Big scare

As I mentioned in a previous post, Rufus likes to grab Amelia by the collar and drag her around. Well, tonight he got ahold of it and somehow twisted it around his lower jaw so that he was stuck and she was choking. Tim and I had to hold them both still against their panicked thrashing and cut her collar loose enough that we could roll Rufus over and get them both free. Very scary for all of us as Amelia was running out of air and Rufus' teeth were wedged in there tight. Immediately after they were rescued, both sniffed and licked each others' face as if to say "Hey, no hard feelings."

Unexpected Guests

Although you might have a difficult time judging by the temperature, the local Texas flora have come to realize that it's late fall. All three of our elderly mulberry trees have cast off their summer foliage with a vengeance, pretty much burying our yard in a thick carpet of leaves. So off to the store I went in search of extra-extra large trash bags with intent to do some frenzied yardwork.

On my way home earlier, I had noticed two unfamiliar dogs wandering in our neighborhood. I stuck a few treats in my back pocket before heading to the store, just in case they were still roaming around lost. And sure enough, they were: a young shepherd/lab mix who could have easily been a black version of Rufus, and an elderly beagle. The beagle had a collar on with a tag bearing his name ("Short Stop") and his owner's number. Leaving a message on the owner's voicemail, I thought to myself, Well, now you've gone and done it. Got to look after him until the owner calls back. Another fine mess... Although the black dog had no collar, I was very hesitant to let him keep wandering back and forth in traffic on his own, so the three of us headed back to the ol' Chateau Rufus.

At first, I figured I'd just keep the two visitors out front. Sophie was out in the backyard, however, and I walked around to ask her to keep an eye on the newcomers while I brought out a crate for Short Stop. Amelia and Rufus ran to the gate to greet me, right up to the point where Shadow (the black anti-Rufus) rounded the corner behind me.

Ohboy.

Amelia didn't take too well to a strange dog following me, with a fence between us. The argument that ensued was loud, scary, and particularly hard on our gate (which survived, but I think it might need a little work this weekend). Apparently, her guard dog instincts run deep. So while Sophie came around to keep Shadow in check, I went and brought Amelia out front for a slightly more controlled meeting of the canines.

There was a little tension at first, while the two sniffed and sized each other up. Then, instead of growling or lunging at the visiting dog, Amelia flopped down into the biggest play-bow I've ever seen, and she and Shadow rolled around like a couple of puppies. Rufus came out next, with predictably similar results. Everyone showed a casual interest in Short Stop, who preferred to let the younger dogs act silly while he relaxed in his crate. Reasonably assured that the dogs were going to get along fine together, we set about doing some all-but-forgotten yardwork while the puppies rolled around in the piles of leaves.

Short Stop's owner finally called back (Shadow, it turns out, was theirs as well - he'd apparently ditched his collar at some point), and we agreed to look after the two dogs until they got off work, and could come take them home. Short Stop had begun baying, however, apparently upset over being left out of the fun. Rather than subject the neighbors to a beagle serenade, we let him come into the backyard and hang out with the other dogs. He walked around the yard with Amelia for a minute, paused as they passed Shadow, then promptly laid into the black youngster with a distinctly un-playful wrath.

Ohboy, take two.

What followed was a flurry of activity. I snatched Short Stop up, scruffing him until he regained his composure. While my attention was on the beagle, Rufus rushed over to the (justifiably) panicked Shadow - who promptly lunged at him. I heard Amelia's rolling bark from beside me, saw her leap forward, and thought: this is going to get very ugly, very fast.

But it didn't. Amelia tackled Shadow in mid-lunge, knocked him onto the ground, and just pinned him there like a wrestler until everyone had calmed down. Short Stop went back to his crate to cool his heels, and the other three dogs kept cavorting around, demolishing our piles of leaves as if nothing had happened. By the time their owner arrived to pick them up, Short Stop had calmed down again, Shadow had played himself breathless, and both were thrilled to be heading home. Rufus and Amelia got some wet food with their dinner, helped me bag up a few more leaves, then curled up to sleep off a hard day's romp.

Incidentally, our next-door neighbor pointed out today that Amelia was tearing up our bags of leaves. In fact, she was dragging them back out across the yard, then ripping them open - apparently, she had so much fun playing that she wanted to reset all the leaf-piles for another game today.
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Rufus and Amelia

Things have worked themselves out between our Rufus and his sister, Amelia. They are inseparable and take turns being obnoxious to one another. Rufus loves to grab ahold of one of Emmy's ears or legs or her collar and try to drag her outside to play. Amelia still takes Rufus' toys and treats and always eats first. They are barkin' buddies who alert each other to the presence of cats, people and sirens. They are jointly responsible for destroying any stray sock, sweater or magazine that happens to fall within reach and together have successfully ousted one or the other of us from bed (whereupon one dog sleeps with Mom and one with Dad. Usually.) Walks are twice as tricky with two adolescent adventure dogs, but we're getting there, slowly.

It's so worth it when they settle down and lay their noses together during a nap or when they lick each others' faces affectionately. I love my dogs. I'm lucky to have them.

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