Category: Sparky (Page 7 of 18)

Sparky was all ears when I told him the troubling news.  Yesterday, while Sparky was patrolling the grounds, I saw a coyote between the chain link fence and the sound wall.  It wasn’t far from the grape vines where Sparky likes to snuffle.  They would be on opposite sides of the fence, so that’s not an issue.

My concern, and now Sparky’s, is how the coyote got passed the chain link fence.  The likely access is under the fence at the creek by the land bridge.  That is one of Sparky’s favorite spots because there is a culvert pipe to crawl in, rocks to stand on, high weeds for pooping and whatever wiggly things live in the creek mud.

I provide overwatch for Sparky when he is on a recon mission for the KISS army, but now we have to actually be cautious.  Sparky likes to kid around about being a friend of Wily, but after that possum encounter, he is starting to understand that this isn’t a petting zoo.

Sparky no longer wants to go past the top of the hill.  I’m starting to think he’s smelling something in the woods, rather than being intimidated by yellow jackets.  He will go on if he’s on a leash, but he isn’t nuts about it.

It might be a good idea to leave him with his phobia.  If he goes on a walkabout, and won’t go passed the top of the hill, he is a lot easier to recover.

That is all from one walk.  I like how Sparky looks back at me like I’m crazy.

Beagles 101

I tried doing my dog breed research before getting Sparky, but all the information was so vague.  This article from a beagle rescue in Oregon, gets the breed.  Dog writers really need an editor, but they make good points.

Beagles need guidance as they are extremely smart.

Everything Sparky does is deliberate.  He makes no mistakes.  Sparky won’t try to do a thing, I just turn my back, and he’s done it.

Trash, food, candy dishes..nothing is sacred to a beagle. They are NOT the type of dog you can be watching TV with while eating a pizza and expect to get up to answer the phone and returning to anything other than an empty pizza box..if that!

Sparky is a trash hound.  He pays no attention to the garbage can, unless he can get to it.  Then, when I’m not looking, he takes what he wants.  Three times, Sparky has stolen a loaf of bread because I put grocery bags on the floor.  He ignores it until I take some canned food downstairs.  Sparky also stole a bag of marshmallows. 

Some are bolters and dashers, others are wanderers. It’s not that they are running away from you or your home..it’s just that they are running “to” something that caught their noses.

Sparky has gotten out of the house five times.  He is so charming and polite that he lulls me into complacency.  He’s never bolts out of the door.  I watch a TV show, then notice that Sparky is gone because I left a door open somewhere.

Beagles simply cannot be trusted to be off-leash, or to consistently obey their owners when they are outside.

Sparky’s brush anchor makes him think he can’t run away.  He gets stuck often enough that he doesn’t try to wander off.  When given a command, Sparky doesn’t obey.  He either agrees or doesn’t.

It may seem at times that they forgot everything you taught them. Not true. They just make decisions on their own sometimes.

Beagles are not programmed to please their people…they are more like party animals who manipulate you into thinking they want to please you.

Sparky is bullshitting me all the time.

Beagles are house dogs; not “outside” dogs. They are very social and people-oriented. They are very pack oriented and consider YOU their pack so naturally, they are not happy in the yard by themselves.

This doesn’t seem like it’s true, because Sparky loves sniffing around in the yard and woods, but I think it is.  I put up a dog-run cable for Sparky.  He can roam a 100 feet, even into the woods a bit, and 10 feet on either side.  If I put him on the cable and go in the house, he sits in the yard looking at the patio door. 

Sparky is a cute puzzle.

Turns out Sparky can do this.  With his wiggly spine, I didn’t think he could sit up on his butt.

Sparky shit on his friend, Mr. Moose, but the strength of their friendship has allowed them to move passed their differences.

That’s nice, but I wasn’t going to touch a shitty moose and I sure as hell didn’t want Sparky dragging it around my house.  Mr. Moose was washed in the laundry sink, and thrown in the dryer with a load of t-shirts.

Here’s the weird thing.  Sparky recognized Mr. Moose in the bottom of the laundry basket.  I brought up two baskets of laundry to sort as I watched Youtube.  Sparky has no interest in laundry, other than getting to sit on the couch with me.

Mr. Moose was washed with laundry detergent, so smelled like everything else in the basket.  Sparky’s situational awareness is greater than I expected.  His tail shows his eagerness to be back with his old mate.

I moved the basket to the couch to get a photo of Mr. Moose without Sparky’s head in the way.  Even that was a near thing as Sparky ignored all propriety and jumped up on the furniture to supervise the rescue of Moose.

The grey corduroy object, indicated by the red arrow, is Mr. Moose.

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The last time we went into woods at the South Park trail, was the second time that Sparky was noticed by yellow jackets.  Both times, a yellow jacket landed on his back, Sparky got frantic, I noticed his distress and slapped the yellow jacket off.

I don’t think that he was stung.  Both times, the yellow jacket was trying to figure out if there was a dog underneath all of the seal fur. 

Sparky no longer wants to go in the woods, and he’s gotten worse.  Now, he’s reluctant to go for a walk up the hill.  I’m trying cognitive therapy on him.  Exposing him to the area, without going into the woods.  Or entering the woods somewhere else.

Since I have been chronicling Sparky’s journey, this seemed like a data point that couldn’t be excluded.

Sparky pooped on Mr. Moose.  Decorum compels me to mask the evidence.  It was a walk on a dark night, so maybe I’m making too much of this, but that’s my main job, so I speculate.

It’s not uncommon to have a falling-out with someone who was once a cherished friend.  I had a dear friend who had a vastly different political perspective.  We had a disagreeable exchange on social media, and that was it.  Sparky hasn’t expressed an interest in politics, but he would naturally have an affinity for Biden biting babies. 

Mr. Moose has always been in the Bull Moose Party, supporting the formerly Republican, Theodore Roosevelt.  TR has been dead for a hundred years and Biden isn’t running, but Sparky and Mr. Moose don’t keep up on current events.

Whatever the reason, Mr. Moose is out of the rotation until he gets washed.