AWOL PON

Yo. Blog readers. Elroy here. For a change. The imp seems to have taken control of this blog thing. Give the Shaggy Shark an inch and he takes a marathon. He can be kinda pushy sometimes. What’s really scary is that his “Viktor persona” is starting to come through more and MORE. I swear he is Viktor reincarnated. Like yesterday. Little buddy caused complete PONdemonium after his morning walk. Yup. The future “obedience” dog wasn’t all so obedient yesterday…And they label ME as the flight risk…

So yesterday morning after he ricocheted off the door, the cupboards, Her Highness’ stomach and after he did 14 laps around the dining room table all while she was attempting to put her shoes on, he finally went for his morning walk. And “walk” is a broad term for what he does. Here’s the deal – the dude may do some pretty heeling during obedience training, but in real life, he’s like a hummingbird on a leash. Crazy. Darting back and forth. Sniffing. Tugging. Yeah – the whole “obedience” thing is all an act. In real life he’s a train wreck. But ya never heard it from me.

Anyway, as is usually the case, as they approached the house, Her Highness let him off leash. This is ordinarily no problem. HOWEVER, Her Highness didn’t spot the dumb bunny on the front lawn. Sorry – I know that may not be politically correct to call a rabbit stupid- but our rabbits are not too bright. A human can walk to within 6 feet of the things, and they sit there like they own the place. Even if you stamp your feet. So while their less-than-brilliant behavior may not be a big deal when it comes to slow moving humans, let’s just say the game is QUITE different when a canine approaches.

So you see where this is going. The Imp took one look at Thumper, and I think I almost heard the starting bell ring. Thumper and the Shark were off to the races. Across the lawn, around the house and into the woods. Her Highness saw his butt as it disappeared into the brush. And so much for that “amazing recall” he had as a tiny little dude. Yeah. It was shades of Viktor deafness.

Her Highness waited a minute, expecting him to reappear. One minute. Two minutes. Five minutes. She brought the Boss out, thinking the Imp would hear him and would reappear. Nope. So now Her Highness was in the combo-phase. Scared. And ready to kill him.

She put the Boss in the house and jumped in the car. She had visions of him on the road – which is busy in the morning with golfers arriving. She drove slowly up and down the road. No sign of him. She drove home and came down the driveway, expecting to see him by the front door or in the garage which she had left open. Nope. She raced out of the car and figured she should head for the woods. But which way to go? As she was heading around the house, she was frantically texting neighbors to let them know she had an AWOL dog. As she came around the house, she heard the Boss barking. Or she thought it was the Boss. She glanced up at the deck, and low and behold, guess who was barking to be let in? The vagabond covered in sticks and mud.

Now that’s all well and good. The prodigal PON returned home. But here’s the deal. Our back yard is fenced. With a 4’ high fence. And neither gate was open. So HOW did mini-Houdini get IN the yard. As soon as he saw Her Highness he raced over to her. She opened the gate, and walked him around to the front of the house. He was huffing and puffing and looking pretty ragged from his adventure- but pretty proud of himself too. And here’s the thing – you humans can’t be angry with us – because we came back! There’s no repercussions for such an infraction because what could ya do? Not feed him breakfast? It’s not like he would know why. Yeah – he’s got a taste of the escape thing. And he does it just like Viktor. He comes back. Unlike yours truly who has to be corralled. I like to explore further afield. But that’s been curbed with the fence…

As soon as he was safe in the house, Her Highness went out and walked all along the fence. No sign of a hole under the fence. So HOW did he get in? She didn’t want to THINK that he jumped a 4’ fence because, well – so much for the fence if he did.

She took the Boss out and me out for our walks and fed us breakfast. She had some errands in the morning and returned at noon. First on the agenda was “the lawn”. Again. She mowed it pretty quickly on Saturday, so it needed another go around. We need sheep.

Anyway, while she was mowing, she THINKS she solved the Houdini trick. While she had walked the fence line in the morning and she had used one gate, she hadn’t used the one that goes to the trail to the lake. The gate WAS closed, but that gate has never had a proper hook to secure it like the front gate. It was held to the post by two pretty puny bungee cords. And lo and behold- the bungee cord at the bottom of the gate was busted. We theorize the Imp plowed into the gate and squirmed his way through the opening. Mystery solved. We hope.

Here he is inspecting the work Her Highness had to do to firmly secure the gate. This is just before she installed two new hooks.

Her Highness is hoping his brief taste of the wild won’t result in a repeat behavior. But let’s put it this way, he’ll be on a short leash going forward for a while.

Funny how the Boss never goes AWOL. He doesn’t like to get dirty. Yawn.

It’s kinda nice to be the “good boy” lately. But then, haven’t I always been good?

Never a dull moment in this house. Never. Ever. Time to walk. Later gators.

Have a good cone. Peace and paws up. Stay safe.