Let's Try This ONE More Time

This new puppy is harder to keep in a fence than Houdini. His pooping in the house is almost behind him (huge pun intended) but no fence in front of him can keep the little escape artist in. He's long and lean and can flatten himself like a rat to get under any opening in the fence at  the back of our property. When we put up our fence it was just for Rosie..."The Good Dog." She knew which side of the fence was buttered and never attempted an escape. We put six foot privacy fencing down both sides of the back yard and went to the back of our property and before the creek staked up hog wire. By the end of the summer the brush had grown through the hog wire and you  couldn't even tell a fence was there. Next  came Ham, and he was so happy to be rescued he wouldn't leave the back yard if you left the gate wide open.

Then we got Charlie.

He was too lazy to go to the back of the yard for an escape route and instead insisted on chewing his way through the front gate.

Then after our dear Rosie had been gone over a year we had the opportunity to adopt another Boxer pup.

Now we have three dogs again, twelve paws, six balls this time and not one brain between all three.

 I wouldn't have it any other way! My kids are all growing up and I don't have anybody  to boss around anymore...Tim quit listening to me over a decade ago. The dogs don't talk back to me and I am hands down their favorite person.

It scares me when Ziggy gets out of the fence. We have sixty acres of woods behind our house,  and you  can hear packs of coyotes howling every night...not to mention we are only five houses down from a busy  road. Ham never goes with them but Charlie and Ziggy scram the first time they can.

Tim let them out yesterday when he went to work out.  When he got through he got another work out, tromping through the woods looking for Charlie and Ziggy. He said it took him thirty minutes to find them and when he did Ziggy  was laying down in the woods trying to relax and refused to get up. Tim had to carry him all the way back to the house.


Today I just worked a day shift. I picked Zach up from work and came home to "Pen Ziggy In." I put up more chicken wire. Zach cut his way through the back and only found one escape route...the one I had previously fixed. I put on long pants which I normally don't do til at least Thanksgiving and put up MORE chicken wire. Then I noticed the dirt where Ziggy had obviously dug under it and went to Lowe's to buy twelve inch long spikes and staked the chicken wire that was wrapped around the hog wire to the ground. If they can pull twelve inch spikes out of the ground...I say they are destined to go and "Godspeed to both of them."

It's been three hours and all prisoners are still in the yard.

Thank the Lord dogs don't go to school...I would have been called to the principal's office more times than with my kids!

The "Bad Dog" is at my feet as I type. I think the only two words he really knows are "Bad Dog" but that's a start. I raised three kids, one pup can't break me. He can try but as a "Momma" I can  tell him with full confidence..."Don't even try me...I got this!"

Til next  time or the next escape...COTTON