August/Humour

 

THE UNDERGROUND

"Not my dog" is into his ninth year of doggie day care with me. His rightful owner has a full and busy life and found after two weeks of ownership, a puppy was a major inconvenience. A mature dog is no less inconvenient. Thus, not my dog spends his days and most nights at my house.

Not my dog is a small, yappy chorkie.  A chorkie is a cross of a yorkie which can be cute and a chihuahua which is annoyingly yappy. As a cross bred, he is rather cute and very yappy.

The mishaps during the nine years have been both annoying and expensive. Baseboards with chewed corners, thirteen pairs of shoes and boots missing mates, perforated leather gloves, chewed bedding and throws, scratched and ripped leather furniture are but a few of the expenses and lessons learned.

The tables turned on the inquisitive destructive dog on a late summer evening. Running off leash is not a practice at doggie day care but the rightful owner decided he should have a good run on the acreage despite warnings about coyotes and other wild life.

An hour later, he was no where to be found. Almost certain that a wild animal had "picked" him off, a frantic search was undertaken.

In the last two years, groundhogs also known as woodchucks have returned to the fields. They have a front door and back door and a tunnel connecting them. Somewhere in the tunnel, a larger area is dug out with their paws to make a living space or den.

Not my dog found one of the doors which is a hole in the ground and a mound of dirt around it. Always curious, he had to crawl through and explore where the tunnel would take him. After searching until dark, a whimper of the dog and the hiss of the groundhog was heard and traced to the hole which ended in an equipment shed.  The groundhog was not giving up his underground home.  Not my dog was stuck underground!

I often wonder how long small dogs live and will I outlive him?