Author: Richard Nestoff (Page 16 of 58)

Living with Sparkles is not all beer and skittles.

No matter what Sparky is doing, if I sit in a comfortable chair, he will come over and put his paws up on the cushion.  Sparky wants to sit on my lap, but sometimes, I just want to put on my shoes.

Sparky puts one paw up like he’s some kind of Purple Heart wounded hero dog.  Then he tilts his head like a liberal.  His last trick is to avert his eyes like a Charles Dickens street waif.  It’s way too much.

After teaching for 25 years, I’ve got a black and flinty heart, so I can resist, but it’s a near thing.

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.