The emergency "leashes" came in handy.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I had vowed after the last woodchuck fiasco to keep lengths of cord in the yard so that I could grab two  doodles when need be. I was about to do a poop pickup earlier today when I noticed the doodles had disappeared. Never a good sign.

Calla came when called but no sign of Luca. He was around the other side of the yard with his "prize". A very dead adolescent woodchuck. In the interests of all the delicate folks, and because I threw the body in the woods ASAP, I have no photos. Suffice it to say this one was far less fierce looking than the last one.

Luca dropped the woodchuck when told to but then temptation took over and he ran away with it. I grabbed a length of cord and got it through his collar. Holding him close in, I picked up the woodchuck in my poop bag covered hand. Calla may a few lame attempts to jump up and grab it but she is pretty compliant. Sneaky yes, but outwardly compliant : )

We made it about 200 feet to the gate, where I could get out and throw the poor thing into the woods. The sad part is, I think this was my neighbor's woodchuck. This little one could probably fit under the gate on the far side of the house. So it didn't really reduce my resident woodchuck population at all : (

The moral of the story is leashes. I have real extra ones upstairs in case of disaster. I have real extra cheap ones in the car in case I forget the daily ones. And now I have two double sets of cords hanging in the yard.

As a topper, a truck took off my passenger side mirror tonight. The truck stopped at a light, I beeped and we got out and I yelled at him and told him I needed his information. He went back to his truck and took off when the light changed. I got his license plate but the police couldn't find a record of it. Didn't make sense to me. But I have calmed down since in all this only the woodchuck got hurt.

UPDATE:

I just called the police dept. The dispatcher said that they did trace the license plate but the officer who was working on the case won't be in til Friday so I will call then.

[Richard Crowe]

BTW:  I guess that everybody knows this but, let me repeat it in case it is new to someone.

You can very quickly secure a dog with a lead, even if the dog has slipped its collar, by reversing the lead and making a lasso-like loop by passing the lead through the end loop like this...

  

This way, you just need to slip the lasso over the dogs head.  It is a LOT quicker and easier than even trying to attach the leash clip to a collar.  You can even lasso a running dog.  Once the dog is secured you can then attach the clip to the collar or put the collar on the dog if it has slipped off.

Holly attended "Therapy Dog Bootcamp" a while ago.  She didn't at that time enjoy it, but the best result of that training was teaching her the "leave it" and "drop it" commands.  At the final test, the dogs were required to walk (on lead) through a maze of treats and goodies all over the floor.  If they showed any interest, the "leave it" command would be given with no lead correction.  Then they allowed the dog to pick up a treat and had it put the treat down again at the "drop it" command. That was a bit more difficult but it is better than trying to pry some foreign object from a dogs mouth.   This worked wnderfully for Holly a couple of months ago when I saw her carrying a dead gopher around.  I was quite proud that she remembered the command since we had not been practicing it...

 

 

 

[F, Calla & Luca]

Great ideas Richard. Holly actually left the dead gopher, what a good girl.

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Love this story sans photos, thanks for watching out for my delicate self. Ha ha

I keep a leash in my car, a leash at work, a leash at the back door and a leash at the garage door. Daisy however is rarely on leash unless we are going for a walk or going into the pet store.

Sorry about your mirror F....clearly the dude has mush for brains and probably no insurance.

Rest in Peace Woodchuck, maybe your relatives will pass it on and keep the rest of you out of the Parker yard!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Oh, I hope you are right about the relatives. Hasn't worked so far though : )

[F, Calla & Luca]

I appreciate the suggestion but I kiss these doodles---enough said. And I don't want to get them used to this or soon I'll be looking for sources of woodchuck meat.

[F, Calla & Luca]

It isn't the bacteria I was worried about just the desirability factor. I like my meat well done : )

[Stephanie and Jellybean]

Ewwww on the woodchuck. You are one brave soul. Great advice on the leashes. The truck driver is a poo poo head. And, I just ate cake and ice cream before dinner. And it was good.....

[F, Calla & Luca]

Another person who makes me feel better about some of my more bizarre dinners : )

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

ROFL, Stephanie!

[Bonnie and Kona]

I've missed hearing about Jellybean! Good to see you on DK! hugs from Owen!