Don't Count On It!

There are times when I don’t mind being around Buddy. When we dig for moles or chase possums, he is okay. We have a great time barking at the neighbor’s cat that comes into Dad’s garden and sits in the middle of it. He’s a smart aleck cat, teasing us and grooming himself as though our barking doesn’t matter to him.Someday that cat is gonna get cocky and come a little too close to us.

Anyways, sometimes it’s okay to be around Buddy. The problems come up when he decides to just follow me everywhere I go and nip at my legs and try to rush me like a bowling ball. And I mean, he does follow me everywhere I go! Inside or outside, it doesn’t matter. I get really tired of having him dog my every step (Mom said this is a great place to use that expression). Buddy is still a teenager, Mom and Dad say, and teenage dogs can get real obnoxious real fast.

I always enjoy being with Mom and Dad, in fact I want to be with them all the time. But the other dogs make me feel mighty crowded sometimes. When I get tired of being around Buddy, I usually give him a warning stare. If he doesn’t listen, I give him a growl. Sometimes I turn my back to him or go into another room to lie down. All those things work pretty good.

The only time I can’t get away from him is when Mom and Dad put us in our crates. Maggie’s crate is off to one side of the room but my crate is right beside Buddy’s crate. That’s a long time to be next to him, sometimes 6 hours or more!

So yesterday, Mom and Dad were getting ready for church and they told Maggie and Buddy to “crate up!” I ran down the hall to the bedroom and crated myself in the crate at the foot of the bed. I did not want to be next to Buddy all day long. Mom asked me to come out but I said “No.” Dad barked at me but I just turned my head. Mom said, “Sissy is going to need this crate today, Duke.”

Why can’t Sissy go get in my crate in the dog den? Oh, wait, she and Maggie don’t like each other. I just sighed and closed my eyes. Dad asked Mom, “What do we do?”

Mom said, “We are going to think like Duke thinks.” 

She turned out the light in the bedroom and she and Dad went down the hall. I heard her call out, “Goodbye sweet doggies!” and then the front door opened and closed. I jumped to my feet and ran down the hall and...

And there were Mom and Dad waiting for me. Dad slid his fingers under my collar and escorted me to my own crate in the dog den. It was humiliating.  Then they called Jack and Sissy to come in from the front yard and put them in the bedroom.

As Mom and Dad went out to get in the car to drive to church, I heard Mom say, “That won’t work again for a long time. We’ll have to give him time to forget.”

Heh heh heh.

AAARRROOOOOOOO!