The dogs were moping around this morning, appearing to be mentally and physically exhausted.
Something was up.
After close examination of the premises, we found numerous dried-up turds that BonBon had deposited in various areas over the past 24 hours. That little bitch: she’s a stealth shitter!
We can usually tell when she’s done the deed because the other two, Booger and Baby, will skulk around with their ears pinned to their skulls, as if saying, “IT WASN’T ME, HONEST TO GOD!” That’s what was happening this morning but we didn’t pick up on it until later.
We honestly thought they were worn out, because we had guests on Saturday night through Sunday morning: our adopted son Jason, his daughter Bailey, and their Blue Tick Coon Hound “Dixie”. The three of them were making the return trip from Colorado back toward Las Vegas.
Dixie is a 60-lb energetic dog who commands attention while toying with our three mutts. The dog will bark loudly when excited, which gets your attention. Generally speaking, the four dogs get along okay. Dixie has even learned to go through our doggie door.
What we didn’t know when Jason and Bailey got here was that Dixie had mauled Jason’s Alaskan Husky, “Ashka”, when they were up in Colorado. Evidently, there was a beef over some food treats and Dixie just pounced on 50 lb. Ashka and bit her severely on the neck. Ashka ended up in the local animal hospital getting stitches. Jason was really pissed at his daughter for not having control over her dog.
We knew none of this when our guests arrived. Had we known we would never have allowed Dixie in our home with our three small dogs. She could have ended BonBon’s young life with one chomp.
I think it was irresponsible of Jason to keep this information from us. If anything had happened, we would have been devastated. Luckily for him, and our dogs, nothing untoward occurred. All of us kept Dixie, who we know is food-obsessed, away from our dogs when they were eating.
Speaking of dogs, little BonBon is getting bigger. She was 4.2 pounds when we received her, and she now weighs 5.8 pounds.
The little bugger is still small enough to get under couches, beds and things. As a matter of fact, she will go under these things and chew on anything she can get her sharp little teeth on.
An audiovisual tech named “Bob” was here last week to set up our Wireless Joey Dish receiver for the outdoor patio entertainment wall (see photo below). While here, BonBon chewed on his tool belt which was on the ground in the living room.
I mentioned to Bob that BonBon has a habit of chewing on extension cords under the couches in the great room. He told me a story about a friend whose little dog did the same and got his ass FRIED awhile back. Bob said that we should not have live electrical cords anywhere that BonBon might chew them while she is teething.
Good idea.
We immediately removed all of the living room lamps and such with extension cords. Wouldn’t that be a tragedy if our little bundle of joy got the shock of her life! Too terrible to contemplate.
The three dogs are not enjoying the scorching Summer here in Mesquite.
No walks (it’s 90 degrees in the morning!) and the concrete pavers and artificial grass in the backyard get obscenely hot during the daytime. The older dogs go out the doggie door to do their business, but they make it quick and stay on the cooler gravel.
Poor BonBon! We are trying to potty train her by taking her outside to the grass, but she immediately gets hot paws and scampers back into the shade of the patio…where she pees on the indoor-outdoor carpet. Not what we had in mind. No wonder she pees and poops in the house: if she would take the time to squat outside, she might scorch her toes. So, that’s her excuse, and she’s sticking to it.
That little dog is going to be a pistol. She jumps right into the fray when Booger and Baby are hassling over a toy, and she gives as good as she gets. Occasionally she will get mad at one of the other dogs and she will run after them snarling and barking, wanting to get a piece of them. It’s pretty funny, because they outweigh her by twenty pounds. The other day, BonBon tried this tactic with Baby, who grabbed her and body-slammed the puppy. HaHa.
Despite that, she is absolutely in love with Baby, and vice versa. They play all of the time together, nap on the couch together, and even sleep in our bed at night right near each other. So, they are definitely BFF’s and should have a wonderful life together for the next ten years or so.
I hope we last long enough to enjoy all of it.
Booger is still our Queen. She is approaching 13 years old and is slowing down, for sure. The legs have lost their spring, and she plays with the other dogs from time to time, but she’s paid her dues and is living the life she wants to at this stage. She will often go to bed with us but change places at night, preferring to stretch out on the living room sofa in the wee hours. It’s okay, whatever makes her happy.
We definitely miss the RV life on the cool coasts of Oregon and California. Next year, come Hell or high water, we will be hitting the road again.
Covid willing, of course.