AUTHOR: hanson DATE: 5/15/2003 01:24:00 AM ----- BODY: Dogs are awesome....we have two! One is a middling size schnauzer named Boo who is blind in one eye and getting a little long in the tooth. The other one is a miniature rat terrier named Cricket who has more than earned her keep in our house. First our house... We live in a large old (circa 1908) two story house downtown which is situated right next door to the Baptist rescue mission which makes for some interesting neighbors. It's not unusual to come out some mornings and find someone sleeping on my front porch plus there are always those that come by looking through all the garbage cans for anything that can be recycled for a buck. Our front porch is literally less than six feet from the sidewalk so its one of those neighborhoods where I can sit on my front porch and talk to my neighbors sitting on their front porch across the street. We are also about four blocks from the Savannah river which makes for a very muggy summer with lots of mosquitos and rats, rats, and more rats. Every business and home downtown has to put up with them but they particularly love large old houses because of all the hiding places. Enter Cricket.... About six months ago when she turned 8 months of age she woke me up about 2 a.m. barking. I got up and went into our dining room/office and found her frantically scratching behind some cardboard boxes in one corner. I padded over in my bare feet and started to pull the boxes aside when a small rat burst out from the boxes, ran over my feet and turned the corner for the kitchen with Cricket in hot pursuit. I momentarily froze from being grossed out when the rat ran over my foot and then I whooped,"Yeeee Ha! get em Cricket, get that mousey" and took off after Cricket and the rat. First the rat ran into the pantry and so I started flinging boxes of food off the upper shelves with cricket occupying a flanking manuever on the lower shelves. Ratty comes tearing out from one of the lower shelves and we're off once again. Down the hall and behind the washing machine goes ratty...actually it was up INSIDE the washing machine. I turned the washing machine on it's side (by this time everyone in the house is awake) and started banging on it and out comes ratty flying out of the washer and back down the hallway where he made the fatal mistake of turning into a corner and having to come back out where Cricket was waiting for him. SNAP...she grabs ratty by the head and whips him around so hard you could hear something go "crunch" and ratty is off to rat heaven. Even Boo was excited enough to get up and yawn and walk over and sniff the rat. All this, from a little female black and white rat terrier who weighs all of seven pounds. God I love that dog. It's funny as hell to watch her run because she tucks her butt up underneath her so that it almost looks like she's sitting down while she's running. Since then she has killed four more rats and is the absolute queen of our household. Boo our schnauzer is the exact opposite. Nappy time is his favorite pasttime and he also has that weird schnauzer butt fixation. I dont know what it is about schnauzers (we've had several) but they all hated to have anything or anyone near their behind. Boo's food bowl is in a corner of the kitchen but he wont turn towards the wall to eat until we leave the kitchen. If he's lying on his pillow sometimes a flea will bite him on the behind and he will jump up and turn around and look intently at the pillow to see who the offender is. The absolute best though, is when he farts! Schnauzers are gassy anyway but feeding Boo pizza crust produces this tremendous explosive flatulance that smells bad enough to peel paint. You can imagine my delight when I found this out although it drives Linda absolutely insane because I feed him pizza every chance I get. It's also hilarious because he jumps up and looks at his offending body part as if wondering what kind of alien being came out of his behind. In my house I can really blame it on the dog and be right half the time. Animals and kids (ours and others) are great, we've had plenty of both over the last 27 years. Job 12:10 In his hand is the life of every creature, and the breath of all mankind. + Thank you God, for life and death and love and laughter, it's all in your merciful hands + --------
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