Snow Angel
While Patrick’s away, I’m doing some intense training with The Scourge. So far, the only things he does reliably is Sit (your basic dog trick, but not the most useful), Get Busy (pee and right now I mean it), and Get Your Bone (very useful when he’s pestering you and he needs a task.) Before the kid comes, I’d really like to have made great progress with Come, Stay, Leave It, and Drop It. We’re learning them all simultaneously, along with Down, Outside, and Oh My God So Help Me Virgil, Stop (the all purpose trick). At the moment, he Comes when he feels like it, won’t Stay for anything, wouldn’t know Leave It if it jumped up and bit him on the butt, and is juuuust starting to get the hang of Drop It (but only if he suspects a treat is forthcoming.) Still, I must have patience. It takes a while. We’ll get there, and I’m hoping it happens before I find myself chasing the dog dragging the baby around the floor by his diaper.
So this morning it was raining, and I was tidying, and I hear the kids wrestling in the back bedroom. I head in to check on them and notice they are fighting over a cat toy. Perfect time to practice Drop It! I am about to get the treats when I notice, um, it ain’t a cat toy Virge has yanked out of the cat’s mouth. It’s . . . a dead mouse. . . shudder. I gasp with horror, and Virge looks up at me with a little grey head poking out of one side of his jaws and a long tail drooping out of the other. He’s poised to run with his new plaything, and I presume hide under the bed and start shredding it like he does with all the stuff he can sense he’s not supposed to have. Oh dear. I run for the treats and shake them. Both kids come running for the bribe, and while they’re distractedly chewing, I am scooping the unfortunate rodent into a bowl and chucking it outside. That. Was close.
This afternoon the rain turned to snow, and my little troublemaker and I headed out into it. It was actually accumulating, a rare thing in Carolina, and I couldn’t wait to see The Scourge’s reaction. At first, he just tried to eat it all – he put his lower jaw flat on the ground and started scooting around the deck, shoveling it up and making greedy smacking noises. That was hilarious. Then he found out that if he runs real fast and stops, he slides, so we played the slide game for a while. After he got brave enough to venture off the deck we played chase, threw snowballs (he tossed snow at me with his nose), and then I got his leash and took him on a long walk around the neighborhood. He leapt and ran and rolled in the snow, tossing it, digging in it, nosing it around. It was delightful.
5 Comments
Meg
I don\’t know what I would do without my furry guys – my little one is my wee cuddle buddy at night. And, my son adores the dogs… I can\’t imagine not having them. I know it seems like a lot having them SO close together, but dogs are the best. Also, I think babies are easier than puppies. At least, Xan was easier than Miki – mainly because I could take Xan anywhere with me (no dogs in stores and all that crap), and I could put a diaper on him!Also, I keep looking for the email you left in a comment on my blog (with no luck)… as I would love to get together. And, I\’ve finally finished my site! At least, the first draft ( It\’s at http://www.studioxanadeux.com ). I would love for you to look at "The Buzz" section and check your quote. If you want to change anything (or rescind!), let me know. If everything looks okay, would you mind if I use your last name (notice I used the G. for your middle name)?Oh, and thank you again for writing something so wonderful about my photography.
Aimee
lol….gotta love when the puke somewhere…but the worst is when ou step in it in the middle of the night in bare feet…
*~* :o) if you do not have a smile today… :o) I will give you one of mine… :o) *~*
super jane
i hate mice. i hate them in cages and i especially hate them in my house. remember when hank (rip, buddy) brought the barely alive mouse into our house and dropped it in my living room? you were muuuuuch calmer than i was. oh holy crap. just thinking about scooping up a dead mouse like that makes me want to scream and curl my legs up in my desk chair.i\’m glad you have your little buddy to keep you company. i adore zeke and he has become one of my closest pals. ps. the face that patrick is making in the photo labeled \’tour guide\’ is abso-freakin\’-lutely hilarious!
super jane
err. correction.the photo is labeled \’splainin\’ the details.\’ cracks my sh*t up every time i look at it.
Gillian
Re Patrick\’s picture –
I know! I wrote him an email and was like – what on earth were you doing? Yawning? Because you look like Virgil when he\’s trying to "eat" the air coming out of my hairdryer.