“Dog Days” of Summer

If you follow me over on Facebook, you know we have a slightly eccentric Shetland Sheepdog named Odie. We rescued him when his previous owner moved into assisted living and had to give the puppy back to the breeder.

From the first day we brought him home, Odie has been an endless stream of funny stories. And since we’ve officially entered the “dog days of summer”, I could use a smile. And I suspect you could use one too.

So let me introduce you to my puppy.

Odie is an adorable mass of brown, black, and white fur. Extremely smart, but when we first rescued him, scared of everything, even the grass (seriously). Although he loved to be pet, he preferred hiding in his crate to playing fetch with the kids.

At first, the only way we could coax him outside was if I took a treat with me to bribe him into the grass, and stayed nearby. So I was shocked when a few weeks in, Odie greeted Romeo, our neighbor’s cat, like he was a long lost friend. Trotting with his puppy tail extended long behind him, Odie was clearly inviting the kitty to come play.

The cat, however, wanted nothing to do with this new situation and came up hissing and spitting. Odie, now recognizing that the kitty was not an old friend, took off running in the opposite direction. No doubt looking for his crate. But to his puppy delight, the cat started chasing him. It was a herding dog’s dream and the game was on.

Odie streaked across the backyard, the indignant cat dashing after him. They zigzagged between giggling kids, flew around the firepit, and leaped over the stream. Odie tore back across the yard, scrambled around me and then executed such a tight maneuver around the pine tree that the kitty ended up sprawling into the tree (quite like a cartoon character spreadeagled against a wall).

By now the kids and I were laughing so hard we all were near tears. And Odie, still hoping for a friend, trotted back to the tangled kitty, tongue lolling out of a huge puppy grin.

The kitty merely sniffed and sauntered back to his yard, his head held high and tail twitching, as if to say, “I’ve inspected your pine tree and I’ve decided I don’t like it. You may have that disgusting yard for your play area. Carry on.”

Odie’s chase became a legend with the kids, and to this day, our shy little dog rules our little corner of the neighborhood. The favored game? Chase the puppy.

Now it’s your turn. We’d all love to hear your animal stories. Would you share with us?