Danger Dog

Stuart had made me a little picnic last Sunday, which was very sweet.  We sat on the child-sized bench having our snack (complete with roses he picked from our garden and a big note he wrote for me), when I looked over at the gazebo I remembered the time Buddy managed to get stuck under it.  Yes, stuck under the gazebo.  So, I told Stuart about yet another caper Buddy was involved in. 

There's a path leading to the gazebo and a little garden going around the remaining circumference (see pic below).  There are plants and rocks around the plants.  There must have been some critter Buddy was trying to get at under the gazebo, because that big dog dug a little and then squeezed under it, making his way completely under the structure.  I don't know how he had room to maneuver, much less get under there.  We came outside and there Trigger was standing by the gazebo, looking a little concerned, and all sorts of scuffling, bumping and thumping noises coming from below.  What the h@#*!  Buddy's under there!

There was no pulling that dog out from under--he wasn't having it.  By now, he was beginning to panic and wouldn't let us help him.  Thrashing and kicking ensued and even more concern on our part.  We didn't know what was under there from when the structure was built.  There was no way we could reach him the way he got in and even if we did, we probably would've broken something of his pulling him out.  Finally, Jon had to pry up a couple of the floorboards, reach under, grab him by the collar (I know!) and pull him out.  It was scary.  After that, we had chicken wire over wood lattice installed around the bottom.  He would still put his nose up to it and sometimes scratch around it, but he knew.  For a short period after that, if we caught him fooling around by the gazebo and sternly said his name, he would jump.  Eventually, he got over it, just like the oleanders.  Both of the dogs learned to climb the oleanders at one point, because they were such thick bush-like trees there was enough footing for them.  That's where the term "danger dog" came from.  Buddy had no problem throwing himself into the thick of things. 

In case you're wondering, it is very strange to go out into the yard and see your dog high up in a tree looking down at you.  It's not right.  Wish I thought to take a pic of that.



Here's a shot of Ephali in front of the gazebo.  It's hard to tell, but the space between the bottom of the gazebo and the ground is only a few inches, because there's facing around the bottom.  Essentially, the space was probably no larger than the wood slat you can see connecting the bottom step and the walkway.  The ground is so hard that even for a big, clawed animal like Buddy, there wasn't a lot of give.

I kind of forgot what a trouble maker he could be!