What? I haven’t been naughty.
Our dog has no shame. Her purpose in life is to find a way to redecorate our patio with her favorite medium–dirt. She loves to get her paws right in the ground and dig as deep and fast as she can, then once she thinks the hole is big enough, she will roll on her back side to side in the dirt, then nestle in the hole to chill in the sun until she gets her next artistic inspiration.
Lucky for her, she never has to wait for long. This time a squirrel walking along the fence has caught her attention. Now, here is something you should know about our dog. Our dog is not a runner. In fact, she barely even tries to walk. When we took her in from a rescue, they told us that she was lazy. We assume they were exaggerating, but nope. Anytime, we need to get her moving, she takes her sweet time as if she has no where important to be. Heck! One time, while taking her on a walk, we hadn’t gone very far when she just decided to plop down in the middle of crossing a street and laid on her side. She could care less that motorists could not continue with their business because she decided it was a good time to chill. It seems like she only operates under two speeds, slow and slower. Not this time. She quickly hops on all fours, and darts towards the squirrel with a speed that defies everything that she led you to believe that was true of her capabilities. Just like that she barely misses the squirrel, but she makes sure that everyone knows how close she came to getting that furry little creature with a series of rapid, loud deep barks as she scratches the fence with her front paws while standing on her hind legs. She’s putting the intruder on high notice. This is her domain and she will defend it.
After she calms down from the thrill of chasing the squirrel, she sinks back into her hole and relaxes in the sun to catch her breath. Silently, she waits and as the wind blows, she raises her nose up in the air and sucks in quickly the aromas brought in by the moving air. Is there something here to catch her imagination? Not this time. She rests her head on the ground. Each time the wind blows, she tilts her noise up and takes a whiff of the air, then stops when the wind is gone. This bides her time until she gets another inspiration.
Finally, it happens! She spots one of her toys in the yard. She stands up and walks over to her cherished toy–a plush squirrel. She puts it in her mouth and shakes her head side to side and gives it a big toss in the air. As soon as the toy lands on the ground, she pounces on it like a tiger pouncing on a prey. She will show no mercy to the squirrel. She is determined to shake the life out of her toy. She growls and tosses it in the air some more, and quickly jumps on it each time. Like a true predator that has conquered its prey, she must save and hide her favorite prize for a later time. Quickly, she starts digging a hole, flicking the dirt at the same time onto the patio. She does not care about the mess she is making at the moment. She drops the toy in the new hole. Satisfied and triumphant, she walks to the patio and lays down on the dirt.