Category: Sparky (Page 7 of 13)

Sparky and I are looking after a friend’s house in the woods.  I intended to get video of Sparky gamboling and frolicking in the yard, when he spotted a rabbit.  Sparky doesn’t like this video because he hadn’t shat yet, or even stretched his legs after the car ride.  Sparky says that he has chased rabbits much more ferociously than this.  It’s true, but it’s the only video I’ve got with an actual rabbit.

We compromised by tarting up the video so it looks like Sparky has night vision and bionic legs.

Here’s the actual video unadulterated.

After that, I waded into the blackberry brambles to extract Sparky.  He got a chance to gambol and frolic, then we hiked through the woods.  I checked the house and had a beer.

I like how my camera’s fisheye lens makes Sparky’s tongue look ludicrous.

Sparky figured out that he likes looking out the window.  Dogs usually like that, but Sparky was never into it.

After that big day, Sparky was worn out.

Here’s how worn out he is.  It’s 11 pm, and Sparky has been staring at me for ten minutes.  He can take a nap or go to bed whenever he wants, but he is trying to hypnotize me into going to bed.

Bullwinkle used to do that “Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of this hat” routine.  Sparky does that with baby rabbits.  He seems to have them stashed all over the place.

It’s startling when Sparky is doing his sniffing and foraging routine, then comes out of the bush looking like John Belushi in Animal House.

The expression on Sparky’s face was just like this.  I wouldn’t take a picture because I am usually concerned for the prey and the image might make you think less of my little buddy.  To his credit, Sparky does drop his prize with some coaxing, but it won’t be going home.

To be fair, WTF momma rabbits?  Childbirth is harrowing, but the best you can do is have babies behind a woodpile or under a bush?  Sparky can only get about 10 feet into the woods and there are rabbit holes all over the place.  Sparky has free rein over about a half-acre. 

After Sparky imposed order on the chaotic rabbits, they’ve been scarce on that half-acre.  They go on the other side of the highway fence or deeper into the brush.  Have babies there.  Or, cross the creek to the two acres where Sparky doesn’t roam free.

I don’t chastise Sparky for being true to himself.  The first time, he pulled three little bunnies out from behind a woodpile before I caught on.  We got a rotisserie chicken after that to make up for his lost bounty.  Yesterday, I brought him in and gave him a meaty treat, and keep him away from that spot.

Sparky is a rugged individualist, but he knows the score.  In the Coyote post, I mentioned that Sparky gets to free-roam as long as he doesn’t go too far.  I am proud of him for figuring out that if I holler, he has to come back, or I have to get off my bench, chase him down and haul him in.

I am actually amazed that he comes running all the way back.  That might seem like a low bar for dog training, but for an old beagle with his own agenda and a mysterious past, it’s astounding.

The ground is tore up because First Energy contractors were in to clear brush. 

Get a dog with floppy ears.

Sparky just had his annual checkup.  He’s a little fat and is going to start taking Credelio.  That’s the chewable tick killer.

Sparky’s self-support in evaluating and addressing his own emotional needs, is admirable.

Late last night, a big thunderstorm came through.  It was enough to wake me up and notice the bright lightning.  I heard Sparky licking his chops and smacking his lips, like Moms Mabley.  That’s typical, so I went back to sleep.

This morning, I found him sleeping in my closet.  Sparky has never done this before, and there is no concern that he will want to sleep with my dirty laundry every night.  He is such an adorable little pup, I’m happy that he has a refuge from thunderstorms.

After we had breakfast, I explained that the tower for the high-voltage power lines would act to neutralize much of the electrical potential between the ground and the storm clouds.  If there was a lightning strike, it would hit the 100 ft tower or the cable running along the tops of the towers.  We had little to fear from lightning.

Sparky took umbrage at my suggestion that he was afraid of thunderstorms.  He reminded me that, just yesterday, he had barked ferociously while running down a rabbit.  Nature was no threat to him. 

Sparky said that he was afraid that I might be startled by the thunder, roll out of bed, and squash him flat.  I let him know that if he was calling me fat, we could cut out the fortnightly rotisserie chicken.  Sparky changed the subject by asking if we could invent rotisserie rabbit.

Sparky thinks he is a mighty hunter.  He really just likes chasing rabbits.  Sparky is my little Nimrod because he can be clueless.

I spotted a rabbit, and released the hound.  Sparky chased the rabbit over the hill and into the bush.  He barks his ass off during the pursuit, but stops barking when his leash gets caught up in the trees.  Sparky was in dense brush, so it took me an hour of driving around in the quad and bushwhacking, to find him. 

I had walked within 10 feet of him, calling his name, but he hadn’t said a word.  Sparky sat there, so tangled up, he couldn’t move 6 inches, secure in the knowledge that I’d find and save him. When I did find him, Sparky was certain that he still had a shot at the rabbit.

Again, it took me an hour, crashing through brush and calling his name, for me to get to my dog.  When we got back to the house, Sparky was smiling like a lunatic because the chase went so well.

Sparky is so well-mannered and serene, it’s probably impossible to train him to bark on command.  He loves chasing rabbits, and there are plenty of them, so I’m not going to deny him that joy.  There has to be some technology to help me find my little Nimrod.

Poor Sparky.  The sand man is beating him to death.

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