INSOMNIACS place to talk in the wee hours

Sensi, Love Chance's pool. I had Brit's for 20 years. In a younger time I had the pool and Brit's could find a puddle to lay in, in a des(s)ert. Always washing them. These two now, are not attracted to water. Both Bird dogs LOL. Terrible me. I haven't encouraged pool swimming. Shat's fell in a few times, and was able to get out just fine. I haven't limited them eitherregarding coming in. I have tried at different times to get them to come in, but they decline. The reality is that they would need more coaxing or thrown in b/c I had two others that I did just that.

The throwing in story: Rascal came as a runaway. We were on the pool deck the first night. She ran right across the pool cover. Knew she hadn't a clue about water.

Next day, Ds Steve, DH Greg, and I pool proofed her. She was only a 15 pounder. Too small to climb out, she had to be taught exits. Greg and I were stationed at each step area. Ds threw Rascal in on the opposite side. She of course panicked(expected). We each in turn called her to our respective steps, with each alternating thrown-in. With each throw in, she became more confident. We didn't stop till she confidently went to each step out. We repeated it the next day. She was good to go.

Sadly, that same weekend a friends dog drowned. Same size as Rascal. They didn't know about pool proofing.

We took both Rascal and JB on the same farm street runs, that Shat's and Dini run on now. JB & Rascal always jumped into the pool and swam in the shallow end after a run. They they'd sit on the step in the pool. Then off they would go in circles. They wouldn't get out till they were cooled down.

OH shucks, Just realized, I have no choice , but to pool proof Dini and Shat's. They are getting older. Climbing out may become and issue. They both are showing their climbing age i.e. getting on the bed or sofa.

I put a big sign on the frig.

Wenchie, your post was after Wren's. OMD, that's horrible about possums and horses. Sheesh, another new thing. How do folks that pasture their horses keep control on that. I lived in Summit County, Ohio for 21 years. Akron. Strangely enough, there were more sin that county per acre than in anywhere in the USA. You would think many other areas i.e. Kentucky, California, Florida. Racing areas. Anywhooses many other areas. LOL.

You were the one that taught me the possum's eco function of eating Ticks. I gained a respect for them b/c of that. Hmmmmmmmmmm

This bug that possums carry has no effect on human's? Interesting

Mommy, the neighbors from hell. Do you know a nice lawyer that can send them a letter?

Wenchi, I did learn that when he killed the one on the pool deck. I first called the Public health dept. after google told me about the leprosy. I was concerned about rabies. They referred me to Wildlife Management. They said that the leprosy thing wasn't really true. Duh, it's in Wiki. Rabies is a rare occurrence and had only been reported in the north of Florida. If you hear of any thing else pass it on

Mtw that was my concern when the Armidillo was trying to get in the backdoor on the pool deck. I never heard of an Armidillo trying to get into a house. But all the people I called said not to worry. Weird. Plus, almost forgot. On the dogs run, which is a 0.8 mile, long stretch of road. A raccoon came running down the middle of the road at the dogs. Dini killed it. Not sure why Donnie didn't tell me about it. That was very bizarre behavior. Of course, I thought rabies. But by then the carcass wasn't available and it was beyond the quarantine time. At that point, I did nothing. Maybe I still should have reported it????????

Mommy Good, glad they weren't the awful neighbors. Nice to know you have a hydrant so close. You get a discount on your homeowners insurance b/c of that if you tell them. That was likely covered when you first took a homeowners insurance policy. I'm such a nerd............trivia stuff

Mtw When the armadillo thing happened. The whole story ----------Dogs aggressively alerted at the front of the house. I checked the front --nothing. Then they went nuts alerting at the back of the house about ten minutes later. My thought was a bad guy. I opened the door to let the dogs out. I saw what appeared to be a tail---rat like. Then on the pool deck an awful scuffle....I called them off. Shat's came right away. Dini didn't. But came soon enough. Considering he has the kill instinct, he responded to the "call off" very rapidly. He had already killed it.

Now all of it may seem bad . The killing and all. But it was late at night. Both dogs alerting in a very different manner than usual. The alerting was very worried/aggressive which was unusual. First at the front then at the back. The front may have not been related to the back, but there was enough time between alerting's that it could have been a break in. I was using my protectors when I opened that door.

Even though I was terrified of Dini when he came to live here, I have learned he his my protector. He has learned love. It's very nice in both directions.