Stop eating shit!

It happened again. Since Joe passed away, our dog Hope has chased and caught two baby bunnies in our backyard. Sadly, one of them met their demise. It’s in her nature. She is 25% English Setter. Her high prey drive dictates her behavior. She’s the first one out the back door, running at lightning speed to the back fence barking all the way, usually at absolutely nothing. But it is November in Oklahoma, and baby bunnies are plentiful where we live. Since we rescued her and her sister in 2016, Hope has aways been the rabbit hunter. Joe tried to combat the problem over the summer by installing 18″ of chicken wire all the way around the bottom of our half acre fence. It has successfully kept the larger animals out like skunk, armadillos and opossums. Thank goodness because Grace had been sprayed twice by surprise skunks. Unfortunately, the bunnies always find their way in, and Hope always welcomes them by scaring the bejesus out of them.

None of this is new really. These dogs have tested us from the moment they came home. Hope tried to eat her way out of the house by chewing the drywall, and no pillow or blanket was safe if Grace was in the room. In fairness, they lived on the streets when we adopted them. Civilized life was a new concept for these sisters.

This morning, I’m certain you would have been laughing if you could have heard me. Screaming at the top of my lungs “drop it, drop it, drop it” as I ran around the backyard barefoot in my pajamas, chasing Hope while Grace just sat on the deck relishing that she wasn’t the one being yelled at. After she plopped the poor little guy on the ground, I was able to carefully place him on the other side of the fence where he quickly hopped away.

Then I proceeded to yell at Joe, as if he could hear me all the way from Heaven. This was his job! That was our deal. I take care of the inside of the house and he takes care of the outside. That always included cleaning up after these crazy, loveable, hole digging, shit eating (not literal shit) dogs (who I happen to love with all my heart).

This wasn’t the first time I could be heard talking, crying or yelling at Joe ‘beyond the grave’, and it certainly won’t be the last. Tell me your AD (after death) crazy pet stories and do you talk to your loved one as if they are still here?