Friday, June 20, 2008

Terrible Toddler


Good Friday morning! It's my day off since I am working the weekend. Believe me, I'd rather work today and be off the weekend but it is what it is. Always on my day's off, Donny stands at the side of the bed whining until I get up so no sleeping in over here. In fact, I got up half an hour earlier. The good news is that by 7:00 a.m. I've done some laundry, gotten dressed and started moving. That will make my day off "longer." I always regret sleeping away valuable hours when I don't have to work.
On the other hand, Donny has been bad this week. He cannot keep his lips off my pond. There was one weird little floaty plant that he was compelled to take out and put on the ground every time he walked by and now the Amish frog my mom got me always seems to require his intervention as I keep finding it in the middle of the yard. I don't think frogs with plastic legs can jump quite that far. I had to replace the umbrella plant that he took out with cattails. The cattails were relocated to the middle of the yard and don't look so healthy now despite my attempt to rescue them. He doesn't actually do any damage so much as I think he views this as a bunch of plants and junk in a giant water dish and it's his job to get the frog and plants back on dry land. The final result is that I'm down to two plants and constant frog retrieval. And one of the plants is cattail roots and mud. The Mr. prefers my parents' container for their water garden being taller and not so wide so we'll probably head out later to find a different pot and replace our plants. I'm not ready to give up yet! I'm not convinced this will have any particular effect on Donny who has been known to stand on two legs to drink from the bird bath.
He's gonna end up with malaria and bird flu before it's all said and done.
Also, on nice days we've been putting him in the yard instead of inside in his kennel. Well, as a result of his pond vandalism, it is back to the crate for the Donald. Of course, this morning I'm not working so he isn't under kennel alert. However, he is in a heightened state of agitation predicting his own confinement so for the last hour it's been in and out, in and out, whine whine whine. As the morning wears on, I'm hoping he'll figure out that he's in the clear temporarily and settle down a bit. Of course, by settle down I mean we'll just continue with the usual routine of nonstop tennis ball fetch.
Later today the next door neighbor, George, will come home. George is Donny's best friend. George carries doggy treats in his pockets and reaches under the fence to play ball. George has also taught Donny to lay down and speak. So now Donny stations himself at George's fence and spends the entire evening "speaking" and demanding George's attention like a bad 3 year old.
We're just glad when George comes home so we we can relax.

A puppy is but a dog, plus high spirits, and minus common sense.
Agnes Repplier

4 comments:

Trish said...

What a character that hound is!
Let me assure you he won't catch bird flu or malaria... Everytime we let Grace loose to roam the yard she heads straight for the Basketball Shooter [what Ian calls it] and drinks from the stagnate water from bottom stand. Doesn't matter that she has a huge bucket full that we put fresh in twice a day!!!
He was made to be a Hunter... Dean needs to take him Coon or Possum hunting! Let him run in the wild!
[I know that ain't happening]
Oh! My GrandDaddy would've loved your Donald!!!!
Enjoy your day and be sure to post a picture of your new water feature!
Love you!

Pat said...

tsk, tsk....pitiful, just pitiful.

Margie said...

i think he needs a sister to keep him occupied

Amrita said...

My dog had growm up sort of but when she was a puppy that quote applied.