and Terry was brought to the hospital where he recovered.

It is good to write about hero dogs whose actions did not lead them to the Bridge, so here is to Beast, Lux, and Bruno and also to Sandy, Caterina, and Terry.

Once again they have proven that dog and men are an unbeatable team.

Tails From Rainbow Bridge: The Truth About the Eclipse

On Monday humans from around the world gathered to watch the total eclipse of the sun when the moon, the Earth, and the Sun were perfectly aligned briefly turning the world dark.

The Earth, Sun, and moon perfectly aligned to block out the light? Please! This is why I love mankind. They believe anything.

When I was a four-year-old dog, I made my first million kibbles by putting a fire breathing dragon on display. I charged ten kibbles a person. I told the people it was very dangerous to look directly at the dragon. If they did, they would go blind. The people willingly bought and put on glasses, which had a fire breathing dragon painted on the inside lens. People left raving about the dragon. Gullible humans.

This Total Eclipse scheme was created by scientists who knew that humans could not accept the truth: Total Eclipse Day is when all the angels at Rainbow Bridge fly into the sun to go back to their loved ones. A number of angels flying into the sun is so  immense it blocks the sun.

This great scientific cover up has ruined Total Eclipse Day. We angels are back on Earth for a short time, running around, enjoying our yard, and seeing our parents, but they don’t see us because they are all wearing stupid glasses and staring up at the sun. What a crock!

But without realizing it, our parents do feel the emotional response of our return. They feel wonder; they are overcome with tears, they believe it is one of the most awesome experiences of their lives. They think it is from seeing the moon move in front of the sun, which is totally created by the glasses It is because, for a short two minutes, the angels walk the Earth again (and not in a Game of Thrones white walker, or Walking Dead type of way, we dead get bad publicity on television) and we leave our parents with a sense of euphoria.

You can believe science, or you can have faith that what I am saying is true.

Science is a class you need to pass high school.

Faith keeps you going in the world.

River Song Secret Jumper

It has been three weeks since I impressed everyone at the vet’s office.  I don’t think they have recovered from seeing me.

My parents were hoping that my jumper would have returned by now.  The vet said I had a pinched nerve in my back, and she gave me medication but I ate all the yummy pills, and I am still not jumping.

(OK, listen: Don’t tell my parents but I have done some jumping.  When they go out Mommy puts her nightshirt on her recliner.  She lays it out nice and flat.  When they are gone, I jump in the recliner and roll around on the nightshirt bunching it into a ball.  Don’t tell my parents.  I don't think they have noticed.)

I guess I am going to have to rely on my parents to continue to pick me up.  When they have the bottom of the recliner up, I sit on the floor and look up at them with very sad eyes that scream:  “Pick me up, I am so small and helpless.”  Then they lift me and put me in the chair.

(When they aren’t home I fly onto that recliner.  I love having the whole thing to myself.)

I used to be able to jump up by the window and get my whole body as high as the bottom of the window.  If the sill was bigger, I could land on it.  Those days are gone.

(When my Pocket made her emergency trip to the window I jumped on the kitchen table to wait for them to come home.  As soon as their car appeared in the driveway, I jumped down.  That was a close one.  Thank God it is impossible to see inside a lit room from outside at night.)

I used to jump on the couch with my treat bone in my mouth.  Then I would drop it and let the treats scatter.  But I can’t do that any longer because of my bad back.

(On Sunday I jumped up on the couch with my treat bone, but my parents were engrossed with flying dragons and did not see a flying Griffon.)

I am taking some glucosamine in the morning.  They are my special treats, and they are yummy.  But they aren’t working.  

(Some mornings my mom takes my favorite chew toy and tossed it on the recliner and run after it and jump on the chair to get it but I jump down with lightning speed.  I don’t think they saw it.)

I hope my parents understand that I may never be able to jump again.  Poor me I am dependent on their kindness to get on the furniture.

(Because I really like being picked up).