Tales of Hunter, the accidental pet

My father has a dog. His name is Budd. Daddy got from a guy who found him and his brother on the side of the road. Budd is black with some white markings and his brother is brown with similar markings. Budd is not an alpha dog. He too, is very needy and always wants you to pet him or play or just scratch his back. When you do these things he will lean against you and lick your hand till you drip dog slobber if you let him. I am not a dog slobber kind of girl. I prefer none if asked. Daddy got  Budd to  stand guard but to also to provide some companionship. They would hop into Daddy's truck and go to the store or the dump or just drive around. One of Budd's favorite tricks is to run full bore at you then turn on a dime and land at your feet ready to be petted. Neat trick really, and he's good at it. Whenever I go to Daddy's for a quick grocery run or go to the dump, I will usually take Budd with me. He loves to ride in the truck and is very sweet sitting in the seat next to you looking out of the window .One of his favorite treats for riding so nice is Cheetos. Not so Hunter. Hunter loves Cheetos but can not for the life of him be still in the car. He is so excited to go that he can shake the car from side to side jumping back and forth between the two windows in the back seat. It can really be quite dangerous.  Budd and Hunter have not met but both of them suspect there is another dog because I can get out of the car and they will immediately do the sniff test. While Budd doesn't seem to mind, Hunter gets a little miffed and will let me know it. The day will come when Budd comes to live at my house. I just hope Hunter is at his house by then.  Enjoy!


Grandma cheats

I think grandma is cheating on me. I know there is another dog she goes around. It's my cousin Piper but there is another one too. I have never met him, and I say him because of his smell. Also there is black hair on her when she comes home. Piper is grayish and this hair is definitely black or very dark brown. She's probably cheating on her diet too. Sometimes she even smells like Cheetos. I love Cheetos. I don't get Cheetos but I love them. She usually doesn't bring stuff like that home. I wonder about it after she's been gone for the day and not at work. When she goes to work she wears certain clothes. They all look alike and hang downstairs. When she goes out with Grandaddy she usually dresses up a little. Or when she goes to Aunt Dani's and sees her grand kids, she will usually wear jeans and a cute top. Her wardrobe isn't particular to the other dog but I know it's not work or Aunt Dani's. So, where is she going and who is this other dog? I need to find out. If Grandma isn't a pet person how can she have another dog besides me? Where is he at? What if she has to choose? Who will she choose? Who was first? Does she like him better than me? Does she give him special treats ? Do I need to be worried? All this makes me nervous and when I'm nervous I dig. Or at least I want to dig. If I'm in the house I can't dig. Well I'm not supposed to but I can't help it. I scratch at the carpet. I try to hide it but Grandma will usually find it and then there is a big fuss. There is another man too. It's not Grandaddy. She talks about Papa and someone named Budd a lot so I think it might be one of them.
Is this other dog at his house? Sometimes she comes home all sweaty and dirty. She tells Grandaddy about how her and Papa cleaned up the yard or cleaned out the barn or went to the dump. Don't know what the dump is but it sounds like fun. Smells like fun too! She talks about Budd and how he would ride along in the truck. Truck? We don't have a truck! Maybe it's Budd's truck. It all sounds like a great adventure and I can't go. It's not fair. She will tell Grandaddy how whenever she starts for the store to get Papa's groceries or medicine, Budd will jump right in and ride along. He seems a bit pushy to me. I would like to ride along. I would make Budd stay home and let Grandma run her errands without being bothered by someone. I think I should meet this other dog and let him know she's a nice person and tries to be kind to everyone, but she's my Grandma and not to horn in on my turf. I may have to get Papa and Budd to back me up on this. Maybe I can get some Cheetos.

Budd riding in the truck

Tales of Hunter, the accidental pet

                                                                                                             

Too many times is life people make decisions based on less than sound reasons. Sometimes there is an unintended consequence. An abandoned animal. The amount of time, patience and money required can become overwhelming.Unfortunately it happens too often. The story of Brutus is not one that I need to tell. The family that has him takes good care of him. They do tend to let him off his lead so he can roam around the neighborhood or chase cars quite often it seems. That or he is a magician and his lead is like the magic handcuffs used  on stage. Hunter seemed to be fascinated with him and always tried to go over and visit whenever we were out. That is until they had this altercation and then things changed and both became very wary of each other. We walk on the opposite side of the street and they don't even make eye contact. I guess its a situation of who is the dominate one and who is submissive. So far Hunter has been the alpha dog and that's OK with me. Enjoy.

Hunter talks to Brutus


Ever since I heard Brutus's story it has weighed on my mind. Maybe he is scared and lonely waiting for his family to return just like me. Well, not exactly like me because I have Grandma and Grandaddy, so I'm not lonely. But I am waiting for my family to come back and maybe he is too. Maybe that's why he chases cars. He's looking for them. Maybe he's not mean, just upset. Maybe I can help. I at least have to try, right? Now I need a plan.

When we go out for our walk today, I will talk to Brutus about being an accidental pet. Maybe it will make him feel better knowing he isn't the only one. It makes me feel better. He just glares at us as we pass by and it makes me sad. When grandma takes me out I'm going to drag her across the street to the house with the fenced yard and when she unclasps my leash I'm going to make a run for it. I think she would understand. Grandma likes helping people and making them feel better.


Time sure is dragging by. It seems like Grandma will never get home. She went in early this morning so she should come home early this afternoon. Oh man...Come on already!
Finally Grandma comes home from work. "Hunter! Ready for a walk?" Yes, yes I am. "It is such a nice day today. I'm sorry you had to stay inside until I got home. Lets see how far we can walk today." So out we go. I need to be cool about this. I look for Brutus. He's on the porch as usual. I have to make my sure we go by his house on our way. I pull grandma across the street. She resists and pulls me back to our side of the road. I pull harder. She pulls harder. Wow, those exercises are working. I pull again and she finally gives in. " OK, OK, we'll go there. " Yay! Grandma pushes open the gate and unclasps my leash. I take off like a shot! "Brutus! Brutus! I want to tell you something!" "Hunter come back here!" Yells Grandma. "Brutus, I'm an accidental pet too!" I say as I run toward him. "Hunter! " "Brutus I know how you feel!" "Hunter, you come back here right now!" Grandma says angrily. I just ignore her and keep running toward the porch. Growling Brutus jumps up and charges at me. "Oh no! Hunter come back!" Grandma says. Brutus jumps on me and starts snapping his jaws and baring his teeth. Yikes! This may have been a mistake! I stop short and growl and snap as well. Grandma is running toward us and I am afraid Brutus might bite her. I need to keep her safe so I back away and run to her. "Hunter, what were you thinking? Come here right now!" Grandma yells. "Listen to your grandma, boy. I have nothing to say to you, I want nothing to do with you. You are not like me. Go away!" Brutus says as he walks back to his porch. Grandma clips the leash on and she pulls me toward our house. I could see she was upset and scared. " Hunter! What were you doing? You could have been hurt!" I know, I know. " You almost gave me a heart attack! What is the matter with you?!" I just thought if I could talk to him I could help him. I guess not.

The next day as grandaddy and I walked past where Brutus lives I slow down. I see him on the porch and he sees me. He gets up and walks down a couple of steps. He stares at me and I stare at him. We just look at each other and Grandaddy just waits. Grandma filled him in on all the excitement when he got home later that evening. We wait about a minute, Brutus turns and walks back up onto the porch and lays down facing away from me. We say nothing. " Come on Hunter. Let's go." Says Grandaddy.  I don't look back at Brutus. I just walk.

Hunter and Charlie out for a walk.

 

 

Something has caught his attention.