This Yard Ain't Big Enough For Both of Us

On Thursday night, I went for an evening walk. Unbeknownst to me, Meredith decided to join me. But she followed a few minutes later and she brought Scooter along for companionship. Well, she and I ran into each other near the elementary school. I noticed Meredith first...then Scooter...then a big, brown lummox. As I've mentioned before, Meredith has this certain Elly May quality about her. Critters flock to her...she's like a critter-magnet.

The big, brown lummox was a chocolate lab. He had no collar, his coat was matted and dirty, and he looked hungry. Meredith kept scolding him and telling him to "go home." We had Scooter on a leash and every time a car went by, we'd pull Scooter out of harm's way. But the lab would walk right in the middle of the street. Meredith finally figured out that when we stopped walking, the dog would run up to us. So that's how we kept him away from the passing cars. Unfortunately, our walk turned into a time-consuming chore. When we arrived home, we offered him a bowl of food and some water. I wish you could have seen how fast he scarfed down the dog food.

Since some of you may not know, let me elaborate. We already have two Jack Russell terriers (Madeline and Scooter), one pound mutt (Nemo), and just recently, Angie found a stray dog (Pepper) down by the hospital where she works. (She looks like a cross between a German Shepherd and a blue healer. Though, I really believe she might be a Mississippi leg-hound. LOL) When we introduced the lab to our dogs, they all got along fine. That is, up until I started throwing a toy in the back yard on Saturday. Meredith officially started calling the lab "Duke." Well Duke's been trained by someone; because when he goes to fetch, he's on a mission! Normally, Madeline is the "alpha-dog" around here because she's the oldest. But she's never run into anything like Duke.

Roll the tape and watch the mayhem. And just in case some of you have fears that dogs were injured during this melee, let me reassure you that no dog was hurt...well, that is, except for Madeline's pride. Although the film doesn't show the end of the fight, Madeline released the toy about two seconds after Meredith quit filming. As soon as Madeline quit wrestling for the toy, the hullabaloo ended...abruptly. No harm, no foul. Also, pay special attention to Scooter as he tries to protect Maddy. When I yelled at him, "hey, that's enough," he stopped. (Later he did jump back in the middle of it, but I think it's because they were getting close to Meredith.)

We will continue to look in the paper for Duke's owner. Plus, we stop and look at every "Lost Dog" sign we see. Duke has had a bath and he's a good-natured sort. But, until further notice, I've got another mouth to feed...and, boy, this is one big mouth.