The other morning Pumpkin, our orange, young, beagle - shar pei mix picked up a new friend out in the barn yard. Most of you know Pumpkin, she is energetic, friendly, talkative, bossy and orange from the tip of her nose to the end of her tail. If there is something to be gotten into Pump is there. No job is to small for our little Orange-Inator, Monster from the Orange Lagoon, Orange Demon, Yappalina, Princess of the Orange Collar of Shame, your getting the picture now. If Timmy fell in the well, Pumpkin would be the first one to know and run right back to tell us.
Well back to the other morning, there was a small tragedy with one of our young birds, Clucky. Clucky was a young white chicken, that didn’t make it through the night. Bruce found her in the barn, stiff as a board, being the ever vigilante, caring husband (remember I was ditched home alone with a broken ankle) he tossed Clucky into the barn garbage can. Now I’m sure he was going to retrieve her after his chores for a proper burial but we do have at a foot of snow outside, it may have slipped his mind.
Anyway Pumpkin was there, as always to assist with chores. She likes to race through the barn hoping to startle any “mice” out of their hiding places for a good chase. Then its over to the mouse traps where she assists in the mouse removal and disposal out in the field for us, after thorough taste testing. Pumpkin then races back into the barn, bolts upstairs demanding to view those closed off sections of the barn for safety reasons (vermin patrol). On each of these many trips back and forth through the barn at high puppy speeds, the garbage can will get a sniff examination. Hey you never know what might pop up much to her orange delight?
Well as you already know, this is one of Pumpkins lucky days, there is a prize in the can. Okay, its a prize only to Pump but we wont tell her that. The sniff check confirms Pumpkins suspicion. If any one has ever heard a shar pei sniff, you know that they snort when they use their sniffer. Pumpkin being a half breed has the most incredibly loud snorting nose with a sweet beagle face that will crack you up. She also has a very long reach for such a short stubby dog. Her main hobby is “counter surfing”, when she isn’t out searching for dead things.
Back to Clucky, who is now charging out the barn door, in Pumpkins mouth, at high puppy speeds. This incredible prize, a new best friend for Pumpkin was to important to be deposited in the field or anywhere out of her sight. Proper beagle burial was not a option with the ground frozen and a foot of snow. We did however have a few snow banks that did seem to qualify as temporary cold storage/burial places for Clucky.
As the day progressed it slowly became obvious these snow banks and temporary burials were going to be a problem for Pumpkin and Clucky. Clucky actually didn’t seem to mind though so the problem was really for Pumpkin. Every time Pump stuffed Clucky somewhere safe, she went into the house for a nap. Its a tough job to be a farm dogie. When Pump close her eyes all she could see was Max, Jake, one off those bossy cats or dog forbid a beaky faced bird stealing her Clucky away.
Pumpkins eye flew open, she jumps up with a whining grrrwow and runs out to retrieve Clucky, saving her from a fate of being in the clutches one of those other farm animals! This goes on for hours, eventually Pumpkin now driven to wandering the cold, blustery snow covered yard, realized she can never part with Clucky again. It is not worth the risk of losing such a good new found friend. She must find a solution soon or she and Clucky would surely freeze!
Later that day it dawns on me that I have not seen my faithful orange demon for several hours. This little dog does not let me out of her sight for very long if I’m home. She would bound into a room and give a grrrwow, mommy where are you??? I would respond “in here Pumpy” and off she would happily go knowing I was safe from the perils of our farm (except those geese). For my little orange girl to not have checked on me for many hours, something is out of place. Thats when I hear my girl, barking grrrwow from the top of the stairs, in the hall way. Whats up with that, I had no idea she was upstairs?
I get my crutches and hobble to the hallway, I call to Pumpkin “whats up girly? come on downstairs”. She immediately turns waging her orange tail sideways, bolts down the hall to my bedroom. I can hear her jumping on the bed, then off the bed, bolting back down the hall to the top of the stairs. There Pumpkin stands proudly, tail wigwagging, with Clucky in her mouth. She had finally found a safe place to keep Clucky!
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Well back to the other morning, there was a small tragedy with one of our young birds, Clucky. Clucky was a young white chicken, that didn’t make it through the night. Bruce found her in the barn, stiff as a board, being the ever vigilante, caring husband (remember I was ditched home alone with a broken ankle) he tossed Clucky into the barn garbage can. Now I’m sure he was going to retrieve her after his chores for a proper burial but we do have at a foot of snow outside, it may have slipped his mind.
Anyway Pumpkin was there, as always to assist with chores. She likes to race through the barn hoping to startle any “mice” out of their hiding places for a good chase. Then its over to the mouse traps where she assists in the mouse removal and disposal out in the field for us, after thorough taste testing. Pumpkin then races back into the barn, bolts upstairs demanding to view those closed off sections of the barn for safety reasons (vermin patrol). On each of these many trips back and forth through the barn at high puppy speeds, the garbage can will get a sniff examination. Hey you never know what might pop up much to her orange delight?
Well as you already know, this is one of Pumpkins lucky days, there is a prize in the can. Okay, its a prize only to Pump but we wont tell her that. The sniff check confirms Pumpkins suspicion. If any one has ever heard a shar pei sniff, you know that they snort when they use their sniffer. Pumpkin being a half breed has the most incredibly loud snorting nose with a sweet beagle face that will crack you up. She also has a very long reach for such a short stubby dog. Her main hobby is “counter surfing”, when she isn’t out searching for dead things.
Back to Clucky, who is now charging out the barn door, in Pumpkins mouth, at high puppy speeds. This incredible prize, a new best friend for Pumpkin was to important to be deposited in the field or anywhere out of her sight. Proper beagle burial was not a option with the ground frozen and a foot of snow. We did however have a few snow banks that did seem to qualify as temporary cold storage/burial places for Clucky.
As the day progressed it slowly became obvious these snow banks and temporary burials were going to be a problem for Pumpkin and Clucky. Clucky actually didn’t seem to mind though so the problem was really for Pumpkin. Every time Pump stuffed Clucky somewhere safe, she went into the house for a nap. Its a tough job to be a farm dogie. When Pump close her eyes all she could see was Max, Jake, one off those bossy cats or dog forbid a beaky faced bird stealing her Clucky away.
Pumpkins eye flew open, she jumps up with a whining grrrwow and runs out to retrieve Clucky, saving her from a fate of being in the clutches one of those other farm animals! This goes on for hours, eventually Pumpkin now driven to wandering the cold, blustery snow covered yard, realized she can never part with Clucky again. It is not worth the risk of losing such a good new found friend. She must find a solution soon or she and Clucky would surely freeze!
Later that day it dawns on me that I have not seen my faithful orange demon for several hours. This little dog does not let me out of her sight for very long if I’m home. She would bound into a room and give a grrrwow, mommy where are you??? I would respond “in here Pumpy” and off she would happily go knowing I was safe from the perils of our farm (except those geese). For my little orange girl to not have checked on me for many hours, something is out of place. Thats when I hear my girl, barking grrrwow from the top of the stairs, in the hall way. Whats up with that, I had no idea she was upstairs?
I get my crutches and hobble to the hallway, I call to Pumpkin “whats up girly? come on downstairs”. She immediately turns waging her orange tail sideways, bolts down the hall to my bedroom. I can hear her jumping on the bed, then off the bed, bolting back down the hall to the top of the stairs. There Pumpkin stands proudly, tail wigwagging, with Clucky in her mouth. She had finally found a safe place to keep Clucky!
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