Wildlife adventures - and the day I didn’t want dogs anymore

[Stacy]

Okay, not really. But, /insert-whine-mode. I think my dogs are my children. And then they do something like this. I have a love/hate relationship with spring. I’m finally not cold! Less clothes, boating, I don’t even mind mowing the grass. The rabbits seem to have gotten smart enough not to have babies in the yard this year.

The birds have not gotten smart enough not to dump their babies out of the nest and into my yard to learn to fly. Fledglings. Neither one of the girls are super hunters, but put little baby hoppy birds (I think they’re Starlings) in the yard and what do their mamas expect? The first one I took away from them and put it under the fence. The mom bird was *angry* and she tried to dive bomb me. Come on here bird! I’m the one trying to help you. It just sat there and Maggie stuck her head under the fence and pulled it back out. I put it under the fence again where she couldn’t get it. I like to think that it’s living a happy life next door.

The second one, well. I don’t think Katie meant to hurt it, but she picked it up by the eyeball and let’s just say it didn’t make it. I disposed of the poor baby birdy body and tried not to think about it.

And then today. I worked all day. I came home and Maggie had pulled a sun catcher out of the window and broken it all over the floor (why?) and did a little pee-pee on the carpet after a month of no accidents! I just had 2 weeks off and I was with them practically every minute. Do you think that she forgot that I sometimes have to work and that we had decided that pee was just for outside? I cleaned the carpet for the million-billionth time So frustrating. I really thought we were past this. That’s what I get for telling everyone that she was potty trained.

Then it happened. I climbed in bed with my string cheese and my drink. I look around for the remote. I lose that thing every time I’m not actively holding it. I didn’t find the remote, but (you all know where this is going, right?) There’s a dead baby bird under.my.pillow! People. My pillow!


I don’t know who did it. I have my suspicion, but no one is in trouble. But I would love it if someone could explain to me why I am so ridiculously in love with these dogs, and they repay me by bringing dead things into my bed. My happy place! The only thing that belongs in bed are me, snacks, dogs, and maybe the remote if I could ever find it again. And then they both have The audacity to look at me like they’re insulted that I didn’t appreciate their present. Or maybe they were just saving it for later. I love dogs. I love dogs. I love dogs.

Maybe I should just learn to love winter? These things don’t happen in the winter.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Jasper and his littermates are all bird dogs, and they aren't even part Retriever. They all go crazy when they see birds, try to jump fences to get at them, leap into the air to try to catch them, chase them every chance they get. It's only a matter of time before Jasper kills a bird, probably one of the baby robins in the nest on a low branch right above my patio. As his breeder said just yesterday when commenting on a video of Jasper's brother chasing two ducks, "Around here our motto is, If it flies, it dies." 
I think that's hilarious, and I honestly will not be all that upset when this cute fluffy little Poodle murders something with wings, but finding it in my bed would definitely be high on my list of things I do not find amusing. 
On the other hand, it might be preferable to a puddle of urine in the middle of my bed, which is what my "housebroken" puppy gave me last night. 

I feel your pain. :)

[Stacy]

I'm not going to lie. It makes me feel better to hear that other people have naughty puppies too. But I am sorry about your bed! I've been there, and that's the worst. 

I really don't fault them for doing what dogs do. I know they're not people in little furry suits. I wouldn't ask them to be. But I buy them good food, treats, toys, anything they could ever want. Is it too much to ask for them not to put dead things in my bed? And then they try to kiss me with dead bird lips. It's just too much!

I've been thinking of you and Jasper, and wondering how things are going. Is he just wonderful? 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

He's a very sweet puppy, but I am too old for this. :D

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Ha ha, you are not too old. I am just going to put it out there, Dexter is going to be 4 and still does all the puppy things that we "don't" like, however he hasn't peed in the house since 2015.

[DonMarie and Picco]

Dead bird under the pillow?  Sounds more like a cat!   Picco loves to bark and chase birds.  It does keep them out of my garden and trying to steal my precious worms!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Great point that will help me feel better when Jasper kills a robin, lol. 

[Stacy]

It is cat-like how the culprit snuck it past me and put it in the bed and I didn't see a thing. So sneaky!

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

So it makes you feel better to know that other people have “naughty” puppies? Well, prepare to have a nice moment of happiness. 

We we live in a rural area so we have lots of little critters. So far this spring, Cori ( who will be 2 in a couple of weeks) has killed 5 rats, 2 mice, 2 gophers, and 1 ground squirrel. Only 3 have been brought into the house!

Good thing she’s cute!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

"Only 3 have been brought into the house!"
I love the "only", Deanna! You are truly a person whose glass is half full, lol. :)

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

❤️❤️❤️

[Stacy]

Those things are all vermin (except the ground squirrel. I love those things!) I could make the argument that Cori is keeping the house safe from the things that want to invade. I have a very real fear of a mouse being in/getting in the garage. If I could get the girls to go on a mouse hunt in there I wouldn't complain (much! It's still really gross.) I wish we all could just get along. 

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

My husband praises Cori for each kill. She’s definitely earning her keep - I just get freaked out seeing my baby with some dead (or almost dead) thing hanging out of her mouth!