Dog Eat Dog

When we got our dog Lucy, there wasn't many dogs in the area. Some, not many. I couldn't tell you were the occasional other barks were coming from, but they were out there. Now and then Lucy would get into a 'conversation', and with little doubt, our beagle cross was the noisiest in the land.

Three and a half years later, our renters downstairs have two dogs (generally very well mannered dogs compared to mine), and every neighbor I in every direction seems to have at least one dog. The neighborhood's gotten noisy.

The main problem is our neighbors to the rear, who got not one, but two german sheppards recently, and have been training them with 'maul me please' arm guards. When it was just the one, it got lucy into a tizzy now and then, but they'd often have fairly polite conversations. But with the addition of the second shep', we just cant let lucy out at all if the sheps are out there, or war begins. So now when Lucy has to answer the call of nature, it's usually on a leash.

So, the 3 dogs in our yard, Lucy, (ours, beagle/sheltie barking specialist) Outlaw, (renters' 4? year old white lab, giant cuddly bear) and the new addition, Kali, (renters' chocolate lab? Under a year old, enthusiastic spitfire) like to have discussions with the sheps across the fence now and then.

All in all, there's 5 dogs who dig at the base of the fence off and on, not generally with any more success than is needed to peek at each other. The other day Kali manages to squirm her little puppy self underneath, and figures she'll go play with the sheps.

The sheps are big, and they aren't trained to play nice. (le sigh)

SO, Kali spent a night at the vet on an IV to replace a little bit of fluids, and got the back of her neck shaven to check out the wound closer, but has since been released with a good prognosis. The neighbor I THINK has done some work to shore up the fence gaps, (pretty sure it's his fence, not ours) I doubt he'll be stepping up to help with the vet bill...

Oddly, my renters were planning to move out at the end of the month, so if Kali has stuck to our yard another 2 weeks, it all would have been avoided. Or if the neighbor hadn't been training those sheps to attack, or if the fence was better, or, or, or... Oh well... at lease Kali's gonna be OK.

And somehow, Lucy doesn't seem to be involved in this trouble. Lucy's on thin ice around here.. a dog that gets nippy over food, and hapless baby aren't a good mix. If we can't get Lucy to behave better soon, we might have to give her away. This area is becoming less and less ideal for a dog who likes to think she's the queen of all she surveys. She needs a home with a lot of space to run around, and no small kids...

I'd hate to give up on her though. We almost put an ad on craigslist to give her away, bet decided to give her another try, and consult with a trainer. The trainer came, and gave us some good tips... she was going to email later, but hasn't yet.. that's not a good sign.

Lucy doesn't get it.

Lucy's my dog. She's a beagle cross. Picture a taller beagle, and you've got the idea. All the bad bits, all the barking, and the chewing, but with double normal beagle horsepower.

The only thing keeping the beagle breed from being strangled into extinction is the sad sorrowful look they can give ya.
Here she is showing her cunning. And also here is Leela, who as you may have guessed, is a cat. My cat for sure, Lucy is my wife's dog. Not my any means of ownership- the pets picked.

Anyway, Lucy's going to be the star of my children's book, "Lucy Doesn't get it"

Or possibly "Lucy doesn't understand" Or Lucie... that's my wife Michelle's preferred spelling. And she Spells the cat's name "Lela".. Ohwell.

Anyway, when I get the look for Lucy's cartooney-self done, I'll post it. The book is going to tell all about how various things happen, and Lucy didn't get it.

An example of how it's going to be:
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Lucy's mommy and daddy didn't have fur. Lucy didn't get it.

Lucy's ate food in a bowl on the floor. Mommy and daddy eat food up on a table. It smelled much better, but they didn't usually let Lucy even try it. Lucy didn't get it.

One day Lucy saw that mommy's tummy was getting bigger. Lucy didn't get it.
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etc. In the end, Lucy meets the newborn Caitlin, and Lucy finally gets it. The finally page will show Caitlin peering at the furry monster sniffing her with its big wet nose.

And Caitlin didn't get it.

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Next post I'll yap about the only book project I haven't discussed yet, a non-fiction dealing with my life, "It wasn't worth the parking space".

Ooh, I could have posted a pic of Caitlin in this entry, but maybe I'll hold off for the next entry.